1994-Adam LevineVocals, guitar
Jesse CarmichaelGuitar, keyboards
Mickey MaddenBass1994-2020
James ValentineGuitar, vocals2001-
Matt FlynnDrums2006-
PJ Morton Keyboards2012-
Sam FarrarMulti instrumentalist2016-
Maroon 5 began in 1994 while members Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, and Mickey Madden were still in high school. The band's original name was Kara's Flowers and they played garage/grunge music. Their first gig was at Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood in September 1995. They scored a deal with Reprise Records and released an album in 1997 called The Fourth World, but it was a massive failure, only selling 5,000 copies, so Reprise dropped them. In 2001, Kara's Flowers added guitarist James Valentine and rebranded as Maroon 5.
Maroon 5's debut album, Songs About Jane, became a sleeper hit in 2002. Five songs from the record were released as singles, which helped it become the seventh-best-selling album of 2002, with sales of 2.7 million copies. Vocalist and lyricist Adam Levine did make up with the album's muse and by 2007 he was referring to Jane as a "close friend."
Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine has Jewish ancestry on both sides of his family. In an interview with London newspaper The Jewish Chronicle, Levine explained that while he considers himself a Jew, he does not practice traditional Judaism but favors a "more generalized spiritual way of life."
In 1997, Maroon 5 (then known as Kara's Flowers) appeared on an episode of the TV show Beverly Hills 90210. Kara's Flowers released a single called "Soap Disco" the same year but it failed to gain any commercial success.
After moving to New York, Adam Levine got a job working at the fast food chain Johnny Rockets. He quit after only two weeks and also dropped out of college to continue pursuing music.
Adam Levine is known for collaborating with other pop artists. He has worked with Yin Yang Twins, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, and Gym Class Heroes and many others.
In 2008, Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine teamed up with guitar company First Act to create the First Act 222 model. The axe was designed with Levine's specifications in mind and was made available for purchase at Target stores.
Adam Levine was chosen by
People Magazine as its "sexiest man alive" for 2013. The Maroon 5 frontman beat such hunks as Chris Pine, Idris Elba and David Beckham to be picked for the annual honor. He was the first musician to hold the title, unless you count 1991 winner Patrick Swayze, who had a hit with the
Dirty Dancing song "
She's Like The Wind."
Levine has known Jake Gyllenhaal since kindergarten. In 2007, he appeared with the actor in a Saturday Night Live Digital Short called Iran So Far.
Levine made the winning shot at his local YMCA basketball championship at age 6, and his love for the sport has continued ever since. "If that shot had bounced off the rim all those years ago? Who knows," he told MSN. "Maybe today I'd be a serial killer or something."
Adam Levine worked as writer's assistant for the TV show Judging Amy before Maroon 5 hit it big. The show's producer, Barbara Hall, was a family friend.
Adam Levine is a self-proclaimed car nut. He drove for a time a 1971 Mercedes 280 SE 3.5 Cabriolet, which he swapped in December 2011 for a vintage Porsche convertible.
Asked by David Letterman about the origins of their Maroon 5 moniker during an appearance on The Late Show, Adam Levine replied: "I won't tell you where the name came from. It was my idea never to tell anybody."
"Can I give you some truth?," he added. "The origin of the name is so bad and such a terrible story that we decided that shrouding it in mystery will make it a better story than the actual story... it works!"
Adam Levine is ambidextrous. He writes with his left hand he prefers his right hand for most other tasks such as playing the guitar.
In 2015, Maroon 5 were banned from China after keyboardist Jesse Carmichael wished the Dalai Lama of Tibet a happy birthday on Twitter and participated in celebrations for His Holiness, who was in Los Angeles for the occasion.
Keyboardist PJ Morton was raised in the church. His father is gospel singer and founder of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship, Bishop Paul S. Morton and his mother, Dr. Debra Brown Morton, is pastor of Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church. PJ Morton has written for such gospel artists as Fred Hammond and Heather Headley, and in 2020 he released his first-ever gospel full-length album, Gospel According to PJ.
PJ Morton has won two Grammy Awards. In 2019 he was awarded Best Traditional R&B Performance for
his cover of The Bee Gees' "
How Deep Is Your Love" and in 2020 he won Best R&B song for his duet with JoJo, "
Say So."
Adam Levine was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. In 2011 he
talked about his condition in a commercial, where he said, "People notice my ADHD is an adult on a daily basis. When I can't pay attention, I really can't pay attention."
The ad was commissioned by Shire pharmaceuticals, maker of the ADHD drugs Adderall and Vyvanse. This was part of a big marketing push targeting adults with ADHD. Just a few years earlier, the marketing had been restricted to treatments for children.
James Valentine and Adam Levine first crossed paths when Valentine's band was playing the same venue as Levine's band Kara's Flowers. Levine liked what he heard and knew right away he wanted him in the band. "It was one of those weird moments where I was like, "That's my guy," he said on the Today show. "He's coming with us."
Until 2011, Maroon 5 wrote all their own songs. When they finally agreed to let outside writers contribute, it gave them a second life with songs like "
Moves Like Jagger" and "
Payphone."
