Maroon 5

Maroon 5, particularly frontman Adam Levine, emerged as the defining embodiment of blue-eyed soul during the twenty-first century by steering through evolving currents in sound and style to rank among the era's most dominant pop acts. Their ascent unfolded gradually, as the group transitioned from the direct '90s rock outfit Kara's Flowers to the polished, groove-oriented Maroon 5 via the 2002 release Songs About Jane, a project that idled for a couple of years before "This Love" ascended to the number-five slot on Billboard's Hot 100 in 2004. Thereafter the ensemble maintained a steady presence atop the charts, an enduring lift arriving when Levine joined the judging panel of NBC's televised competition The Voice in 2011. That same year the Christina Aguilera collaboration "Moves Like Jagger" delivered the band's second chart-topper after "Makes Me Wonder" had reached the summit in 2007, igniting a sequence of Top Ten singles capped by the leaders "One More Night" and "Girls Like You" and culminating in a headline slot at the Super Bowl in 2019. Cardi B's cameo on "Girls Like You" illustrated how the band stayed relevant by incorporating contemporary R&B and hip-hop, a method they repeated by recruiting Megan Thee Stallion for "Beautiful Mistakes," the lead single from 2021's Jordi, along with the 2021 Bantu remix of "One Light" and the 2023 track "Middle Ground."

Before adopting the Maroon 5 name, vocalists and guitarist Adam Levine, keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, bassist Mickey Madden, and drummer Ryan Dusick spent the second half of the '90s performing in Kara's Flowers and even issued a debut album on Reprise Records while still enrolled in high school. That effort failed commercially, prompting the label to drop the group. Following a brief college stint, the musicians reconvened under the new moniker Maroon 5, adding former Square guitarist James Valentine and shifting toward a stronger R&B orientation. Several years afterward the five-piece had secured a leading position in pop with the multi-platinum albums Songs About Jane and It Won't Be Soon Before Long.

Although Songs About Jane eventually carried the group into widespread recognition, the record did not achieve immediate success. Octone Records signed the freshly renamed Maroon 5 in 2001, and the debut album met with muted reaction when it appeared in June 2002. Seventeen months later "Harder to Breathe" became a regular on radio playlists and was soon joined by the ubiquitous "This Love," whose provocative video, spotlighting Levine alongside a minimally dressed partner, captured attention among MTV viewers. By August 2004 Songs About Jane finally cracked the Billboard Top Ten more than two years after its arrival, while subsequent singles such as "She Will Be Loved" and "Sunday Morning" drove sales past 2.7 million units by the close of the year.

The band supported Jane's gradual breakthrough with relentless touring, releasing interim projects in the form of 2004's 1.22.03.Acoustic and 2005's Live Friday the 13th while sharing stages with the Rolling Stones and John Mayer. The demanding itinerary took a toll on drummer Dusick, who developed wrist and shoulder ailments that frequently sidelined him. By autumn 2006 he had been replaced by Matt Flynn, previously of Gavin DeGraw, and the updated lineup unveiled its second studio album in May 2007. It Won't Be Soon Before Long did not match the commercial heights of its predecessor, which had exceeded four million U.S. sales, yet it earned double-platinum status and yielded the number-one single "Makes Me Wonder." Maroon 5 had established themselves as major pop and rock figures, a status underscored by Call and Response: The Remix Album, issued in late 2008 and featuring reinterpretations by producers including Mary J. Blige, Mark Ronson, and Pharrell Williams.

From 2008 through 2010 the group collaborated with veteran rock and country producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange on the third studio album Hands All Over, released in September 2010. Although it fell short of the top album-chart position, the set achieved platinum certification. A substantial lift followed in 2011 when Levine began serving as a judge on NBC's reality series The Voice. The same year Hands All Over was reissued with the addition of the chart-topping single "Moves Like Jagger," which paired Levine with fellow Voice judge Christina Aguilera. In 2012 Carmichael announced a temporary break from performing and was succeeded onstage by keyboardist PJ Morton.

April 2012 brought a preview of the fourth studio album via "Payphone," a Wiz Khalifa collaboration that reached number two. The resulting record Overexposed also peaked at number two and featured contributions from producers such as Ryan Tedder, Max Martin, and Benny Blanco. A follow-up single, the reggae-inflected "One More Night," claimed the top spot shortly after its June release and remained there long enough to mark the band's strongest chart performance to that point. Additional Top Ten entries arrived with "Daylight" and "Love Somebody."

Throughout 2013 Levine maintained his role on The Voice while appearing in the series American Horror Story and the film Begin Again. The band also entered the studio for a fifth album, V, which welcomed the return of keyboardist Carmichael following his hiatus. Issued in September 2014, V entered the Billboard 200 at number one and generated Top Ten singles including "Maps," "Animals," and "Sugar." Two further tracks surfaced in 2015 with "This Summer's Gonna Hurt Like a Motherf*****" and "Feelings," while the compilation The Singles collected the group's earlier hits.

The 2016 single "Don't Wanna Know," featuring Kendrick Lamar, reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and later served as the opening track for the sixth studio album. Another joint effort, "Cold" with Future, arrived in early 2017, followed by "What Lovers Do" ahead of November's Red Pill Blues. Named after the iconic choice in the 1999 film The Matrix, the album included appearances by Julia Michaels, SZA, ASAP Rocky, and LunchMoney Lewis and climbed to number two on the Billboard 200. In 2018 a remix of the album cut "Girls Like You," now featuring Cardi B, became the band's first number-one single since "One More Night" in 2012.

Maroon 5 headlined the Super Bowl LIII halftime show on February 3, 2019, in Atlanta, Georgia, joined by Big Boi and Travis Scott. That September they issued "Memories" as the lead single from the seventh studio album Jordi, both the track and the title paying tribute to the band's late manager Jordan Feldstein, who had passed away in December 2017 from a pulmonary embolism. Bassist Mickey Madden announced his retirement from the group in 2020 after facing domestic-violence charges. The ensemble continued with the socially conscious single "Nobody's Love," shaped in part by the COVID-19 crisis and protests after George Floyd's killing, and later partnered with Megan Thee Stallion on the 2021 release "Beautiful Mistakes." These efforts preceded the June 2021 arrival of Jordi, which reached number eight on the Billboard 200. A subsequent single, "Lost," charted at number 27 on the Pop 100. Additional material followed, encompassing a 2022 Bantu remix of "One Light" with Yung Bleu and Latto plus the 2023 track "Middle Ground," produced with Andrew Watt, Jon Bellion, and Pete Nappi.