Maroon 5



Maroon 5 (formerly Kara's Flowers) is an American rock band that originated in Los Angeles, California. The group was formed in 1994 as Kara's Flowers while its members were still in high school. The original members of the band were: Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick, they signed to Reprise Records and released an album, The Fourth World, in 1997. After a tepid response to the album, the band parted ways with the record label and the members attended college. In 2001, the band regrouped, with James Valentine added to the lineup, and pursued a new direction under the name: Maroon 5.

The band signed with Octone Records and released their debut album Songs About Jane, in June 2002. The album's lead single "Harder to Breathe", received heavy airplay, which helped the album to debut at number six on the Billboard 200 chart. The album's second and third singles "This Love" and "She Will Be Loved", became worldwide hits reaching the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The band won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2005. For the next few years, the band toured extensively worldwide in support of Songs About Jane and produced two live recordings: 2004's 1.22.03.Acoustic and 2005's Live – Friday the 13th. In 2006, drummer, percussionist and backing vocalist Ryan Dusick left the band and was replaced by Matt Flynn. The band recorded their second album, It Won't Be Soon Before Long, and released in May 2007. The album reached number one on the US Billboard 200 chart and the lead single, "Makes Me Wonder", became the band's first number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100.

Hands All Over, the band's third studio album was released in September 2010 and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 chart. In 2011, the album was re-released and supported by their single "Moves like Jagger" featuring American singer Christina Aguilera. The song became the band's second single to reach number one on the Hot 100 chart; it has sold over 14.4 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles worldwide. The band released their fourth studio album, Overexposed, in June 2012. The album peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 chart. The first two singles from the album "Payphone" and "One More Night", were both international hits and peaked at two and one on the Hot 100 chart respectively.

Since its debut in 2002, the band has sold more than 10 million albums in the United States and over 30.8 million digital singles and 27 million albums worldwide.

In 2013, Maroon 5 became third most-played artist on Top 40 Mainstream radio, based on Clear Channel owned Mediabase, becoming one of the successful acts of Interscope Records.