68 Fun Facts About Maroon 5

In which city was Maroon 5 formed?

Los Angeles is where four of the five grew up and first played together as schoolboys; by the time the fifth joined in 2001, the others had already won and lost a record deal.

Under what name did the future members of Maroon 5 first play together in 1994?

Kara's Flowers made one major-label album of guitar pop while its members were still teenagers; when it flopped they went quiet, then regrouped with a soul-tinged sound and a new name.

Where did the band that became Maroon 5 get its original name?

A girl they all had a crush on lent the band her name, which it kept until a change of sound in 2001 brought a change of name.

Maroon 5's "She Will Be Loved" video echoes which 1967 film?

The Graduate was the band's own idea: Levine said he wanted to restage its triangle of Mrs Robinson, her daughter Elaine and himself, and Kelly Preston took the older woman's part.

Rob Cavallo, who signed Maroon 5's teenage forerunners and produced their 1997 album, was best known as which band's producer?

Green Day were Cavallo's great success, and one review at the time tipped his teenage signings to be radio's next overplayed smash; instead their album sank and the label dropped them.

What upends the working day of Adam Levine's character in Maroon 5's "Payphone" video?

A bank robbery: he grabs a gun from one of the gang to play the hero, is taken for a robber himself and spends the rest of the clip on the run from the law. The plot, Levine said, was his own idea.

Which singer won the sweepstakes award at UCLA's 2000 Spring Sing, where the future Maroon 5 lost the band prize?

Sara Bareilles, then a UCLA student, won with her own song Gravity, while the band lost its category to a Barry Manilow parody act; they became friends, and she later toured as their opening act.

Which guitarist joined Maroon 5 in 2001 as its fifth member, freeing Adam Levine to front the band?

James Valentine was in another band, Square, and in the crowd when his future bandmates first tried out their new sound, "like Timbaland, but by a rock band", he said; he soon jumped ship.

Which piano-playing star learned the secret of Maroon 5's name from Adam Levine at a restaurant early in the band's fame?

Billy Joel sat down at their table and asked where the name came from; too starstruck to refuse, Levine told him alone, and years later still would not repeat what he called the dumbest story in the world.

What is the title of Maroon 5's 2002 debut album?

Songs About Jane started out selling a few hundred copies a week and needed more than two years of steady touring to climb into the US top ten.

Who inspired the title and lyrics of Maroon 5's debut album?

Adam Levine's former girlfriend. He said he spotted her at a gas station, wrote a song about her and played it in the store where she worked, and that every track has a line about her.

Which musician was so impressed by Maroon 5's debut album that he invited them to open his 2003 tour?

John Mayer. He had studied at Berklee with the band's guitarist in 1996, ran into him again at a radio session and, after hearing their CD, gave them his opening slots.

Which first single from Maroon 5's debut album did Adam Levine write in anger at his label's demands?

Harder to Breathe. With the album nearly finished, the label asked for more songs, and Levine said this one came from wanting to throw something, though he was later glad of the push.

Which Grammy Award did Maroon 5 win at the 2005 ceremony?

Best New Artist. The "new" band had been playing together for more than a decade, since four of them were teenagers, and had already been dropped by one record label.

For which song did Maroon 5 win the 2006 Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals?

This Love. The award went to a live recording of it, and its steamy video, shot with Levine's real partner, was also issued in a second, censored cut.

Around 2000, between record deals, Adam Levine took an assistant's job on which CBS drama?

Judging Amy. Its writer-producer Barbara Hall was a family friend, and the job was one of several odd ones Levine took after his first band lost its record deal.

Original member Ryan Dusick left Maroon 5 in 2006 after wrist and shoulder injuries stopped him playing what?

Drums. Years of near-constant touring aggravated an old sports injury, and by 2004 he was treating his tendinitis with giant ice packs after every gig.

Maroon 5's 2019 Super Bowl halftime show briefly teased "Sweet Victory", a song from which cartoon?

SpongeBob SquarePants. After its creator Stephen Hillenburg died, over a million fans petitioned for the song from the show's own halftime episode, but only a short clip was shown.

Adam Levine wrote and sang the hook of which rapper's 2005 single "Heard 'Em Say"?

Kanye West. Levine had just written the hook when West played him the track on a flight to Rome, and he later reused the chorus in Maroon 5's own Nothing Lasts Forever.

Which Maroon 5 single leapt from number 64 to number one on the Hot 100 in one week, then a record jump?

Makes Me Wonder. Its break-up lyric carries a second meaning: Levine said he reworked it around his frustration with American politics and the war in Iraq.

Which Maroon 5 song was re-recorded in 2008 as a duet with Rihanna?

If I Never See Your Face Again. The song was already finished when the band asked Rihanna to add her parts, and the duet went on both acts' reissued albums.

Which AC/DC producer made Hands All Over with Maroon 5?

Mutt Lange. The band recorded at his base in Switzerland, where Levine found nothing to distract them but scenery; he later joked that Swiss neutrality had infected the album.

What was the first single from Maroon 5's 2010 album Hands All Over?

Misery. Its video turns the usual pop romance around: the model Levine chases, Anne Vyalitsyna, keeps trying to kill him, first with her fists and later with artillery.

Which singer features on Maroon 5's 2011 hit "Moves like Jagger"?

Christina Aguilera. The duet rescued a band whose third album had stalled: Levine said the song "saved us" and totally revived them.

"Moves like Jagger" lost its 2012 Grammy category to Tony Bennett's duet with which late singer?

Amy Winehouse. They recorded Body and Soul at Abbey Road four months before she died, and Bennett gave the single's royalties to the charity her father set up in her name.

Maroon 5's video for "Don't Wanna Know", with the band in creature costumes, spoofs which gaming craze?

Pokémon Go. Levine, in a creature suit, can't drive, work out or mope over his ex, played by Sarah Silverman, without phone-wielding players chasing him.

What was the name of the Snapple flavour Maroon 5 launched in 2011 to support Feeding America?

Tea Will Be Loved, a pun on She Will Be Loved. Each band member chose a fruit for the blend, and the limited edition helped pay for 1.75 million meals.

In 2011, Maroon 5 teamed up with which soft-drink brand to write and record a song in just 24 hours?

Coca-Cola. Fans tweeted suggestions during the session, and the finished song was given away free, with each of the first 100,000 downloads triggering a clean-water donation in Africa.

Maroon 5 was a late addition to Rock in Rio 2011, filling the slot vacated by which artist?

Jay-Z. He pulled out for personal reasons five weeks before the show, and Maroon 5 were among the acts fans had asked for most on the festival's social networks.

Which keyboardist replaced Jesse Carmichael when he took a break from Maroon 5 in 2012?

PJ Morton. He had been touring with the band since 2010, and when Carmichael came back two years later Morton stayed on, turning the five-piece into six.

What was the title of Maroon 5's fourth album, released in June 2012?

Overexposed. The title winks at how inescapable Adam Levine had become by 2012, and the band, which had long written its own songs, made it with outside hit makers.

Which rapper features on Maroon 5's 2012 hit "Payphone"?

Wiz Khalifa. Producer Benny Blanco, who was also making the rapper's own singles, brought him in, and Levine said the verse was finished within half an hour.

Adam Levine sings the hook on which group's 2011 hit "Stereo Hearts"?

Gym Class Heroes. Producer Benny Blanco said Levine wanted the song for himself once he had sung on it, so Blanco promised to make him another, which became Moves like Jagger.

Which global hit did Maroon 5's "One More Night" keep at number two on the Hot 100 for seven straight weeks?

Gangnam Style. Psy's hit sold more downloads, but radio play kept One More Night ahead, in one week by fewer than 500 chart points.

Maroon 5's fifth album V was released on Interscope in partnership with which label owned by Adam Levine?

222. Levine started the label in 2012 and signed other acts to it first, a star of Glee among them; his own band only moved over two years later.

What was the first single from Maroon 5's album V?

Maps. Its video tells the story backwards, tracing the death of Adam Levine's on-screen partner, who is run down in the street, back through the events that led up to it.

In the video for Maroon 5's "Animals", Adam Levine plays a stalker who works as what?

A butcher. He stalks a customer played by his real wife, Behati Prinsloo, and the anti-sexual-violence group RAINN condemned the video for dressing up a crime as romance.

In the "Sugar" video, what do Maroon 5 do around the city?

Crash weddings as the surprise band. Director David Dobkin borrowed the idea from his own comedy Wedding Crashers; he and Levine were old friends who had talked of working together for a decade.

In the video for Maroon 5's "One More Night", Adam Levine plays which kind of athlete?

A boxer. He fights to support his partner, played by Minka Kelly, and their baby daughter, but she walks out on him in the end; director Peter Berg had cast her in Friday Night Lights.

"Lost Stars", which Maroon 5 performed at the 2015 Academy Awards, comes from which film?

Begin Again. The band sang it at the Oscars because it was up for Best Original Song; in the film, Levine's first, his character's sudden fame wrecks his romance with Keira Knightley's songwriter.

The title of Maroon 5's 2017 album Red Pill Blues was inspired by which film?

The Matrix. The cover carries the idea on: the band posed for Polaroids with Snapchat filters over their faces, a joke about the filtered versions of ourselves we show online.

Which rapper features on the chart-topping 2018 remix of "Girls Like You"?

Cardi B. Her verse was added to a track from the previous year's album, and the remix's video, a parade of famous women circling Levine, was Vevo's most-watched of 2018.

Which rapper's hit kept Maroon 5's "Girls Like You" at number two for six weeks in 2018?

Drake. When Girls Like You finally passed his In My Feelings, it became the first pop song at number one after 34 straight weeks of rap chart-toppers.

Which two rappers joined Maroon 5 for the Super Bowl LIII halftime show in 2019?

Big Boi and Travis Scott. Scott agreed to perform only if the NFL joined him in a $500,000 donation to a social-justice group, while Big Boi was the host city's own star.

Maroon 5's 2021 album Jordi is named in memory of whom?

Their late manager, Jordan Feldstein, known as Jordi. Levine's friend since childhood, he died in 2017, and the band dedicated its hit Memories to him.

Which founding bassist left Maroon 5 in 2020 following an arrest on domestic violence allegations?

Mickey Madden. He took a leave of absence, saying he did not want to be a distraction to his bandmates, and never came back; Sam Farrar moved across to bass.

Which rapper features on Maroon 5's 2021 single "Beautiful Mistakes"?

Megan Thee Stallion. Her verse switches from rapping to singing, and Levine said what she did took the song to a whole new level.

Which K-pop star features on Maroon 5's 2025 single "Priceless"?

Lisa. The Blackpink rapper and Levine play a warring couple in the video, a nod to the film Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

What is the title of Maroon 5's eighth studio album, released in August 2025?

Love Is Like. It was the band's first album in more than four years, and Levine said they had gone back to what they used to do, making music without fretting over where it would fit.

Maroon 5's first Las Vegas residency, from 2023 to 2025, shared which venue with Usher?

Dolby Live at Park MGM. The run went on sale as 16 shows in the 5,200-seat theatre and kept being extended, closing two years later after 40 shows.

Which reunited band did Maroon 5 support in 2007, skipping "Won't Go Home Without You" because it echoed the headliners' hit?

The Police. Levine admitted Every Breath You Take was a direct influence on the song, written when he thought the trio would never reunite.

Adam Levine made his acting debut in 2012 with a recurring part in which TV series?

American Horror Story. In its second season he played a newlywed who takes his bride, played by Jenna Dewan, to explore an abandoned asylum on their honeymoon.

Which actor officiated Adam Levine's 2014 wedding to model Behati Prinsloo?

Jonah Hill. The two grew up together after their fathers met in a junior high principal's office, and Hill said the job left him so drained that he went home after half an hour.

Adam Levine's father founded a chain selling what?

Clothes. His father built the boutique chain M. Fredric, and Levine went on to launch a menswear collection of his own alongside a fragrance line.

Before joining Maroon 5 full-time in 2016, Sam Farrar was the bassist of which band?

Phantom Planet. He was already close to the band: he had shared a flat with Levine for two years and had been co-writing their songs since the early albums.

In which city did Maroon 5 play the Live 8 concert in 2005?

Philadelphia. The band closed their set with Neil Young's Rockin' in the Free World, and Levine came back later to sing Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours with Stevie Wonder.

Why did Maroon 5 play George Lucas's 2005 AFI tribute?

They were his children's favourite band. Their acoustic set accompanied a salute to Lucas as a family man, on a night William Shatner opened by singing My Way with dancing stormtroopers.

Maroon 5's "Sunday Morning" video grew out of something the band noticed on tour in Japan, so where is it set?

A karaoke bar. The band had found their own songs on a karaoke list in Japan, so the video cuts between them recording at Abbey Road and customers belting out their hits.

Which sound opens Maroon 5's "Moves like Jagger" and carries its hook all the way through?

Whistling. The song came from outside producers Shellback and Benny Blanco, a first for a band that until then had written all of its own music.

Which Rihanna single kept 'Moves like Jagger' off the UK number one spot in October 2011?

We Found Love. Moves like Jagger was leading the midweek chart when Rihanna's single came out and entered at number one; it spent seven weeks at number two in all.

On which TV show did Maroon 5 give "Moves like Jagger" its first live performance?

The Voice. Levine was in his first season as a coach there when the single came out, and within three months of that performance it was number one in the US.

Which singer features on Maroon 5's 2017 single "What Lovers Do"?

SZA. It gave her a first US top-ten hit, and because its tune borrows from the Swedish dance hit Sexual, that song's writers share the credit.

On which 1990s teen drama did the future members of Maroon 5 appear in 1997 to promote their first album?

Beverly Hills, 90210. Levine said the teenagers thought they were rock gods, the Beatles in their own minds, but the album flopped and their label let them go.

Adam Levine credits a spell at college in which US state with opening his ears to hip-hop and R&B?

New York. After their first album flopped, he and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael enrolled at Five Towns College on Long Island, and the music around them reshaped the songs they wrote.

Which late R&B star's 1998 hit does Adam Levine credit with turning his rock band toward soul?

Aaliyah. Levine called Are You That Somebody? one of the most revolutionary-sounding songs ever recorded, and its stuttering beat became the model for his band's own Not Coming Home.

In 2013 People magazine gave Adam Levine which title?

Sexiest Man Alive. Levine, the first singer chosen, said that musicians dream of winning Grammys and that he thought the magazine was kidding.

Maroon 5 recorded "Come Away to the Water" for the soundtrack of which 2012 blockbuster?

The Hunger Games. Levine shared the vocal with Rozzi Crane, a college student he signed to his own label, on an album that also featured Taylor Swift and Arcade Fire.

In which 2007 SNL Digital Short did Adam Levine sing alongside Andy Samberg?

Iran So Far. Samberg's love song is addressed to Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Levine's part reworks A Flock of Seagulls' hit I Ran; Jake Gyllenhaal drops in as the president's supposed lookalike.