Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. The group originally formed in 1994 as Kara's Flowers while they were still attending high school. With a line-up of 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 with their record label and attended college. In 2001, the band regrouped and added James Valentine to the lineup, and pursued a new direction under the name Maroon 5.
Maroon 5 signed with Octone Records and recorded their debut album in 2002. The album, Songs About Jane, was released in June 2002. The album's lead single - "Harder to Breathe" - received heavy airplay, which helped propel the album to number 6 on the US Billboard 200. The album's second and third singles, "This Love" and "She Will Be Loved", were worldwide hits in 2004. 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 issued 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 departed the band - he was replaced by Matt Flynn. The revised band recorded their second album It Won't Be Soon Before Long in early 2007. The album was released in May and peaked at number 1 on the Billboard 200. The album's first single, "Makes Me Wonder", became the band's first number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100.
This entry is from 
