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Maroon 5 has rocketed to the top of pop fame in recent years, amassing millions of fans and incredible critical success.
Band members Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden have known each other since attending the Brentwood School together in junior high - they formed the garage/grunge band Karas Flowers and performed their first show at Whiskey a Go Go in 1995. The band recorded their debut album, "The Fourth World" in 1997, but soon thereafter split up to attend college and they began to explore different musical styles.
When James Valentine joined the band in 2001, the name changed to Maroon 5 and Levine started to change the bands sounds towards the urban and hip-hop culture. The new band signed with Octone Records. The bands debut album was 2002s "Songs About Jane," produced by Matt Wallace. The album was about Levines breakup with his girlfriend, Jane. The first hit from the album was "Harder to Breathe," which slowly made its way up the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The next two singles, "This Love" and "She Will Be Loved" were the biggest from the album, and "Sunday Morning," the final single, also charted.
After the release of "Jane," Maroon 5 toured constantly with acts such as Vanessa Carlton, John Mayer, Michelle Branch, Nikka Costa and The Rolling Stones. By the end of an almost three-year stint of traveling, drummer Dusick left the band due to injuries. Matt Flynn, Gavin DeGraws former drummer, filled in.
After breaking from their massive tour, the group recorded "It Wont Be Soon Before Long," which was released in May of 2007. According to Levine, the album is "sexier and stronger" than their previous release, drawing on sounds such as Prince, Talking Heads and Michael Jackson. The first single from the album was "Makes Me Wonder," and hit the top of the Billboard charts as well as music video charts.
The group headed out on a short club tour to support the album, and will travel more extensively this fall with The Hives.
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