~Official Maroon5 Website
~Maroon5 on MySpace
~Maroon5 On Wikipedia

~Members
Adam Levine
James Valentine
Jesse Carmichael
Mickey Madden
Matt Flynn
~Former members
Ryan Dusick

Adam Noah Levine (born March 18, 1979) is an American musician; he is the lead singer and guitarist for the pop group Maroon 5.[1]

Born in Los Angeles, California to Patsy Noah and Fred Levine, he has one brother, Michael, a stepsister, Julia, and two half siblings, Sam and Liza. His stepmother and father own two fashion stores geared toward men; because of this, Levine claims he's always been ahead of the fashion curve. In 2005, he and Ryan Seacrest of American Idol attended the inauguration of M. Fredric MAN, his parents' second store, in Studio City.[2] Levine's background is Jewish[3].

Levine attended the private Brentwood School, where he met the original members of the band Kara's Flowers: Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick. On his first day at Brentwood School, Levine met the third member of Maroon 5, Mickey Madden. Levine is noted as describing Mickey as a "musical encyclopedia" and it is thought that Levine's influence played a major role in Madden acquiring his first bass guitar soon after.

James Burgon Valentine (born October 5, 1978 in Lincoln, Nebraska) is an American musician. He is best known as the guitarist for the pop rock group Maroon 5.

Valentine played in Lincoln bands Kid Quarkstar and Happy Dog. In 2000, Happy Dog changed its name to Square and moved to Los Angeles from Anaheim, CA. where he taught private guitar lessons out of his home.

Eventually the members of Square and Kara's Flowers became friends and when Kara's Flowers began looking for another guitarist, Valentine was tapped. It was a tough decision for Valentine, but personal tensions in Square helped the decision and shortly afterward, Kara's Flowers became Maroon 5.

Valentine is a longtime friend of John Mayer, whom he met in 1996 at a weeklong guitar school at Berklee in Boston. Valentine once tried to get Mayer to move to Lincoln to play guitar for the Lincoln blues rock band Baby Jason and the Spankers, and later on an opening slot on one of Mayer's tours helped bring widespread exposure to Maroon 5. Valentine most recently contributed guitar work to Mayer's September 2006 release Continuum on the songs "Stop This Train" and "In Repair."

Valentine was raised as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) and has three sisters and one brother. His family now lives in Utah, and both parents work for Brigham Young University which is owned and operated by the LDS church. He does not consider himself to be an active Mormon. [1] His mother is a former beauty queen.

Most recently, James Valentine has played guitar on Jenny Lewis's solo album, Rabbit Fur Coat, and has appeared in her music video for "Rise Up with Fists!!"

Before finding fame with Maroon 5, Valentine has also played with Reel Big Fish, firstly when guitarist Aaron Barrett broke his hand, and then later in 2001 when Barrett fell down some stairs. Valentine displayed a picture from one Reel Big Fish show he played during Maroon 5's appearance on MTV Cribs.

James was the only member of Maroon 5 to live in the haunted mansion where their second studio album was written and recorded, and encountered what he describes as "a benevolent spirit" in the house. It was the ghost of an old lady who had lived and died in the mansion; he thought she was a living person and called out to her as she walked into a room - when he reached the room, there was nobody there

Jesse Carmichael (born in Boulder, Colorado on April 2, 1979)[1] is an American musician who is the keyboardist for the rock group Maroon 5.

Jesse first started playing the guitar in junior high, rather than the keyboards (which he is known for in band Maroon 5). Along with friends Adam Levine, Ryan Dusick, and Mickey Madden the group Kara's Flowers was formed.

Kara's Flowers signed a deal with Reprise Records and produced one album (The Fourth World). The album found little success and, after the demise of the group, Carmichael and Levine attended Five Towns College. While in college, Carmichael began to play the keyboards [2]. However, Levine and Carmichael only lasted a semester in the college before dropping out and heading back to California [3].

All of the Kara's Flowers members eventually met up and formed Maroon 5 with the addition of guitarist James Valentine.

Michael "Mickey" Madden (born May 13, 1979 in Austin, Texas) is an American musician. Madden is best known for being the bassist in the pop rock band Maroon 5. Madden began playing in junior high school. And, along with friends Jesse Carmichael (piano/keyboard) and Adam Levine (singer/guitar) they played in garages with the bands Pearl Jam and Nirvana being among of their influences. In 1994 with the addition of Ryan Dusick (drums), the band Kara's Flowers was formed. [1]

After break-up of Kara's Flowers, Madden attended classes at UCLA, after attending college the group would reform with the addition of James Valentine (guitar), they sought a new record deal and formed the band Maroon 5.[1]

Matt Flynn is an American musician, currently the drummer and an official member of the band Maroon 5. Originally the substitute drummer for the band, he took over after the departure of Ryan Dusick, who left the band due to wrist and shoulder injuries that he received from pitching on his high school baseball team. Matt is currently a Yamaha Drum Artist, and he currently plays a Yamaha Absolute Maple Nouveau drum set, Sabian and Zildjian Cymbals, and Vater sticks. On 5th June 2007, Flynn's wife gave birth to their second child, named Michael Ford Flynn. [1]

Three members of Maroon 5 have known each other since attending junior high school together in Los Angeles. While attending Brentwood School, Adam Levine and Jesse Carmichael joined up with Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick to form Kara's Flowers,[2] a garage/grunge band that played its first gig at the Whisky a Go Go on September 16, 1995. At that time, Levine sang with a deeper "grunge" voice as opposed to the high-pitched vocals he is known for now.[3][4]

The band signed with Reprise Records while still in high school and released its only album The Fourth World in the middle of 1997,[2] just as three of the four members were about to graduate (Ryan Dusick was completing his sophomore year at UCLA). A video was made for the opening track "Soap Disco", but it did not find success. Despite support slots on tours with Reel Big Fish and Goldfinger, the album failed to take off commercially and, in 1999, the band parted company with Reprise Records.

The four attended different colleges across the United States, experiences that would greatly influence the style and sound of Maroon 5.[5] The four original members of Kara's Flowers remained in touch and started playing together again in 2001. Jesse Carmichael switched from guitar to keyboards, so a need arose for an additional guitarist. James Valentine, formerly with the band Square, joined them to fill that void.

The band recorded Songs About Jane at Rumbo Recorders in Los Angeles with record producer Matt Wallace, who had also produced for Train, Blues Traveler, Kyle Riabko, and Third Eye Blind. Most of the material on Maroon 5's debut album was directly inspired by Levine's tumultuous relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Jane; "We were breaking up as the band entered the studio," he explains. "After compiling a song list, we decided to name the album Songs About Jane because it felt like the most honest statement we could make with the title."[6]

The first single "Harder to Breathe" slowly started to pick up airplay which helped spur sales of the album. By March 2004, the album had reached the Top 20 of the Billboard 200 and "Harder to Breathe" had made the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts. The album peaked at #6 on the Billboard 200 in August 2004,[7] 26 months after its release; this was the longest period between an album's release and its initial Top 10 appearance since SoundScan results were included in the Billboard 200 in 1991.[8]

Songs About Jane eventually reached #2 on the Australian albums charts[9] while "Harder to Breathe" made the Top 20 singles charts in the U.S.[10] and UK,[9] and Top 40 in Australia and New Zealand.[9] The album also eventually climbed to #1 in the UK and #2 in Australia.[9] The second single, "This Love", reached #5 in the U.S.[10], #3 in the UK, and #8 in Australian[9] The third single, "She Will Be Loved", reached the Top 5 in both the U.S.[10] and the UK, and went to #1 in Australia.[9] The fourth single, "Sunday Morning", reached the Top 40 in the U.S.,[10] UK, and Australia.[9]

Adam Levine, Maroon 5On May 22, 2007, Maroon 5's second album, It Won't Be Soon Before Long, was released worldwide by A&M/Octone Records.[16] According to Levine, the follow-up to Songs About Jane is "sexier and stronger",[17] gaining inspiration from iconic 80s artists such as Prince, Shabba Ranks, Michael Jackson and Talking Heads.[18] Before its release, "Makes Me Wonder" was the #1 selling single and video on iTunes.[17] It was also the #1 selling album, with more than 50,000 digital pre-sales.[17] After its release, the album broke iTunes sales records its week of release, selling over 101,000 albums.[19]

The first single, "Makes Me Wonder", was released to radio March 27, 2007. The making of the music video was previewed on MTV's Total Request Live, and premiered on the show March 29. The song debuted at number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100, the lowest debuting single of the group's five chart entries. In the first week of May, the single skyrocketed from a lowly position of 64 to #1, the biggest jump in Billboard history.[20] "Makes Me Wonder" has also achieved #1 on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs, Pop 100, and Hot Dance Club Play charts.[21]

To support the album, the band performed on a "six-date club tour" in which they visited small venues in Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Miami, and New York City in early June 2007.[22] They followed with a concert that streamed live via MSN Music in mid-June.[23] Then, on July 9, the band announced plans for their 2007 It Won't Be Soon Before Long world tour set to begin September 29 in Detroit and conclude November 10 in Las Vegas.[24] The Hives, as the tour's special guest, will be performing on all of the dates while Sara Bareilles, Kevin Michael, and Phantom Planet will each be performing in a portion of the tour.[25] On July 10, they opened for The Police, in Miami,[26] and followed with an acoustic performance at the Miami club, Studio A, the next day.[27

In the song "Harder to Breathe", parts of the lyrics could be interpreted by some as misogynistic. After accusing his lover of being "condescending and unnecessarily critical", Levine sings, "I have a tendency of getting very physical/So watch your step, 'cause if I do you'll need a miracle." Although the lyrics seem to imply that he will physically strike the woman to whom he is speaking, Levine has said that the song was written in response to the record company pressuring the band into writing more material, because none of the tracks were a single.[28]

Explicit content

Uncensored and censored music video for "This Love"The music video for "This Love" featured lead singer Adam Levine and his then-girlfriend, model Kelly McKee, in extended sex scenes. The video used creative camera angles to show as much as possible without actually revealing any of the couple's genitalia, thereby avoiding possible FCC action.[29] A version of the video where a stream of computer-generated flowers cover up more was created for more conservative markets.[30] When asked about his feelings on this, Levine commented, "That was ridiculous."[31] Bass player Madden said that it was "an absurd over-reaction."[32]

More steamy scenes appeared in the video for "She Will Be Loved", which featured a love triangle and sexual imagery involving Levine and actress Kelly Preston, the wife of actor John Travolta.[33] Their newest video for Wake Up Call, also contains such material, and in addition the video is also presented as a tralier for a fictional NC-17 rated movie.

Neither Songs About Jane nor It Won't Be Soon Before Long bears a Parental Advisory label,[34][35] in spite of the strong language and explicit nature of lines in the singles "Harder to Breathe" and "Makes Me Wonder" respectively.

The majority of info here was taken directly from Wikipedia. Thanks!