Maroon 5

Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band that originated in Los Angeles, California. Before the group was formed the original four members of the 1994 band were known as Kara's Flowers while its members were still in high school, and originally consisted of Adam Levine (lead vocals, lead guitar), Jesse Carmichael (rhythm guitar, backing vocals) Mickey Madden (bass guitar) and Ryan Dusick (drums). The band, which self-released an album called We Like Digging?, then signed to Reprise Records and released the album The Fourth World in 1997. After the album garnered a tepid response, the band parted ways with the record label and the members attended college.

In 2001, the band changed its image by adding guitarist James Valentine and pursuing a new direction under the name Maroon 5. At this point, Carmichael switched to playing keyboards, which has since become his main instrument in the band. After these changes, Maroon 5 signed with a subsidiary of J Records, 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. In 2004, the album went platinum and has been dubbed "the sleeper hit of the millennium". The band won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2005. For the next few years, Maroon 5 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, Dusick officially left Maroon 5 after suffering from serious wrist and shoulder injuries and was replaced by Matt Flynn. The band then recorded their second album, It Won't Be Soon Before Long and released it 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 single on the Billboard Hot 100.

Songs About Jane

Songs About Jane is the official debut studio album by American pop rock band Maroon 5, released on June 25, 2002 by Octone and J Records. The album became a sleeper hit with the help of five singles that attained chart success, including the Billboard hit "Harder to Breathe" and international hits "This Love" and "She Will Be Loved".

Songs About Jane was re-released on October 14, 2003 becoming a huge international success. It topped the album charts in Australia, France, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, and reached the top 10 in 17 other countries. At the end of 2004, the album reached the top 10 of the US Billboard 200 chart. It had sold nearly 2.7 million copies by the end of 2004, and over 5.1 million copies in the U.S. by August 2015. It has sold over 10 million copies worldwide as of 2015.

Background

All but one member of the band had been members of a previous Los Angeles band called Kara's Flowers which released an album called The Fourth World in mid-1997 on Reprise Records with little success. Kara's Flowers left Reprise Records in 1999 and with the addition of guitarist James Valentine became Maroon 5.