Australian fans of Maroon 5 will be loved when the band return to our shores with their 'Red Pill Blues' album tour this February.
Since their 2002 debut album 'Songs About Jane' – featuring career-defining singles 'Harder To Breathe', 'This Love' and 'She Will Be Loved' – Maroon 5 have maintained a consistent output of smooth, funk-inflected pop rock.
Fronted by Adam Levine, Maroon 5 originally formed in 1994 under the name Kara's Flowers and featured Levine, guitarist Jesse Carmichael, bassist Mickey Madden and drummer Ryan Dusick. The band produced a grand total of one album – 'The Fourth World' (1996), which proved to be a total failure and led to them being dropped by their label Reprise Records six months later.
Reforming as Maroon 5 and redefining their sound to include more urban influences, they re-entered the market in 2001 and recruited fifth member James Valentine as a full-time guitarist.
'Songs About Jane' was released in June of 2002 and proved to be a slow-burn success for Maroon 5 with the album not entering the Australian End Of Year charts until 2004, the same year they won their first (of three) Grammy Awards, for Best New Artist.
The band have gone on to receive another two Grammy Awards for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for 'Makes Me Wonder' in 2007 and 'This Love' in 2005, and have been nominated a total of thirteen times.
In 2006, Ryan Dusick announced his departure from the band citing medical issues stemming from serious wrist and shoulder injuries, and was replaced by Matt Flynn.
With the release of their sophomore album 'It Won't Be Soon Before Long' in 2007, Maroon 5 scored their first US Billboard Hot 100 number one single for 'Makes Me Wonder'.
Third album 'Hands All Over' followed in 2010, the 2011 re-release of which featured the hit 'Moves Like Jagger' with Christina Aguilera, a song Adam Levine has credited with reviving the group.
Two years later guitarist Jesse Carmichael left the group and was replaced by PJ Morton for their fourth album 'Overexposed' in 2012, which yielded another Billboard Hot 100 number one single in 'One More Night', topping the chart for nine consecutive weeks.
Maroon 5's fifth album 2014 'V' (Five) saw the return of Carmichael, along with Morton, and was the first the band produced after being transferred to Interscope Records from A&M Octone. By 2016, long-time collaborator and touring member Sam Farrar officially joined Maroon making them a seven-piece.
In November 2017, Maroon 5 released their sixth and latest album 'Red Pill Blues', the title a nod to 'The Matrix'; it features hit single 'Girls Like You' with Cardi B, which spent seven consecutive weeks in the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
However a month later, in December of 2017, Jordan Feldstein – the band's manager, Adam's friend and the older brother of actor Jonah Hill – died unexpectedly from a pulmonary thromboembolism in his Beverly Hills home. Though the death was ruled 'natural' by the coroner, multiple used nitrous oxide 'Whip-It' canisters were found in the bedroom [source: Shirley Halperin, 'Variety' 2018].
The band have persevered though and started international touring for 'Red Pill Blues' in March of 2018, with them due in Australia from mid-February after headlining the Super Bowl LIII halftime show at the beginning of February.
Maroon 5 2019 Tour Dates
Tue 19 Feb - Brisbane Entertainment CentreThu 21 Feb - Qudos Bank Arena (Sydney)
Fri 22 Feb - Rod Laver Arena (Melbourne)
