About the Artist

Who Sounds Like Who
David Crowder Band  Starfield  Loftland  Lincoln Brewster  Hawk Nelson  Tauren Wells  Landry Cantrell  Long Hollow WAVE  Hillsong Young - Free  Planetshakers  Jordan Feliz  Chris August  Stars Go Dim  David Dunn  Ryan Stevenson  Anchor and Braille  RICHLIN  Consumed By Fire 

Who Are They
Adam Levine and his friends formed a high school band called Kara’s Flowers in 1994. After making an album together and then attending college, they re-formed with a new member in 2001 and renamed themselves Maroon 5. Their debut album, Songs About Jane, took a while to catch on with the general public but as soon as they released the massive hit, “This Love”, there was no turning back. Maroon 5 were America’s new favorite band. Now five albums deep into their career, they are responsible for over a dozen of the most played songs on Top 40 radio. Known initially for a sound that combined elements of rock, funk and soul, they have veered towards a more distinctively pop sound recently. They have sold over 27 million albums around the world and have won 3 Grammy Awards. Lead singer, Adam Levine, has become a star in his own right, thanks largely to his stint as a coach on the hit NBC series, The Voice.

What Are Their Messages
Maroon 5’s music is almost uniformly about one topic: love or more to the point society's wide views of love. Their songs cover every conceivable aspect of love and relationships. Falling in love and the longing of unrequited love are favorite subjects but their most widely known message is how much they enjoy the physical pleasures associated with relationships. When it comes to religious beliefs, Levine says that his Jewish heritage and upbringing “wasn’t the kind of thing [his father] wanted to force on [him]’ and, like many celebrities, claims to be more spiritual than religious, citing yoga as an all-inclusive practice that appeals to him.

What Does A Youthworker Need2Know
Maroon 5 is a talented band that have crafted hit after hit for over a decade, bringing their reliably funky pop to malls and movie soundtracks everywhere, but thematically, they leave quite a bit to be desired, especially for young listeners who may not know any better. Songs like “One More Night, “This Love” and “Moves Like Jagger” all disguise sexually provocative lyrics in candy-coated, glossy pop production, making them so catchy that many listeners find themselves singing along without realizing the lyrical content. It is a trick that has been employed by pop music for decades but Maroon 5 are masters of it. Getting your students to slow down and compare messages in the songs to God's word will be the task.