Original members Levine, Carmichael, bassist Mickey Madden, and drummer Ryan Dusick first came together as Kara's Flowers in 1994, while they were in high school.

In 2010, the band released their third album Hands All Over, to favorable reviews, re-releasing a year later to include the single "Moves like Jagger", which topped the Billboard Hot 100.

In 2012, Carmichael left the group and was replaced by musician PJ Morton, as the band released the fourth album Overexposed, with the song "One More Night", topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart for nine consecutive weeks.

In 2016, Maroon 5 recruited their long-time collaborator Sam Farrar, as the band continued for the sixth studio album Red Pill Blues, which was released in November 2017.

[13][14] While attending Brentwood School, Levine and Jesse Carmichael joined with Mickey Madden and Dusick to form Kara's Flowers,[15] a rock band.

[17] However, after the release of The Fourth World, during Levine and Madden's senior year of high school in 1997, it had morphed into a band with a style reminiscent of 1960s Britpop.

[21] While Levine and Carmichael were in New York, they began to take notice of the urban music surrounding them and later let the style influence the songs they wrote.

The band put together a demo that was rejected by several labels, before acquired by Octone Records executives James Diener, Ben Berkman and David Boxenbaum.

[24] Berkman encouraged Diener and Boxenbaum to fly out to Los Angeles to watch a showcase gig at The Viper Room for the four-piece Kara's Flowers.

[31][32] Other acts the band toured alongside included Gavin DeGraw,[33] Matchbox Twenty, Sugar Ray,[34] Counting Crows,[35] Phantom Planet,[36] the Hives,[37] Dashboard Confessional,[38] Simon Dawes,[39] the Thrills, Thirsty Merc, Marc Broussard, the Donnas, the RedWest, Michael Tolcher, and Guster.

[50] Levine described the follow-up to Songs About Jane is "sexier and stronger",[51] gaining inspiration from iconic 80s artists such as Prince, Shabba Ranks, Michael Jackson and Talking Heads.

[52] Ann Powers writing for Los Angeles Times said It Won't Be Soon Before Long is "An icy-hot blend of electro-funk and blue-eyed soul that works its cruel streak with the confidence of Daniel Craig's James Bond".

[56] To support the album, the band performed on a ten-date club tour in which visited small venues in Europe and the United States from April to June 2007.

In February 2011, Maroon 5 headlined the Super Bowl XLV pre-show with special guest Keith Urban, where the band performing their songs including "Misery" and "Never Gonna Leave This Bed".

[78] During a promotion by Coca-Cola in March 2011, the band participated in a special studio session during which, with the help of musician PJ Morton, they only had 24 hours to write a completely original song.

[79] On July 12, 2011, the band re-released the album Hands All Over, just to include their summer hit "Moves like Jagger" featuring Christina Aguilera.

Frontman Levine was also featured in the Gym Class Heroes' song "Stereo Hearts" from their album The Papercut Chronicles II, which peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100.

[92] Later, Maroon 5 contributed with a song written by Glen Hansard called "Come Away to the Water", featuring Rozzi Crane for The Hunger Games soundtrack album.

[95] On April 16, Maroon 5 premiered the first single from the album "Payphone", featuring Wiz Khalifa, on the reality competition show The Voice, in which Levine is one of the coaches.

Brad Wete, writing for Billboard, said: "Levine's hummingbird vocals and passionate delivery are as earnest as they were on their 2002 debut Songs About Jane.

[142][143] In October 2017, Maroon 5 revealed their sixth studio album Red Pill Blues, the name inspired by the 1999 science fiction film The Matrix.

[150][151] To support the album, Maroon 5 embarked on the Red Pill Blues Tour, began on May 30, 2018, and concluded on December 31, 2019, along with special guests Julia Michaels, Cxloe and Sigrid.

In June 2018, the band collaborated with Hyundai, to record a cover version of Bob Marley and the Wailers' "Three Little Birds", was released as a promotional single on Apple Music[152] and featured with three vehicles are appeared on the advertisements for Hyundai Santa Fe and Kona in the 2018 FIFA World Cup and Nexo in the song's official music video both were directed by Joseph Kahn.

[155] On February 3, 2019, Maroon 5 headlined the Super Bowl LIII halftime show in Atlanta, Georgia, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with American rappers Big Boi and Travis Scott.

The musicians who pulled out did so to show their support for Colin Kaepernick and others who protested police brutality and racism by kneeling during the U.S. national anthem and faced repercussions by the NFL for doing so.

[201] The band has cited Michael Jackson, The Beatles, The Police, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, the Bee Gees, Tonic, Prince, Tupac Shakur and Marvin Gaye as influences.

Mark Savage of BBC News said that Levine performed the songs with a "lack of energy" and was "out of tune", adding that the disappointment of some fans increased when videos were leaked.

[227] "One More Night", managed to beat Psy's "Gangnam Style" by reaching number one on Billboard Hot 100 and stayed tied with Carly Rae Jepsen's hit single "Call Me Maybe" for most weeks at No.

[99] Maroon 5 ranked 15 on Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) "Top Artists – Digital Singles" list, with certified sales of 15 million in the United States.

[228] In 2013, Maroon 5 became the third most-played artist on Top 40 Mainstream radio, based on Clear Channel owned Mediabase, becoming one of the most successful acts of Interscope Records.