Maroon 5’s Adam Levine Can’t Shut Up About Gwen Stefani

Maroon 5’s Adam Levine has been less than secretive about his affection for Voice coach and V collaborator Gwen Stefani. In fact, he raved about her so much his band mates were concerned she might not live up to expectations.

“Adam wouldn’t shut up about how cool she is as a person,” Maroon 5 guitarist James Valentine told the Oakland Press recently. “A lot of times when you meet your idols, it’s a letdown, but it’s the opposite case with Gwen.”

Valentine also spoke about how influential Gwen’s group No Doubt has been on Maroon 5’s music. Stefani’s influence even extended back before they were Maroon 5, when they were giving it a go as the group Kara’s Flowers.

“People probably don’t realize that for the guys in the band, (Stefani’s group) No Doubt was a really important band in that they worked their way up from the same clubs here in southern California that Kara’s Flowers played up from, so they used to go see No Doubt in the ’90s and they were always role models for what could happen. So it’s cool for all of us, as just sort of fan boys, to have her on the record.”

Adam Levine of course echoed this sentiment in the months leading up to the release of their Billboard chart topping hit album V. The Maroon 5 front man raved about Gwen Stefani in an interview with Ryan Seacrest late last summer and dished about their experience working on V together.

“She’s incredible. [She] was so much fun,” the “Moves Like Jagger” singer said. “We just sat around and talked for hours. It was so fantastic getting to know her. I’m a huge fan of hers.”

Levine and Stefani got to showcase their eventual V collaboration on stage during the 57th Annual Grammy Awards this past year where they performed the Maroon 5 track “My Heart Is Open” in front of a live audience. According to Rolling Stone, Gwen “brought a heavy dose of emotiveness to her half of the duet” while Levine “kept it simple” on his end of the ballad.

This wasn’t the first time the duo shared the spotlight either as Stefani joined Adam on the hit NBC show The Voice last season. And even though Gwen’s time as a fellow coach with Levine on The Voice was short-lived — previous coach Christina Aguilera returned to the chair for the show’s eighth season — the musical chemistry they shared could spell new collaborations further down the road.

[Adam Levine, Gwen Stefani photo credit: Kevin Winter / Getty Images ]