Maroon 5’s Adam Levine Reveals Band’s Secret Formula For Success To Ryan Seacrest
Maroon 5 is arguably the biggest band in the universe these days. And recently, Adam Levine disclosed the secret of their success to Ryan Seacrest.
“I signed a deal with the devil,” Levine joked on On Air With Ryan Seacrest before taking the question seriously and responding with his thoughts on how Maroon 5 has been able to deliver hit after hit.
“I opened myself up to a lot of different music that beforehand I hadn’t really been open to. When you’re a songwriter and you want to do it for a very, very long time you have to learn to adapt. And to be open to different kinds of collaboration. And that leads to a lot of success.”
Adam added that despite the bevy of radio hits, including “Sugar,” which ended up being Maroon 5’s most successful single to date from V, at the core, they’re a live band.
“Having our songs on the radio has been the fuel in the tank for the band to perform live. We’ve always considered ourselves to be a live band. I think that’s the cornerstone of who we are. That’s our bread and butter.”
Levine added that many of his musician friends even joke to him that when they finally see them live they’re stunned to find “the band can actually play,” Adam joked again. Ryan Seacrest also noted how well Maroon 5 is able to replicate their radio sound live without any loss of quality and that some folks find that downright surprising.
.@Maroon5 announce their North American tour with these exclusive photos: https://t.co/xRektTO9Nq #M5OnTheRoad pic.twitter.com/SLjhmId1Kq
— MTV (@MTV) November 6, 2015
Of course, all the success Maroon 5 has had over the years isn’t without it’s criticism. As noted by a recent column via KQED Arts, the fact that Adam admits to being open to all different genres of music can actually leave the band ripe for critics to pounce. Blogger Emma Silver for example, ponders exactly how Maroon 5 has managed to be considered new and different simply by incorporating previously introduced music into their own brand of pop.
“As far as I can tell, this is a Maroon 5 trademark of sorts — not just changing genres frequently, but tapping into genres historically dominated by black artists,” she argues. “Stuffing them through their magically bland Wonka-like sausage machine, and squeezing out an impressively dull and very white kind of musical tapioca.”
Still, Maroon 5 must be doing something right. After all, according to Billboard, the band has announced yet another U.S. tour this coming fall. The tour kicks off in San Antonio, Texas on Sept. 3, 2016 followed by a show in New Orleans. Adam Levine and company will then cover the southern coastal region with stops in Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee before making their way up the East Coast with concerts scheduled in New York, New England and even a brief stop in Canada. The 2016 tour makes it’s way across the country before ending in Oakland, California on October 16, 2016.
Aside from the V tour and the follow-up U.S. Tour now announced, there’s talk the band will play the much-coveted Super Bowl Halftime Show in San Francisco on February 7, 2016. As previously reported by Inquistr, Levine went on the Howard Stern Show recently to openly pitch for the gig.
“We’ve been on a short list for a number of years,” Levine told Stern. “I would love there to be…[Maroon 5] would be thrilled to do it.”
[Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images]
