Adam Levine
(1979-)
Adam Levine is a Jewish American singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead singer of the Grammy-winning American pop,
funk and alternative rock band Maroon 5.
Born Adam Noah Levine in 1979 in Los
Angeles, California to Fred
and Patsee nee Noah Levine, Levine attended French Woods Festival of
the Performing Arts Camp in New York as a child. At French Woods, Levine started the band now known as Maroon
5 - which was then called Kara’s Flowers - with his best friend
Jesse Carmichael. The band released their first album titled The Fourth
World in 1997, during their senior year of high school.
After high school, Levine moved to New
York with Carmichael and “that’s when I started waking
up to the whole hip hop, R&B thing,” Levine said. In 2001,
the pair added several musicians and renamed their band Maroon 5.
Levine’s band was influenced by Nirvana, Pearl
Jam and similar bands. Maroon 5’s albums include Songs About
Jane, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long, Hands All Over, and their
singles include Moves Like Jagger and Payphone featuring the American
rapper Wiz Khalifa.
In addition to his work with Maroon 5, Levine has collaborated
with other musical and entertainment gigs. For example, he was featured
on the Ying Yang Twins’ song “Live Again;” and on
Kanye West’s album single “Heard ‘Em Say;” and
on Alicia Keys’ third album Alicia Keys: MTV Unplugged. Most recently,
Levine participated in the recording of Gym Class Heroes’ newest
album in the song “Stereo Hearts.”
In addition to his musical performances, he has made
four comic appearances on television. In 2007, he was on a Saturday
Night Live short called “Iran So Far” with Andy Samburg,
Fred Armisen and Jake
Gyllenhaal. Levine sang the bridge to a “love song”
for Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In 2008, Levine appeared
on Comedy Central’s “Night of Too Many Stars” and
he had a cameo on Jimmy Kimmel Live where he endorsed Barack Obama in
the 2008 Presidential Election.
Levine has said in various interviews that he does
not plan on continuing Maroon 5 forever, and may stop after the tour
for the band’s third album. Levine is also a coach on the American
talent show The Voice.
Though he has Jewish ancestry on both sides of his
family and considers himself Jewish, Levine rejects formal religious
practice and chose not to be Bar
Mitzvah-ed as a child.
Levine is active in several causes including Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) awareness and Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) rights. His personal connection
to ADHD is that he was diagnosed with the disorder as a teenager so
he launched an educational campaign called “Own It” to raise
awareness of ADHD. Levine’s brother is openly gay, so he is an
outspoken supporter of LGBT
rights and made a video on Maroon 5’s official YouTube channel
in support of the “It Gets Better Project.” In January 2012,
Levine announced that Maroon 5 changed the location of its post-Grammy
Awards show because of the original host restaurant’s backing
of Proposition 8, which eliminates the rights of same-sex couples to
marry.
Sources: Wikipedia, Michael Carmichael, “Bio by Mickey,” Maroon
5 website |