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Adam Levine
Levine during a press conference in Singapore in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Adam Noah Levine
Born	(1979-03-18) March 18, 1979 (age 45) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Pop rock, alternative rock, funk rock, soul, R&B, pop
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer-songwriter, actor
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar, bass, piano, drums
Years active	1994–present
Labels	A&M/Octone
Spouse	Holly Marie
Website	www.maroon5.com

Adam Noah Levine (born March 18, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and occasional actor best known as the front man and guitarist for American pop rock band Maroon 5. He is also a coach on the American talent show The Voice.

Early life

Levine was born in Los Angeles to Fred and Patsy (née Noah) Levine. He has two uncles, journalist and author Timothy Noah. and Peter Noah, a television producer and writer. He has two siblings, Michael and Julia, and two half-siblings, Eliza and Sam.

Levine attended French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts Camp (Hancock, NY) with best friend Jesse Carmichael, guitar player of the band known at that time as Kara's Flowers.

Levine has Jewish ancestry on both sides of his family (his father and maternal grandfather were Jewish), and considers himself Jewish, though according to The Jewish Chronicle, who interviewed Levine, he "has rejected formal religious practice for a more generalized, spiritual way of life". He chose not to have a Bar Mitzvah as a child.

Kara's Flowers

In September 1995, Levine along with fellow Brentwood School student Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick formed garage band Kara's Flowers. The band released their first album titled The Fourth World in 1997 as high school seniors. That same year the band appeared on an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. The album had little success, and its only single, "Soap Disco", failed commercially. Disappointed with the results of their album, the band members went their separate ways.

Levine and Carmichael left Los Angeles for New York. This was the first time the two Los Angeles natives were exposed to a completely different music scene, a cultural awakening for the young men. On MTV News, in 2002, Levine said, "That's when I started waking up to the whole hip hop, R&B thing. We had friends named Chaos and shit. It was not Brentwood High."

Maroon 5 and mainstream success

During this time, Levine worked a two-week stint as a waiter at Johnny Rockets. After dropping out of Five Towns College, Levine and Jesse reunited with Mickey and Ryan, but added former Square guitarist, James Valentine in 2001. Renaming the band Maroon 5, Levine and his friends began to compile all of their newfound musical influences into their music. While Levine was working as a writer's assistant on the television show "Judging Amy", he spent time writing the lyrics about his ex-girlfriend, Jane. Those lyrics became the album Songs About Jane.

Other work

Levine has collaborated with various musical acts. In 2005, Levine was featured on the Ying Yang Twins song "Live Again". He appeared on Kanye West's Late Registration album, on the third single, "Heard 'Em Say". He is also featured in the song "Wild Horses" on Alicia Keys' third album Alicia Keys: MTV Unplugged. Over the next year, he co-wrote the track "Say It Again" on Natasha Bedingfield's album N.B. and also performed the background vocals on the song. Levine has also offered his vocals on the Gym Class Heroes song, "Stereo Hearts".

Levine has made four notable comic appearances on television. During 2007, he appeared on the 33rd season premiere of Saturday Night Live in an SNL Digital Short called Iran So Far with Andy Samberg, Fred Armisen and Jake Gyllenhaal. Levine played himself while singing a humorous bridge to a "love song" for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In 2008, he appeared on Comedy Central's "Night of Too Many Stars". Levine also had a cameo on Jimmy Kimmel Live! for the night of stars and endorsed Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential Election.

In October 2008, Levine collaborated with First Act to create the First Act 222 Guitar, fashioned to Levine's specifications. The guitar was made available for purchase at Target retail stores.

Levine has stated in various interviews that he does not plan on continuing in Maroon 5 forever, and may stop after the tour for Maroon 5's third album (Hands All Over). In 2009, he recorded "Gotten", a song for Slash's first solo album Slash released in April 2010. "Gotten" was premiered at amazon.com on March 29, 2010. Levine is also featured as a singer for his band's song "She Will be Loved" in the music rhythm game Band Hero. In February 2010, he was among approximately 80 musicians who sang on the charity-single remake of "We Are the World" called "We Are the World 25 for Haiti".

Levine is one of the contestant judges and coach mentors on the singing TV show, The Voice. The winner of the first season, Javier Colon, was on Levine's team. Levine also returned as a coach for season 2 of The Voice. His team consisted of Mathai, Pip, Tony Lucca, Katrina Parker, Karla Davis, and Kim Yarbrough. In season 3, his team at the Top 12 level consisted of Bryan Keith, Amanda Brown and Melanie Martinez. The latter two finished in the Top 6 of the season. Levine will appear as Leo, a recurring character, in American Horror Story: Asylum, the second season of the anthology series. He was elected TV's Most Crushworthy Male Reality Host/Judge in a poll held by Zap2it. He also returned for season 3 of The Voice. In June 2012, Levine was cast in the film Can a Song Save Your Life?.

He also launched his own record label, 222 Records.

Personal life

Levine's ex-girlfriend Jane was the inspiration behind the name of the band's debut album Songs About Jane. In a 2004 interview, he claimed that she had not contacted him despite the success of the album.

Levine resides in the Hollywood Hills with his close friend Gene Hong, a Korean American writer, actor and producer.

In September 2010, Levine said on the radio program The Howard Stern Show he had been dating Russian Sports Illustrated swimsuit and Victoria's Secret model Anne Vyalitsyna seriously for about eight months. The couple met when Maroon 5 performed at the 2010 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue release party in Las Vegas. In April 2012, Levine and Vyalitsyna announced that they had split. Levine stripped naked for testicular cancer awareness for a centerfold in Cosmopolitan UK's February 2011 issue.

During Levine's teenage years, he was medically diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. In 2011, he launched an educational campaign to raise awareness of ADHD, titled "Own It".

Levine, whose brother is openly gay, is an outspoken supporter of same-sex marriage and LGBT rights. In 2011, he made a video on Maroon 5's official YouTube account in support of the It Gets Better Project. In January 2012, he announced that Maroon 5 had changed the location of their post-Grammy Awards show because of the "unnamed Los Angeles restaurant's backing of Proposition 8".

Discography

As a featured artist

Other charted songs

Guest appearances

Filmography

References

1. Patterson, Sylvia (August 26, 2007). "Maroon 5: They will be loved". The Daily Telegraph. London.
2. http://www.starpulse.com/news/Brittany_Frederick/2012/10/17/adam_levine_makes_acting_debut_in_amer
3. Noah, Timothy (January 20, 2009). "Inaugorophobia, Part 2". Slate.com. Archived from the original on January 24, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
5. Levin-Epstein, Amy (date unknown), "Big Shot". MSN, courtesy of Best Life. (accessed January 16, 2009)
6. Rodman, Sarah (October 23, 2007). "Levine balances silliness and soul". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
7. Lester, Paul (February 11, 2011). "Interview: Adam Levine". The Jewish Chronicle Online. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
8. "Kara's Flowers".
9. Rosen, Craig (June 4, 2005), "MAROON 5". Billboard. 117 (23):
10. Kimpel, 2006, p88
11. Newt Briggs (2004). "Off the Charts: Maroon 5" lasvegasmercury.com (accessed February 27, 2007)
12. ^ Smith, RJ (June 2007), "Dear Superstar: Adam Levine". Blender. (accessed January 16, 2009)
13. Moss, Corey (December 19, 2005), "Move Over, Justin: Adam Levine Is Hip-Hop's New Favorite White Boy". MTV.com (accessed January 18, 2009)
14. (October 9, 2008), "Adam Lvine Interview: First Act 222 Guitar". YouTube.com (accessed January 18, 2009)
15. Paton, Maureen (August 2, 2008), "In a taxi with...Adam Levine". Mail Online. (accessed January 16, 2009)
16. Greene, Andy (June 28, 2007), "Maroon 5: Back on Top". Rolling Stone. (1029):16
17. "Gotten" premiered at amazon.com, March 29, 2010. Amazon.com (1965-07-23). Retrieved on October 30, 2011.
18. Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine Named Coaches of ‘The Voice' – 2011-02-28 19:51:51|Broadcasting & Cable. Broadcastingcable.com. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
19. "The Voice Top 12 Announced".
20. "'The Voice' results: Melanie Martinez and Amanda Brown leave Adam Levine with no team".
21. "Adam Levine Confirms American Horror Story Role". E! Online. April 2, 2012.
22. Carina Adly MacKenzie. "TV's Most Crushworthy Reality Host/Judge (Male)". Zap2it. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
23. http://www.billboard.com/news/adam-levine-launches-222-records-signs-glee-1006145962.story
24. Rubin, Courtney (April 19, 2004), "MAROON 5 SOUNDS OFF". People. 61(15):45
25. The Howard Stern Show for September 22, 2010. "An update to Adam's sex resume"
26. "Adam Levine and Anne V Split". Peopledate=April 2, 2012. Retrieved April, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
27. Zakarin, Jordan (January 6, 2010). "Adam Levine Nude: Maroon 5 Singer Gets Naked For Cancer In Cosmo UK". Entertainment. The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
28. "Maroon 5 Lead Singer Adam Levine Raises Awareness of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Young Adults and Adults With "Own It"". PR Newswire. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
29. ^ "Adam Levine And Maroon 5 Boycotting Mexican Restaurant For Anti-Gay Marriage Stance". January 25, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
30. "Adam Levine (Maroon 5) – It Gets Better". July 11, 2011.
31. ^ "German Singles Chart: Adam Levine". acharts.com. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
32. "Australian Singles Chart: Adam Levine". australian-charts.com. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
33. "Irish Singles Chart: Adam Levine". irish-charts.com. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
34. "Dutch Singles Chart: Adam Levine". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
35. "New Zealand Singles Chart: Adam Levine". charts.org.nz. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
36. "Sweden Singles Chart: Adam Levine". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
37. Chart positions for UK charting singles:
    • "Chart Stats – Kanye West". Chart Stats. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
    • "Bang Bang on UK Singles Chart". zobbel.de. Retrieved May 13, 2010.

Further reading

• Kimpel, Dan (2006), How They Made It: True Stories of How Music's Biggest Stars Went from Start to Stardom!. Location unknown:Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 0-634-07642-6

External links

• Adam Levine on Twitter
• Adam Levine at IMDb

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• 1979 births
• American male singers
• American pop singers
• American rhythm and blues singers
• American rock guitarists
• American rock singers
• American singer-songwriters
• American tenors
• Blue-eyed soul singers
• Grammy Award-winning artists
• Jewish American musicians
• LGBT rights activists from the United States
• Living people
• Maroon 5 members
• Musicians from California
• People from Los Angeles, California
• Songwriters from California
• The Voice judges
• American television actors
• 21st-century actors
• Participants in American reality television series
• Jewish American actors