Contents
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* 1 Early life
* 2 Kara's Flowers
* 3 Maroon 5 and mainstream success
* 4 Other work
* 5 Personal life
* 6 Further reading
* 7 References
* 8 External links
[edit] Early life
Levine was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Patricia (née Noah) and Fredric Levine.[1] His uncle is Slate writer and editor Timothy Noah.[2] He has a brother, Michael.[3] Levine is of Jewish background.[4][5] When he was six, he made the winning shot of his local YMCA championship basketball game (on a team his father coached) with no time left on the clock. He has said that the incident changed his life, gave him the confidence to be successful, and turned him "into an optimist…and a bit of a cocky son of a bitch."[6]
Levine attended Frenchwoods Festival of the Performing Arts Camp (Hancock, NY), where he met the original members of the band Kara's Flowers: Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick. He graduated from Brentwood School in 1997.
[edit] Kara's Flowers
In 1997, the band released an album titled The Fourth World. 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 went on hiatus and went their separate ways.[7]
Levine and bandmate Carmichael left Los Angeles to study at Five Towns College, a small music and performing arts school in Dix Hills, Long Island, New York.[citation needed] 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.[8] 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."[9]
[edit] Maroon 5 and mainstream success
During this time, Levine worked a two-week stint as a waiter at Johnny Rockets.[10] 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."[10]
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