Artist Friendly with Joel Madden - Adam Levine - Part 1

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

On this week's episode of Artist Friendly, Joel Madden is joined by Adam Levine. As the frontman of Maroon 5, a coach on The Voice, and an occasional saxophone player, Levine has brought his charismatic presence to many stages. Most recently, though, he’s been in Maroon 5 mode, promoting their upcoming eighth studio album, Love Is Like, out this Friday, which attempts to recapture the spirit of their early days. Before the pop giants kick off their arena tour in the fall, Levine joined Madden for a candid conversation about fame, family, and the music that shaped them. ------- Listen to their Artist Friendly conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify.⁠⁠⁠ ------- Follow Artist Friendly! IG: @artist.friendly TikTok: @artist.friendly YouTube: youtube.com/@artist.friendly ------- Host: Joel Madden, @joelmadden Executive Producers: Joel Madden, Benji Madden, Jillian King Producers: Josh Madden, Joey Simmrin, Janice Leary Visual Producer/Editor: Ryan Schaefer Audio Producer/Composer: Nick Gray Music/Theme Composer: Nick Gray Cover Art/Design: Ryan Schaefer Additional Contributors: Anna Zanes, Neville Hardman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, what's up? I'm Joel Madden, and this is artist-friendly. On this episode, I'm talking with the lead vocalist and guitarist and founder of the Grammy Award-winning multi-platinum band Maroon 5, Adam Levine. Let's go. Welcome to the show. Rancid. I got grounded when I was in like 11th grade. Or no, 10th grade for having a party at my house. And I had Rancid tickets for the whiskey. That was like, OG rancid days at the whiskey. Yeah, it was like, I remember I got grounded for the whole summer. Did they stick with it? The whole summer you were grounded?

Yeah, they said if I, like, I had to go work for my dad, which was fucking torture. Yeah. And I couldn't go to Rancid, which was the day school got out, was rancid at the whiskey. They grounded me all summer. I mean, I couldn't do shit all summer. And they stuck to it? And they stuck to it. And they stuck to it.

And they said, if you don't fuck up all summer. and you get you're grounded all summer and you work for your dad all summer. I had no social life, couldn't do anything. I was probably, I was like 16, which is like, it was horrible. That's like key prime, just got your wings. Yeah.

Flying around, you're going to concerts, you're going to parties. I see it with my kids. They're like teenagers in that. Yeah. That's the age. They're like that age now. Yeah.

That's crazy, by the way. Yeah. But I remember like I was the worst summer ever. And I was like, yeah, those summers are super important because you're like, yeah, those are formative. Four, five. summers as a teenager?

I couldn't go out at all. But I remember I had tickets for Ranted and I couldn't go and like apparently it was amazing. Was the party like worth it? No. Is it a rager? No. Of course it wasn't worth it.

Like it's never worth it. And then losing your summer is worth no part one single party. I got in more trouble to than I would have gotten into because I got so I was not good in school. Now there was that. Take that for what it is. ADHD. Yeah.

All that shit. Yeah. So I had to go to this. tutor and I had this crazy tutor that was like, toured a bunch of fucked up, you know, kids that weren't doing well in school like me. Fuckups. All the fuckups got it in one room. Yeah.

This one tutor. And we're worried about you, Adam. Yeah. Yeah. It was bad. And I was going to throw a party. And a kid at the tutor was talking about the party I was going to throw it. And my mom was right there.

So she's like, you're talking about Adam Levine's house? And he's like, yeah, it's going to be crazy. I was like, good to know. So she knew. So she found out about the party before I threw the party. And I'm like, fuck. And so then I threw the party anyway, which was so lame of me. And like even more love of betrayal of my parents.

And so I got totally, my summer was gone. Do you think that growing up in L.A. I always think about this because I feel like we're from Maryland. We're from this real small place in the country. And there was plenty of that too. Like every teenager is trying to have a party. They're trying to go be around each other. And like that's the age.

Yeah. But do you feel like, growing up in L.A. You're up against like, I don't know, like too much access versus also just like, I feel like you could get up to some crazy shit here

as a teenager. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. Like, I only had that experience. So like, I can't really compare it to anything else. But L.A. was definitely a crazy place to grow up. It's crazy. Like, you're right.

Access is a big thing. big melting pot of stuff. Yeah, I mean, but then to a certain degree, like, yes, there's a lot of shit to get into and I'm sure. But then again, you know, whether it's like Maryland or LA, like you're still teenage fucking angst and shit and trouble is everywhere. So you can get into trouble anywhere at any point when you're a teenager. But don't you feel like, yeah, don't you feel like the opportunity to get fucked up here

in some, in so many different ways? Sure. Like, you could have been a different story. the success story of a guy who went into the world and built a life, right? In my mind, you're this guy who's, we're around the same age. I think our generation is a different generation. We've had to bridge the gap between analog and digital. And so we've had to navigate all that. It's fucking weird. But also, we're trying to build families. We're actually family guys. We're trying to build families. You're up against enough as it is building a family period.

but also we have the careers we have. But then I think, okay, put all that aside. That's the picture of somebody who's succeeded at what they're trying to do against the odds of making it in music or making it in marriage or making it in life, period. It's hard for everyone to grow up in L.A. where there's access to all kinds of trouble. There's access to all. You also have outside forces leaning in where, like, you could have been in,

this way or that way, you have to navigate all that as a person. You could be a different story. You could be addicted to drugs. Sure. I bet. I'm sorry to ramble on, but I bet I think about it. And I go, I bet growing up in L.A., you knew people who fucking died. Absolutely.

I knew people who died. I knew people who had and came out the other end of serious drug problems, too. Like, I think parenting and having a good family unit comes into play for sure. And you feel like you had like, yeah, good parents. Yeah, good parents. They were like telling me, hey, you know, these things are bad. These things, you know, stay away from these things and, you know, just very basic. But mostly just being involved and teaching me about the shit that I could get into that would be bad.

And caring and giving a shit was number one. But, you know, yes, I think in a nutshell, if we're painting in broad strokes, for sure. There's more shit to get into in L.A. I think that's one of the reasons why we got out of L.A. with my family, my young, you know, growing family was that we wanted to avoid. Well, and then we have, well, it's more complicated. of the whole fame fucking monster and all that. We didn't want to be that also here. But yeah, like it's tricky.

L.A.'s really tricky. There's a lot to get into. And it's funny too because when you say that fame thing, we're in the same boat. We chose jobs. And we love what we do, right? We chose these jobs. And when you're in the bubble of like, I understand everyone listening could say, easy for you to say or, well, you chose it.

I totally get it. I live in the real world. Yeah. But we do actually care about what we do. We care about the art we make. I care about everything that I do from this show to the TV show I do, to the music I make, to the community of artists I interact with. I actually care.

Yeah. The fame is a byproduct of when things go well, people recognize and look at you. And then all the bullshit that comes with that is what you have to almost like manage as a stressor without complaining because everyone will just fucking tear you apart because you I understand the real life struggle of people out there working maybe jobs they don't like all course so and by the way when I say the same thing I'm only saying getting out of L.A. and moving my family was more just like we just didn't want that to be another thing yes was going to be kind of gasoline on the fire which L.A., you know, for better or worse, caters to supports, bolsters that those those people.

But no, you're right. Like we grew up in a time when like you had to do something to have, the fame came after the thing, right? Yeah. Like, and so it's a hollow thing. Like I don't care anybody says like it is. Like there's nothing that is meaningful, particularly meaningful about it. It's just the byproduct.

It is. The byproduct of something that you do, which by the way, the thing that you do, like you said, you're passionate about what you do. That's what, that's the important part. That's how I see you. That's the impression I've always gotten and then getting to. to know you. Obviously, I didn't even know where to start here, but our connecting factors, Benj. You and Benj are very close.

Yeah. And so I've gotten to know you in person, but I've also gotten to know you through my brother because we are so close. So I love your brother who I love so much. He's the best. It's a fucking bet. I mean, you know. And he chooses people really well.

He's got a real raw sense of people and he doesn't give a fuck about what anyone does or who they are. he finds people and he chooses people well and he loves you and he believes in you right and so i got a i've gotten to know you through bench but i also always had the impression like us like we're serious about the thing we do whether it whoever likes it whoever whatever we care about the work we do and then all the bullshit that comes with it some of it's good some of it's bad some of it's this some of it's that we're not like woe is me guys we're just navigating life yeah with what we hope is being authentic to who we are, the good, the bad, whatever.

And so, like, we make decisions, like moving our families out of the LA bubble to hopefully a place where they can have some normality away from the fame thing, but they're still touched by it. Like, they go. Of course, you can't avoid it. It's part of your life. You have to explain it to your kid. Eventually that that question comes up and all that.

And you're just like, okay. And then they got to have their own relationship with it and their own perspective on it. and they'll make sense of it with as little damage as possible. And also you have to just keep saying the things, you know, the things that you need to say. Like this. And by the way, when I was growing up, the one good thing I'll say about going up at L.A. You had like a front row seat. Sure.

I was in it. You know, and I wasn't, I didn't come necessarily from that, but I would see it everywhere, you know. And it's funny, like my parents would always say the greatest thing they ever did for me. And one of the great things I do think about having grown up in L.A., at least that L.A., was these people are just people. They pee and poo just like you and me. They're fucking just people. And some of them are assholes and some of them are cool.

But they're just fucking human beings. And so growing up with that constantly being put into my head was like, okay, cool. So it didn't make me think that it was like just special at face value, which it's not. It's like there's this premium that's put on it just because it's what it is. Just because, hey, I want to be famous when I grow up. Well, in my house, you have to have a fucking reason. Yeah, you got to have a. You want to be.

And hopefully it's a good one. You want to be well known for doing something. Exactly. If you want to be like, that's why I tell my kids, if you want to be known in this world, you got to be known for a reason and it's got to be a good one. Yeah. Helping people making art,

whatever the fuck it is. Anything under the sun that is a positive, has a positive impact on people, that to me is like, okay, if it warrants that other thing, that byproduct that you're talking about. That's the most important thing. And be careful with how you judge

any sensationalized thing good or bad. If everybody's joining in and, you know, we see it every day. Everybody's stoning someone to death or they're bigging up them for something and you see both sides. Well, my first advice would be be a fucking marine biologist. You know, my kid the other day was like, I want to be a marine biologist. And I'm like, please the fucking God, please become that. Like, because you don't want this shit.

So, you know, like, that's what I'm saying. But if you have to make art. But if you have to do this and you want recognition for this, remember this other thing will be a, maybe potentially be a part of that. Yeah. And if so, it's complicated. The other perspective I have on, on L.A., because I love L.A. I've been here for 24 years, 23 years, whatever. This place gave me a family. It gave me a life. It gave me a career. It gave me so much. I married someone that was raised in L.A. and I get that perspective.

of well. So very similar to you. But she grew up with like a fucking legendary singer dad and she had a different seat, right? But you're both looking at the same world from different perspectives. Sure. Right. So what I took away from it was if this place doesn't kill you, it makes you resistant and resilient to fame, money, all of it. You've seen it all. You've seen people go up. You've seen people go down. You've seen people get taken out. You've seen people go through all of it. And on the other side of it, you're these real people with actually a really good perspective

on like what's valuable. It's the gauntlet. It puts you through kind of somewhat of a gauntlet. And I feel like you're right. If you survive it, then you are pretty dynamic as a person. You can, like you said, you can withstand a lot. And some people don't. Yeah.

So it's like it's a meat grinder of sorts. And it is. And on the other side, you are a more resilient person, but also I think there's something about value. I think another thing about like us, you have an incredible wife. I have an incredible wife. Bench has an incredible wife. There's a through line, right? Our better halves. Yeah. That's, I mean, that's like surviving like the back nine of life. Yeah, yeah. You know, and having some amazing, an amazing partner in that. But you get to see, you get to meet someone's partner. And it's easy for us to go out to the world and show people a picture of our perfect family.

that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about people who will go through life with us. And my wife has been incredibly supportive, patient, but she's real. As much as we're in love, she's also my best friend. She's like my everything partner that has seen me at my best, my worst, all that. When I meet other people's partners, I go, okay, I get it. And that solidifies what I thought about you. Then when I meet your partner, then I see you with my brother. and his wife and I see all the people around. I'm like, oh, all these people are also just real ass. She's your favorite person.

Yeah. Yeah. You know, like, that's the real way. I know that that sounds simple, but it's your favorite person. Yeah. And I already know that about you. I know that about Benjali. And you can kind of get that sense, you know.

Yeah. Get that sense from people. And that's important. And look, it ain't fucking perfect for anybody. No. But you got to start there. Yeah. Like, you start with the person.

your life that's that's that person being your favorite yeah and every time i'm around other couples and it's like benjamin hit like 10 years i don't know i just know what that takes and i just like yeah we just hit 10 too yeah congratulations yeah 11 now almost wow we're at um 15 years married 19 years together that's fucking awesome crazy we were just talking about this morning we were having coffee and she was like how many years is it and i'm like it's 19 years that's like fuck that's amazing we're lucky When we got married the first time, we were like, this was the most fun night of our lives. We got to do it again in 10 years. And then last year, we did exactly the same thing.

Benj was there. Little known fact about you guys. Very good karaoke. Very good at karaoke. Yeah. I'm a karaoke champ. Yeah. One of the standouts.

I mean, it's kind of lame because I'm a singer. But, you know. Yeah, but not every singer is good at karaoke. I'm okay. I'm pretty good. I can hang. I kind of, I prefer. Sometimes I like to rap or something.

So it's like, I'm not going to be like that fucking guy. Yeah. Like doing the singing. You know, you're good, though. It's a good time. Let's talk about Maroon 5. Let's talk about Maroon 5. I usually don't do this, but I was like, I want to, like, actually look at what you've accomplished.

Oh, shit, you got a stats, you got a stashy on me? Just a little, little. Let's go. I think you already know all this stuff, but I... You'd be shocked because I don't know a lot of it. Okay, so to date, Maroon 5 is sold over 100 million albums and, over 750 million singles. Is that good?

That's fucking insane, bro. That's fucking insane. Truth be told, in fairness, before we go on with these amazing statistics, I don't know what that means. Like, what does that fucking mean anymore?

Like, remember, I used to be like, oh, I have a song on the radio, and there's the chart, and now I'm not in order to look or what to think of. It means that over, I would say,

when did you guys, four and Maroon 5? 2002, so over two decades. right almost two and a half decades over two decades you have consistently created music that the world agrees and that people agree is important enough relevant enough and good enough to still be played and still be heard and still be digested by people yeah it's not easy to do over two decades that takes hard work resilience showing up day in day out

a career is full of highs and lows. It's full of moments where you go, is this going to work out? And then the order you get, I think you kind of just keep going forward and staying true to like the thing. But a lot of people quit. A lot of people blow it up. A lot of people, it's very hard. So to be able to do, you don't do a hundred million plus albums in a year. You do it over two decades. It's a huge accomplishment. And I think it gets harder and harder to do. So I think when we think of classic artists, not to say it was easy for them, but. It feels more and more unattainable for artists to... I'ma... And like my music,

my hair can be able to continue my rhythm. For that, Poetion Nine, of Sebastian Professional, has all what my hair needs. Nutrition Profunda. Protection against the encrespaid. 99% less of rotura and punas abjuredas

under control. New Potion Nine of Sebastian Professional, the secret professional of who not seein tendencies, but of who these system is just so fragmented yeah i remember used to be like super simple yeah you know like back in the day like back in the ancient old times of like you put an album out and there would be like an album yeah

and then that would go into a store and then someone would buy it like those days are long gone yeah but like now even with singles and thing i don't know where to look yeah i'm like where do i look what what what metric is there really besides honestly what people just decide to download organically which is great. It's like the music business is in like the best and worst state it's ever been in.

I agree. Yeah. Because the music is really good things and really bad things. Yeah. Like it's basically now like do people like the music?

There's no, there's not really a machine that is guiding the taste of anybody, which I love. Maroon 5 has earned RIAA certifications, platinum,

gold platinum certifications, multi-platinum, all that in more than 35 countries and charted 32 records on the Billboard Hot 100. On Spotify, 5.12 songs have reached over a billion streams each. 12 of your songs. That's insane for someone to have one.

Dang. And Maroon 5 hold the record for the most number ones on the Hot 100 this century by a duo or group. Fucking impressive, bro. It did pretty fucking good. Yeah, like I said, it gets to a point where it's gone to a point where it's like, when you say that, I'm like... It's abstract. It's abstract. It's hard for me to enjoy those statistics.

because all I'm thinking of now in 2025 is like, just finished an album. I wonder if that one's going to like work. I understand. I understand. I totally understand what I take. But that's amazing to hear. It's amazing to hear.

So why me and Bench like you so much? I was telling him those stats this morning. And we were like, holy shit, dude. The fact that we had to find those stats and read them together and realize it after knowing you is why I like it. It's one of the things I like about you. Yeah. You don't bring all those stats in the room with you.

Fuck no. And so I'm saying them to you because... Maybe I should start. I think, no, I just think it's cool that I think it's cool that we had to look that up. Yeah, as would I. You know? As what I. I know some of it.

But like, no, it's crazy. Like, but that's... And it's to be celebrated. Yeah, man. And I'm not good at being, I'm not good at that. Yeah. Which is another probably, like, we all get along for those. reasons. We're not like about that really. Yeah, when you're when you when everyone's in the room,

they're all in the room together. And that's a really nice thing about hanging out with someone who's very successful, but that also is a person. He's a guy. He's a dude. Of course. He's a dude. Yeah. But that's but that's being a kid who grew up in LA in the 90s and who was obsessed with all the same, a lot of the same music you were upset. Like being real and being yourself and being your most authentic version of yourself was like kind of that was like the 90s. It was like don't, you know. And it was great. So that is part of me. Always.

That's not going to stop me in the part of me. No matter how pop we lean, you know what I mean? Like it's just going to always be that. Yeah, well, we're pretty pop too. But what does that even mean anymore? But we do it our own way and I like it. Pop music doesn't even, I don't even know what, you know categories now you see them and they're less and less prevalent for music.

But my thing was like, I never knew what, where we fit in when we started. And like pop music now is like, it's every, it's literally now become everything. I think Good Charlotte and Maroon 5 are similar in that. way where we never subscribed to any one genre. We got put in a box sometimes, but at the end of the day, if you listen to our songs that are well known, they're all kind of weird and different and like they're... So all good songs are just good songs. Yeah. There's no, I can't stand like, and like, like we talked about earlier, like it's being broken down more and more. Like if you look at someone's music library today, like back in the day, it was like, oh, I'm super into like these

bands. This vibe. I'm into pop music. I'm into R&B hip hop. I'm into metal. It was so segregated. It was so everything was so separate. And it was like a club and it was a scene and that was kind of that was kind of cool and like those days. But now people have like our shit, your shit fucking Britney Spears. It's all in the same play. It doesn't like it. And like so everything's all part of the same kind of zeitgeist, which is kind of nice. You know, like good songs are just good songs. that's how I like it because I've always wanted to be able to do whatever the fuck I want. And if everyone was honest with themselves

and didn't need to belong to like a thing, they would realize like, you know, only your hard-ass friends that are like, oh, fuck that shit. Or I don't like this shit. Those motherfuckers like certain shit. Of course. If you press them hard enough,

they'd be like, all right, that's kind of cool. Hell yeah. You only listen to like Pentara, you know? But then you're like, you kind of like that Maroon 5 song. I fucking know you do. Of course. That's kind of cool. Like everyone has their breaking point.

Yeah, because I feel like people feel things from different music. Well, I think we're in the era of seeing behind the curtain. And everyone is really like, if you're going to go all the way with something, you better be willing to. You know what I had yesterday on this show.

I had Paul Stanley. Nice. Nicest dude. Niceest dude. Niceest fucking dude. I don't know him. Never met him. But of course, I respect, admire, revere kiss and what they did.

And I don't know, like, I was, I was really excited to sit down with them because I never got to experience kiss in any way and interact with it other than just listening to the music and seeing the branding and going, always thinking, like, those guys were ahead of their time. They carved a trail. Best marketers in the history of the music business. Yeah, like brand as a band, the cartoon, they had all this stuff. And it was a first at the time, right? I don't think there would be a lady Gaga without kiss.

I don't think there would be a lot of things in the world that they contributed to kind of like this idea that you could do these things. Now, I get like Bowie is in the same category. There's a bunch of people I would put in the category of trailblazing for like certain reasons. But branding, marketing, all these things and teaching us how to do it, we saw whether you grew up a kiss fan or not. I just think I got to sit with this guy who's accomplished this amazing feat.

Paul Stanley from kids. He was so nice. He's super cool and thoughtful. I'll have to tell you story about him, but you keep on. And he said to me yesterday, he said, we were talking about something and he said, you know what? No secrets is the best way to be. It's the most sustainable way. And I thought about it and I was like, if I'm putting up a front all the time that I'm this tough guy or I'm this or I'm that, I can't sustain that. No. Something's going to test me. If I'm, or if I'm the perfect guy, I'm perfect, I got it all figured out. This is a is how you do this, this is how you do that. So this podcast is not about like perfection. It's just like, this is me, right? Paul Stanley was sitting there and it clicked for me that like

that friend you're talking about that only listens to heavy music or that guy who's just gangster, whatever, like it's unsustainable. It's unsustainable and it's also just not true. It's just not fucking true. Like they don't laugh at all or they don't like a kitten's cute. Oh, you've never like experienced any joy. You're just like, yeah. It's not possible. Like, we're all just little kids who grew up and had to figure out how to live in an adult world and figure shit out and be serious about some things and figure this out. But, like, it really hit me yesterday with Paul Stanley. I was like, you're right.

I like that. You just got to be yourself. No secrets. Yeah. Paul Stanley was so unbelievably sweet. They played, Kiss did a, they did the voice one one season. Yeah. Mike came on and performed.

And I was just stoked because it's fucking awesome. I'm watching Kiss. I'm like sitting in the chair. and be like, this is crazy. And they, I'll never forget this. This was the, this was the sweetest thing. So they,

at the end of their thing, they broke their shit, they broke their instruments and they, they tossed a piece out. And I think like, it was either Miley or Alicia, or Alicia Keys, or one of them got this piece

of Paul Stanley's guitar. And I'm like, fuck. I was so, he like, went and handed it to her because it broke in and shattered. And then like,

literally like, they're walking off and he, like, he's like, he wants it to like, tossed it to like, I think it might have been Mila Cyrus. And I was like, that should have been me.

I was like, this fucking sucks. I was so, like, triggered by it. I don't know why I was so mad. That belongs to me. But I really wanted that. I'm actually the one who wanted it. I wanted it more than made it. But it was so funny because probably like months later, months later.

Like, this is now, as it should have been, way out of my mind. Like, I'm not, like, thinking about this anymore. I see Paul Stanley like, I'm with B and we're like at getting coffee or something, like at this like. And I see Paul Stanley and I'm like, hey, man. was up and he literally was he I'll never forget this because it was like so thoughtful and sweet he was like hey man like I know you were bummed you didn't get that uh piece of that I swear I got I'm first of all I how did you find out about it he clocked it he's like I know I could tell you it's like oh man like you want you want to have another you want to he said something nice but

he alluded to that moment and I was like that is so crazy right like what a nice dude that he even thought to give a shit at all about my dumb like teenager moment where I was like, our conversation continues in part two.