During a recent appearance on the Howard Stern Show, Adam Levine discussed his decision to reveal Maroon 5’s most guarded secret exclusively to Billy Joel.
When Stern said he wouldn’t tell him what Maroon 5 means, the singer said:
“Ask Billy Joel. Billy Joel knows.”
The host then stepped in and asked:
“Yeah, I heard that you told Billy. He’s the only one who knows, right?”
Billy Joel’s Unexpected Question
Levine continued, revealing the story behind how Joel learned the meaning behind their name:
“Yeah, he got us at dinner. He like sat down at our table, and I was like, ‘Holy sh*t, Billy Joel sits down,’ and this was like day one of success. We were like nobody in New York. Billy Joel sits down, and he was like, ‘All right, so where’d you get the name?'”
Recalling his reaction to Joel’s words, the frontman added:
“And I’m like, I didn’t hear what he said because I’m like, that’s Billy Joel. So, what am I gonna do? Am I gonna be an a**hole and not tell him? I was like, ‘All right, you can’t tell anybody, but you’re the only person I will ever tell,’ and I broke the trust, but you guys were there. So you guys signed off on it.”
Reflections On David Letterman’s Show
In 2014, Adam joined David Letterman’s show and again reflected on the origin of the band’s name. He noted:
“It was my idea never to tell anybody. The origin of the name is so bad. It’s such a horrendous story that we decided that shrouding it in mystery will make it a better story than the actual story.”
Although the band appears determined not to reveal the origin of the band’s name, the fans have many theories. A popular rumor is that some band members went to Five Towns College in Long Island. Although they didn’t graduate from there, the college’s mascot is The Sounds, and its colors are maroon and white. They chose ‘5’ from the college name and ‘Maroon’ from the college colors for their band name.
You can watch the rest of the chat below.
