Maroon 5, with (from left) 987FM DJ Jacqueline Thibodeaux, Michael Madden, Jesse Carmichael, Adam Levine, James Valentine, Matt Flynn and 987FM DJ Divian Nair.

After 16 years of performing together, 3 studio albums, 13 singles, and numerous awards, are Maroon 5 finally going their separate ways?

That was the question on many minds about the LA-based rockers during the 20-minute press conference at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Apr 25.

In response to the query, frontman Adam Levine of the Grammy Award-winning band expressed surprise, “Why is everyone asking us that?”

Levine, who also plays the guitar, should know better. He was the one who had hinted to the Rolling Stone magazine at a possible disbandment plan after the release of their third album, Hands All Over, causing a frenzy among diehard fans and leaving the media guessing at when they’d finally call it quits.

Still, Levine appeared as upbeat as ever, as the quintet received a commemorative plaque for attained Gold certification for their latest and possibly, last album.

Despite rumours running rife of the band's possible disbandment, members of Maroon 5 appeared as jovial and upbeat as ever.

Conference hosts Divian Nair and Jacqueline Thibodeaux, both 987FM DJs, had a Singlish challenge in store for the boys. Divian got the ball rolling by challenging Levine to wrap his tongue around the local colloquialism ‘shiok‘ (meaning ‘awesome’), which the latter effortlessly enunciated.

Levine, however, had trouble when it came to the term ‘siao zha bor‘, a derogatory term in Hokkien used to described a deranged woman. “I’ll need you guys to write that down,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Drummer Matt Flynn took to the microphone when it came to a question about their most hardcore fan. The 40-year-old, the band’s drummer for the past 5 years, was quick to mention an Indonesian girl named Pipit.

“She used to email us  – we’d email back and forth,” Flynn chuckled. “That was the first experience we had with any international fan.” This mention couldn’t come at a better time for Pipit, as the band will be performing in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on Wednesday.

Michael Madden, the band’s bassist, had a message for the diehard fangirl. “If Pipit is listening, we love you and we’d hope you would come to the concert and bring a banner with your name on it, so we know who you are.”

The band was presented a gold plaque, in recognition of their latest album being certified Gold.

On the subject of American Idol contestants covering Maroon 5’s hits on the show’s 11th season, Levine jokingly shot back, “You mean, ruining our music?”

As the laughter died down, he gave a nod of approval: “I think it’s really flattering,” Levine said, “The songs are culturally relevant, people love it and I think it’s great!”

When quizzed on the numerous tattoos on Levine’s body, the 32-year-old gamely rolled up his sleeve to reveal a tiger tattoo. “I’m part-tiger,” he commented in jest, before going on to show another tattoo representing his hometown, Los Angeles. The jovial Levine even teased the journalists by ‘admitting’ that he had a unicorn tattoo on his buttock, drawing laughs from the crowd.

But seriously, will this be Maroon 5’s swan song in Singapore? To that, Levine would only say, “I’m not sure, I just say things. I like messing around with you people.”

Catch sister TV station CTV’s exclusive coverage of the press conference here.


Photos courtesy of Tay Wan Lin, Klix Photography, m:idea