Founded in Los Angeles in September 1995, Kara's Flowers quickly pushed their name to the tops of marquees all around their town, building a following of loyal fans. Friends since junior high school, Adam Levine (vocals and guitar), Jesse Carmichael (keyboards), Mickey Madden (bass), and Ryan Dusick (drums) formed the quartet and commenced to create hook-laden pop tunes that later caught the ears of Reprise record executives. In the summer of 1997, Kara's Flowers and Reprise released The Fourth World. By 1999, they parted ways with Reprise and chose to explore different musical avenues, incorporating James Valentine as a second guitarist and embracing the new moniker, Maroon 5.