Maroon 5’s “Sugar” released

Sugar Maroon 5

Writer(s): Mike Posner, Adam Levine, Joshua Coleman, Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Henry Walter (see lyrics here) Released: January 13, 2015 First Charted: January 18, 2015 Peak: 2 US, 12 RR, 2 AC, 13 A40, 7 UK, 2 CN, 6 AU, 12 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 11.0 US, 1.46 UK, 13.5 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 3514.0 video, 1613.13 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Mike Posner, who co-wrote Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend,” was working on Pages, his follow-up to 2010’s 31 Minutes to Takeoff album and came up with “Sugar.” Maroon 5’s Adam Levine heard the song and wanted it, but Posner declined. However, when Posner switched labels in 2014 and Pages was aborted, he gave the song to Adam. Of the final results, Posner said, “Adam added his flavor to it and…he really sang it well. I’m a big fan, so I’m glad they did it.” WK On the final results, Posner provides additional vocals alongside Levine’s lead vocals. Dr. Luke, the hitmaker who co-produced many of Katy Perry’s singles, helped shape the song into the disco-infused, funk-pop track that it became. Cirkut, who co-wrote Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball,” produced the song along with Amno, who had Kesha’s “We R Who We R” to his credits. SF The song “combines the grooves of the funk and ‘synth-driven’ of the 1980s music nostalgia feeling.” WK Lyrically, “sugar” is used as a reference to sex. VH1’s Alexa Tietjen called it a “radio-friendly pop song” WK and the Idolator’s Mike Wass described it as a “ridiculously catchy jam.” WK The National’s Saeed Saeed praised “Sugar” for having “a bullseye of a chorus that will have you singing along immediately.” WK “Sugar” was the third single from Maroon 5’s fifth studio album, V. Like its predecessors, “Sugar” was a top ten hit in the U.S. It was also their third song to debut in the top ten. WK It was the band’s eighth top-ten hit in a row and eleventh overall. WK The song peaked at #2 for four weeks behind Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk.” The video, directed by David Dobkin, follows the same plot as Wedding Crashers, his 2005 romantic comedy film. The band drive across Los Angeles, showing up at actual weddings as the surprise wedding band. CNN’s Melodi Smith notes that the looks of faces in the rooms are “priceless: delight, tears, confusion.” WK Elizabeth Vanmetre of Daily News wrote that “Having Adam Levine crash your wedding would be the icing on any wedding cake.” WK There were some accusations that the video was staged and filmed with actors, but USA Today’s Carly Mallenbaum analyzed the video to determine that at least two of the weddings were real. WK “Sugar” was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Dr. Luke SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: Last updated 7/21/2023.