SINGER, SONGWRITER, AND MAROON 5 FRONTMAN ALSO OPENS UP ABOUT HIS MUSICAL INFLUENCES AND RECALLS RUNNING INTO JAMES BROWN AT THE DRIVE THRU.
Adam Levine led Howard and his listeners on a journey through his musical influences on Tuesday, opening up during his Stern Show return about how artists ranging from Marvin Gaye and Bob Dylan to Pearl Jam and Metallica helped mold him into the singer, songwriter, and Maroon 5 frontman the world has come to know. He also put on quite the show from home, shredding Led Zeppelin riffs on his Jimmy Page Les Paul Gibson guitar and paying homage to the late Bill Withers with a soulful cover of “Ain’t No Sunshine.”
“I cried when he passed. I had this incredible connection with him,” Adam said of Withers, who died earlier this year at the age of 81.
Adam told Howard he became obsessed with Withers’ music in his late teens and was delighted in 2006 when Maroon 5 collaborated with him on a revamped version of his classic ‘70s tune “Lovely Day.”
“I sat in the studio for just hours and hours and hours and talked [with him] … We just talked forever and he gave me great advice at a time when I felt like I really needed it,” Adam recounted. “He was just a special person. He really just got to me. He was such a wonderful guy—just a salt of the Earth human being.”
“This dude was so grounded and I was not, at the time,” he added.
Adam then dusted off his guitar and performed his take on “Ain’t No Sunshine,” blowing Howard and co-host Robin Quivers away. “The reason why I love Bill Withers is because every single thing he did is honest and pure. Music doesn’t get more pure than a Bill Withers song,” he said after finishing the song.
