Maroon 5 – Moves Like Jagger ft. Christina Aguilera

The Gibberish Placeholder That Became Number One

Released on June 21, 2011, “Moves Like Jagger” debuted at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 9 and climbed rapidly through the summer. On September 10, it reached number one, where it stayed for four consecutive weeks. The single spent 10 weeks in the top three and became one of 2011’s biggest commercial successes, selling over 6 million digital copies in the United States by March 2013. The phrase that dominated radio worldwide started as gibberish, a placeholder melody that Shellback sent from Sweden with made-up lyrics he thought would get replaced. Radio executives initially told Benny Blanco that Maroon 5 had their time and nobody wanted to hear from them anymore.

The track became Maroon 5’s biggest hit and dominated charts in over 18 countries, reaching number one in the United States, Canada, Australia, and across Europe. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number three and peaked at number two for seven consecutive weeks, equaling All-4-One’s “I Swear” for the longest stay at number two without reaching the top. Rihanna’s “We Found Love” blocked it during a mid-week chart update. The song eventually became the UK’s biggest-selling single never to reach number one after Wham’s “Last Christmas” finally topped the charts in 2021. For Christina Aguilera, it was her first number one since “Lady Marmalade” in 2001, ending a ten-year hiatus from the chart summit. She joined Madonna, Janet Jackson, and Britney Spears as the fourth female artist to top the Hot 100 across three different decades.

Shellback created the initial concept in Sweden, including the whistling hook and the phrase that he intended as temporary filler. He sent the teeny little idea over the internet to his collaborator Benny Blanco, who played it for Adam Levine. Ammar Malik recalled that when he, Levine, and Blanco heard it, they thought it was actually really cool and different, something that could be a moment. Levine and Malik tried to figure out how to make a story or real song out of what was essentially nonsense syllables. They kept the Jagger reference because it perfectly captured the cocky, swaggering energy they wanted. Levine later admitted it was definitely a risk and a bold statement, something Maroon 5 had never released before. The song’s creation coincided with Levine landing his gig as a coach on NBC’s new singing competition The Voice alongside Aguilera, Blake Shelton, and CeeLo Green.

Benny Blanco and Shellback produced the track, backing it with synths, electronic drums, and modern disco elements. The production was pure dance-pop, practically constructed from individual Logic stems dragged together, according to critics. Some chicken-scratch funk guitar blurred into ravey synths and throbbing electro-bass. As far as anyone can tell, none of the other Maroon 5 members even played on the track, making it a Maroon 5 song the same way “Call Me” was a Blondie song. Levine shares songwriting credit with Blanco, Shellback, and Malik, but not with his bandmates. The infectious whistle melody became the song’s most recognizable element, though critics noted that bands could only score top ten hits in 2011 when they made songs with egregious whistle bits. Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” reached number three the same week with prominent whistling of its own.

“Moves Like Jagger” was added to the re-release of Maroon 5’s third studio album Hands All Over in July 2011, though it hadn’t appeared on the original 2010 version. The band’s manager Jordan Hill, brother of actor Jonah Hill, convinced Maroon 5 to switch their planned performance of “Never Gonna Leave This Bed” on The Voice to debut this new track instead. The gamble paid off spectacularly when the song entered the top ten immediately after the television appearance. The same week “Moves Like Jagger” hit number one, Levine also entered the top ten at number ten as a featured artist on Gym Class Heroes’ “Stereo Hearts”, making him the first artist in the Hot 100’s 53-year history to reach number one as part of a group and enter the top ten as a soloist in the same week. Keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, who’d been with the group since their Kara’s Flowers days, announced in 2012 that he was taking a break to pursue studies in music and healing arts, allegedly unhappy with the band’s new direction.

The official music video was directed by Jonas Åkerlund and filmed in Los Angeles on July 8, 2011. The video features archival footage of a young Mick Jagger saying he never thought he’d be singing in the Rolling Stones for two years, interlaced with a series of Jagger impersonator auditions and people trying to move like the legendary frontman. Shirtless, tattooed Adam Levine appears in tight black pants, while Aguilera shows up briefly in a retro look with mascara-heavy lashes and a floppy hat. The video became an MTV favorite despite critics noting it was almost painful to see people trying to summon wild abandon while dancing to a song as computerized and climate-controlled as this one. Jagger himself acknowledged the song in an interview, calling the concept very flattering, though he basically pretended the track didn’t exist afterward. The song was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 2012 Grammy Awards but lost to Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse’s “Body and Soul”. Maroon 5 used the track as the finale of their instantly-forgotten 2019 Super Bowl Halftime Show.

“Moves Like Jagger” remains Maroon 5’s most commercially successful single and the track that transformed them from a struggling pop-rock band into a pure pop juggernaut. The song sold 7 million copies internationally in 2011 alone and was certified diamond by the RIAA in 2021 for ten million copies sold in the United States. BBC Radio 2 ranked it number three on their most-played songs of the 2010s, while Billboard and American Songwriter placed it third and fourth respectively on their lists of the ten greatest Maroon 5 songs. Critics remain divided, with some praising the vocal chemistry between Levine and Aguilera while others called it thin, brittle, and irritating with an obnoxious whistle riff that keeps coming back. Adam Levine later said he’d learned it was okay to collaborate with other songwriters, admitting he’d been staunchly opposed to it in the past, almost to a fault. The song proved that sometimes the gibberish placeholders you’re supposed to replace turn out to be exactly what the world needs, even if radio executives think your time has passed and nobody wants to hear from you anymore.