James Valentine is one of the most popular and richest Guitarist who was born on October 5, 1978 in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Guitarist for Maroon 5, an alternative rock band. He also performed with JJAMZ (indie pop)
Adam Levine is his Maroon 5 bandmate. , his Maroon 5 friend, is .
Valentine is a friend of John Mayer, whom he met in 1996 at Berklee in Boston, Massachusetts. Valentine once tried to get Mayer to move to Lincoln to play guitar for the Lincoln blues rock band Baby Jason and the Spankers. An opening slot on Mayer’s 2003 summer tour helped bring widespread exposure to Maroon 5. Valentine contributed guitar work to Mayer’s September 2006 release Continuum on the songs “Stop This Train” and “In Repair.”
Valentine played in Lincoln bands: Montag, Kid Quarkstar, Mondello and Happy Dog. In 2000, Happy Dog changed its name to Square and he moved to Los Angeles from Anaheim, California, where he taught private guitar lessons out of his home. Valentine had also played with Reel Big Fish, firstly when guitarist Aaron Barrett broke his hand and later in 2001, when Barrett fell down some stairs. Valentine displayed a picture from one Reel Big Fish show he played during Maroon 5’s appearance on MTV Cribs. Eventually the members of Square and Kara’s Flowers became friends and when Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick began looking for another guitarist, Valentine was approached. The band Kara’s Flowers changed their name to Maroon. Personal tensions in Square helped the decision to join the band and shortly afterward, Kara’s Flowers became Maroon 5.
His mother was a former beauty king. He has a sister, Amanda.
