Just 24 hours before the album submission deadline, Maroon 5 threw out their completed tracklist and rushed to record a brand-new song. That daring decision gave the world Girls Like You — a track that spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned RIAA Diamond certification.
A Miracle Born 24 Hours Before Deadline
In 2017, every track on Maroon 5's sixth studio album Red Pill Blues was finished and ready to be submitted to the label. The deadline was Sunday — and by Saturday evening, the running order was locked. Then the phone rang for producer J Kash.
On the line was the manager of singer-songwriter Starrah (Brittany Talia Hazzard), saying she had written and recorded a new demo overnight. J Kash knew it was a hit the moment he heard it, and immediately called Adam Levine. The challenge: they had less than 24 hours to record the track before the deadline.
In that frantic window, Adam Levine sang the song hundreds of times, chasing the perfect emotional take. Nobody could have imagined that this last-minute addition would go on to become one of the longest-running top-10 singles in Billboard Hot 100 history.
"The album was already done, but when I heard Starrah's demo on Saturday night — I knew it had to be on the record."— J Kash, Producer
Cardi B and the #MeToo Moment
On May 31, 2018, Maroon 5 released a new version featuring rapper Cardi B. The decision was intentional and culturally significant. Shawn Holiday, Head of Urban at Sony/ATV Music Publishing, explained: "The song came out in the midst of the #MeToo movement, which is why I wanted a female on it."
Cardi B's raw, gritty New York energy transformed the song from a man's love letter into a powerful declaration of female identity. The collaboration gave the track an entirely new dimension of meaning and emotional resonance.
Record-Breaking Charts and an Iconic Video
Director David Dobkin — of Wedding Crashers fame — helmed the music video, featuring 25 prominent women including Sarah Silverman, Rita Ora, Millie Bobby Brown, and Ellen DeGeneres. Adam Levine's wife Behati Prinsloo and daughter Dusty Rose also appeared. Coordinating all 25 schedules was a logistical nightmare, but the resulting video surpassed 3 billion YouTube views.
On the charts, the song was unstoppable. It spent 36 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart — setting a record at the time. On the Hot 100, it matched Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" for the longest top-10 run (33 weeks). In 2021, the RIAA awarded it Diamond certification, making Cardi B the first female rapper to earn two Diamond certifications.
The Legacy of a Saturday Night Phone Call
A last-minute bet, a message that resonated with the #MeToo era, and chart records that rewrote history. Girls Like You is far more than a pop ballad — it's proof that genuine emotion can break through any deadline. When it rang out during Super Bowl LIII's halftime show in 2019, few in the crowd knew it all started with a phone call on a Saturday night.
