"Wait" is a song by American

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

band

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Levine, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, d ...

. It was released on January 16, 2018, to

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

as the fourth single from the band's sixth studio album ''

Red Pill Blues ''Red Pill Blues'' is the sixth studio album by American band Maroon 5. It was released on November 3, 2017, through 222 Records, 222 and Interscope Records. This is the band's first album to feature multi-instrumentalist Sam Farrar as an offic ...

'' (2017). The song was previously released as a promotional single on October 31, 2017. It was written by

Adam Levine Adam Noah Levine ( ; born March 18, 1979) is an American musician who is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and sole continuous member of the pop rock band Maroon 5. Levine began his musical career in 1994 with the band Kara's Flowers, for ...

, John Ryan, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, and Ammar Malik and was produced by Ryan. It served as the third countdown single released from the album following "

Whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

Background and release

"Wait" was announced on October 30, 2017. The song was released as an instant-grant the following day worldwide. On November 3, 2017, guitarist James Valentine later announced on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, that the song would later become the album's official fourth single.

Remixes

The remix versions of the song was released, the first version by Canadian duo

Chromeo Chromeo is a Canadian electro-funk duo from Montreal, formed in 2002 by musicians David "Dave 1" Macklovitch and Patrick "P-Thugg" Gemayel. Their sound draws from soul music, dance music, rock, synth-pop, disco and funk. As of 2024, the band h ...

on January 19, 2018, and the second version featuring American rapper

A Boogie wit da Hoodie Artist Julius Dubose (born December 6, 1995), known professionally as A Boogie wit da Hoodie or simply A Boogie, is an American rapper, and singer-songwriter. He released his debut studio album, '' The Bigger Artist'', via Atlantic Records in ...

on January 26.

Composition

"Wait" has a duration of 3 minutes and 10 seconds. It was written by Maroon 5 frontman

, John Ryan, Jacob "JKash" Kasher Hindlin, and Ammar Malik and was produced by John Ryan.

Music video

The music video for "Wait" was released on February 8, 2018, on

Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

. The video features actress Alexandra Daddario and was directed by Dave Meyers. It begins with lead singer

at the church as he wakes up in a

coffin A coffin or casket is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, for burial, entombment or cremation. Coffins are sometimes referred to as caskets, particularly in American English. A distinction is commonly drawn between "coffins" a ...

and walks to another coffin, where a funeral is being held, there he used the scorpion to resurrect his ex-girlfriend (played by Daddario) who the one cheated on him. The scorpion stings her, and a man watching punches Levine in the face as the latter falls to the ground. Scenes of Levine getting attacked and fought by the ex-girlfriend include the women gangsters and a bathtub woman. In the next scene, Levine is underwater from another world with little mermaids and soon enters the junkyard with the ex-girlfriend watching him as millions of

meteors A meteor, known colloquially as a shooting star, is a glowing streak of a small body (usually meteoroid) going through Earth's atmosphere, after being heated to incandescence by collisions with air molecules in the upper atmosphere, creating a ...

destroy the place, blowing the ex-girlfriend away. In the final scene, the ex-girlfriend drives away and leaves Levine at the house with him covered in

rope A rope is a group of yarns, Plying, plies, fibres, or strands that are plying, twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have high tensile strength and can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger ...

s, and the video ends.

Snapchat version video

On January 16, 2018, a

Snapchat Snapchat is an American multimedia social media and instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of the app are that pictures and messages, known as "snaps", are usually availa ...

version video was released on Spotify and on Vevo, the following day. Directed by Travis Schneider, and was shot on

iPhone 7 The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are smartphones that were developed and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the List of iPhone models, tenth generation of the iPhone. They were announced on September 7, 2016, at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium i ...

. The video follows Levine in various parts at his home, as he performs in

lip-syncing Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements ...

to the song with scenes covered by different Snapchat filters. Levine's wife,

Behati Prinsloo Behati Prinsloo ( , ; born 16 May 1988) is a Namibian model. In 2008, she became a Pink contract model, and moved on to become a Victoria's Secret Angel in 2009. She walked in eleven Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows (2007–2015; 2018; 2024), and ...

makes a cameo appearance.

Lyric videos

A vertical lyric video was released exclusively by

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

on December 15, 2017. Like the Snapchat video, which was also directed by Schneider and features Levine, is writing the lyrics on a screen wall. On February 1, 2018, the official lyric video is directed and produced by the band's multi-instrumentalist

Sam Farrar Sam John Farrar (born June 29, 1978) is an American musician. He is best known as a member of the pop band Maroon 5, in which he plays several instruments, primarily bass guitar. A frequent collaborator with the band since the 1990s, he joined ...

. It was shot entirely on

iPhone X The iPhone X (Roman numerals, Roman numeral "X" pronounced "ten") is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is part of the List of iPhone models, 11th generation of the iPhone. Available for pre-order from September 26, 2 ...

Live performances

On November 7, 2017, Maroon 5 performed "Wait" for the first time at the

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast, radio streaming and Music Streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. Founded in August 2008, iHeartRadio serves as the national umbrella brand for iHeart ...

Theater in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

. On January 18, 2018, the band continued the song for ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

'', as well as the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards on March 11. Pop band

Echosmith Echosmith is an American indie pop band formed in February 2006 in Chino, California. Originally formed as a quartet of siblings, the band currently consists of Sydney, Noah, and Graham Sierota, following the departure of eldest sibling Jamie in ...

, praised their latter performance as "one of the best sounding tv performances". They also performed the song on the final night of the 2018 Capital One JamFest in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, on April 1, 2018. Later, Maroon 5 played with the song live on '' The Voice'' on April 24 and ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The show ran for nineteen seasons from September 8, 2003, to May 26, 2022, in which it broadcast 3,339 episodes. It was produced by ...

'' on May 7, 2018, respectively.

Accolades

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Recording * Recorded at

Conway Recording Studios Conway Recording Studios is a recording studio in Hollywood, California. People and awards Conway started in the early 1970s as a mastering studio. In 1976, the studio began recording albums, including projects by Elton John and Stevie Wonde ...

, Los Angeles, California Personnel * John Ryan – composition, production, keyboards, piano, synthesizer * Ammar Malik – composition *

– lead vocals, songwriter * James Valentine – lead and rhythm guitar *

Jesse Carmichael Jesse Royal Carmichael (born April 2, 1979) is an American musician, best known as the keyboardist and rhythm guitarist for the pop rock band, Maroon 5. He is one of only two remaining original members of the group, along with frontman Adam Le ...

– keyboards, synthesizer *

Mickey Madden Michael Allen Madden (born May 13, 1979) is an American musician and former bassist for the pop rock band Maroon 5. Life and music career Madden was born in Austin, Texas. He began playing in junior high school at the Brentwood School in Los ...

– bass guitar *

Matt Flynn Matt or Matthew Flynn may refer to: * Matt Flynn (American football) (born 1985), American football player * Matt Flynn (Australian footballer) (born 1997), Australian rules footballer * Matt Flynn (politician) (born 1947), American politician * ...

– drums, percussion, electronic percussion *

PJ Morton P.J. Morton (born Paul Sylvester Morton Jr.; March 29, 1981) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Since 2012, he has been the keyboardist for the pop band Maroon 5. Morton originally joined the band as a touring mem ...

– keyboards, synthesizer *

– audio engineering * Noah "Mailbox" Passovoy – engineering * Jacob "JKash" Kasher Hindlin – composition * Serban Ghenea – mix engineering * Tom Coyne – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Notes

References

{{Maroon 5 2017 songs 2018 singles 222 Records singles Interscope Records singles Maroon 5 songs Songs written by Adam Levine Songs written by John Ryan (musician) Songs written by Jacob Kasher Songs written by Ammar Malik Music videos directed by Dave Meyers (director) Vertically oriented music videos American contemporary R&B songs Song recordings produced by John Ryan (songwriter)