"Don't Wanna Know" 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 ...

featuring American rapper

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

. The song was released on October 11, 2016, as the lead single from the former'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), included on both the deluxe and Japanese editions of the album. The song reached the top 10 in 23 countries, including number 6 in the United States. Critical reception to the song was mixed, with critics praising its production but criticizing Lamar's verse and repetitive chorus.

Background and release

On October 11, 2016, Maroon 5 announced a single "Don't Wanna Know" featuring Kendrick Lamar, would be released worldwide at midnight on the following day, October 12. Previously " YOLO" by

The Lonely Island The Lonely Island is an American comedy trio, formed by Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer in Berkeley, California, in 2001. They have written for and starred in the American TV program ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). The th ...

featured the band's lead singer

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 ...

as well as Lamar.

Composition

"Don't Wanna Know" is written in the key of

G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

with a

shuffling Shuffling is a technique used to randomize a deck of playing cards, introducing an element of chance into card games. Various shuffling methods exist, each with its own characteristics and potential for manipulation. One of the simplest shuf ...

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 100 beats per minute. The song follows a chord progression of CMaj7DEmBm/E, and Levine's vocals span from D₄ to C₆.

Critical reception

The song received mixed reviews by music critics. Mike Wass of '' Idolator'' stated "there's nothing bloated or excessive about the finished product. In fact, this is a case of less is more. on't Wanna Knowfreshens up Maroon 5's sound and goes HAM on the repetition (the cornerstone of hitmarking circa 2016) — all but guarantees the band a smash hit in the process. Kendrick's verse feels like an afterthought, but apart from that, this is hard to fault." ''Vulture''s Halle Kiefer said "it'll be on the soundtrack to every car commercial,

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

ad, and drunken breakup you flounder through for the next three months" and went on to say "Don't Wanna Know has a distinctly non-Maroon 5 sound, putting a breezy, bouncy, lighthearted spin on drinking to forget, and dancing to dull the pain of losing the one true connection you ever had."

Commercial performance

"Don't Wanna Know" was number one on the US iTunes chart after its release. Since its release, the song debuted at number 56 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on October 29, 2016, and jumped to number 9 in its second week on November 5. It later peaked at number 6, becoming the band's 12th and Lamar's third top ten hit.

Music video

The music video for "Don't Wanna Know" was directed by David Dobkin and does not include Lamar, instead using the song's original version. It was shot starting on August 28, 2016, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and premiered on ''The Today Show'', on October 14, 2016. The video spoofed the

augmented reality game Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted display. This experie ...

'' Pokémon Go''. In the video, Adam Levine is dressed as a blue turtle dealing with heartbreak over an orange played by

Sarah Silverman Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She first rose to prominence for her brief stint as a writer and cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' during its ...

, with the Maroon 5 members also dressed the various costumes. In certain scenes, they're being chased and hiding from people who play the game to capture a creature onto the phone and other times eliminate themselves, as well as the set of shooting a music video in the studio complete with film crew, the band performing in a concert and the house party. The video also features cameos from

Ed Helms Edward Parker Helms (born January 24, 1974) is an American actor, musician and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's '' The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sit ...

Amanda Cerny Amanda Rachelle Cerny (born June 26, 1991) is an American internet personality. She is best known for her YouTube channel and formerly her Vine profile on which she had over 4 million followers. She was ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Mo ...

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

and

Vince Vaughn Vincent Anthony Vaughn (born March 28, 1970) is an American actor. He is known for starring as a leading man in numerous comedy films during the late 1990s and 2000s. He was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award ...

Promotion

Upon the song being released, it was revealed to be included in the dance rhythm video game '' Just Dance 2017''. In November 2016, Maroon 5 collaborated with

Tumblr Tumblr (pronounced "tumbler") is a microblogging and Social networking service, social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and is owned by American company Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content ...

to launch a promotional campaign known as the Don't Wanna Know Confessional Wall, where encouraging fans to submit of their own darkest secrets, allowing them to write the wall in the most creative way possible. The wall is located at

La Brea Avenue La Brea Avenue is a prominent north-south thoroughfare in the Los Angeles, California, City of Los Angeles and in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California. La Brea is known for having diverse ethnic communities, and m ...

in Los Angeles. It is also nominated at the 2017 Shorty Awards for Best Use of Tumblr. In December 2016, another campaign from Musical.ly, where fans to sing a

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the Hard and soft C, spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a Speech, speaking or singin ...

video and chance to win a signed guitar.

Live performances

On September 3, 2016, Maroon 5 debuted "Don't Wanna Know", to perform for the first time on their world tour at

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 ...

. The band played the song during their live performances including ''

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 November 3, and '' The Voice'' on November 28, 2016. Maroon 5 also performed along with Kendrick Lamar for closing ceremony at the 2016 American Music Awards on November 20, 2016. The band continuing the song live with the 2017 edition of Wango Tango on May 13.

Accolades

Track listing

Digital download – Original #"Don't Wanna Know" – 3:34 Digital download – Single #"Don't Wanna Know" (featuring

) – 3:34 Digital download – Extended #"Don't Wanna Know" (featuring Kendrick Lamar) – 4:25 Digital download – Ryan Riback Remix #"Don't Wanna Know" ( Ryan Riback Remix) (featuring Kendrick Lamar) – 3:50 Digital download – BRAVVO Remix #"Don't Wanna Know" (BRAVVO Remix) (featuring Kendrick Lamar) – 3:24 Digital download – Fareoh Remix #"Don't Wanna Know" ( Fareoh Remix) (featuring Kendrick Lamar) – 3:57 Digital download – Total Ape Remix #"Don't Wanna Know" (Total Ape Remix) (featuring Kendrick Lamar) – 3:14 Digital download – Zaeden Remix #"Don't Wanna Know" ( Zaeden Remix) (featuring Kendrick Lamar) – 3:34

Personnel

Maroon 5

– lead and backing vocals, songwriting *

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 ...

– guitar * James Valentine – 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 *

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

Additional personnel

– rap (featured artist)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2016 singles 2016 songs Maroon 5 songs Songs about loneliness Songs written by Kurtis Mckenzie Songs written by Kendrick Lamar Songs written by Adam Levine Songs written by Jacob Kasher Songs written by Ammar Malik Songs written by John Ryan (musician) Kendrick Lamar songs 222 Records singles Interscope Records singles Music videos directed by David Dobkin