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Born in 1538 in Arako Village, Owari Province, he served Oda Nobunaga from childhood and was called "Yari no Mataza" (Spear-Matazaemon) for his skill with the spear. In 1560 he temporarily absented himself from service but was pardoned by Nobunaga and thereafter distinguished himself in many battles. After Nobunaga's death he became one of the Five Elders (Go-Tairō) of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and became a great daimyo controlling over one million koku in Kaga, Noto, and Etchū (the Kaga domain). After Hideyoshi's death he became, as one of the Five Elders, a major power alongside Tokugawa Ieyasu, but he died in 1599, aged 62. Known as an outstanding commander who achieved a balance of tea ceremony, martial arts, and politics, he also contributed greatly to the cultural development of Kaga. The Maeda family boasted the greatest power of all outside lords (tozama daimyo) throughout the Edo period. His wife Matsu (Hōshunin) was celebrated as a wise and virtuous woman.

A person combining a bold warrior side with cultural refinement. Just as his nickname "Spear-Matazaemon" implies, he was bold and courageous on the battlefield, but in peacetime he also had deep knowledge of tea ceremony and the arts. He placed great importance on duty and compassion, and was warm-hearted toward his retainers and common people. He also had an excellent political sense of balance, serving powerful lords such as Nobunaga and Hideyoshi while successfully maintaining his own position and laying the foundations of the Kaga domain.

The Kaga domain (modern Ishikawa Prefecture), the great domain of one million koku built by the Maeda family, survived throughout the Edo period and became the foundation of the cultural richness of present-day Kanazawa. Kenrokuen garden and Kanazawa Castle, legacies of the Maeda family, remain popular tourist destinations today. The Maeda family is said to have deliberately poured energy into culture and scholarship out of deference to the Tokugawa shogunal family, and the high level of Kaga culture is the product of that effort.