5 Songs You Had No Idea Were Written by Bruno Mars
There’s no denying it. Bruno Mars is an incredibly talented artist. So, his Grammy nomination for his duet with Lady Gaga, “Die With a Smile” as the Song of the Year and Best Pop/Duo Group Performance is unsurprising. Plus, his recent collaboration with BLACKPINK’s Rosé for the song “APT.” is Billboard’s number 8 song for the week of November 2. It’s so infectious and catchy that South Korean students have banned it until November 14!
Bruno Mars, whose real name is Peter Gene Hernandez, is known not only for his vocal prowess and for being able to play every instrument but also for his songwriting skills. In fact, before becoming known as a recording artist, he started in the industry as a songwriter and co-founder of the Smeezingtons, a record production team.
While many fans know his chart-topping hits like “Just the Way You Are,” “Locked Out of Heaven,” and “24K Magic,” it might come as a surprise that he wrote some huge hits for other big-name artists. Over the years, his influence on pop, funk, R&B and soul is undeniable.
Here are some of the tracks written by Bruno Mars for other artists.
1. “Right Round” – Flo Rida
One of 2009’s catchiest and most commercially successful tracks, Mars with his production team, the Smeezingtons, were the co-writers of Flo Rida’s “Right Round.” It was Flo Rida’s best-selling single. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Mars said, “We wrote ‘Right Round’ for Flo Rida. That was a sample, obviously, but we got our name in there and got some publishing. And it was a No. 1 record. That was our first taste of what could really happen with a hit we hundred-percented.”
Reviews of the song were mixed. Still, its chart performance was undeniable. In its third week, it hit number one, becoming Flo Rida’s second number-one song after “Low.”
2. “Billionaire” – Travie McCoy
While most fans will recognize Bruno Mars’ unmistakable voice featured on rapper Travie McCoy’s “Billionaire,” he was a co-writer of the song as well. In an interview with Billboard, Mars mentioned that he had an idea for the song when he and Ari Levine, a member of the Smeezingtons, were in London, and they only had £240 ($350) each to spend for 11 days. “We were like, ‘Is this the biggest mistake we’ve ever made? We thought we were broke in California; what are we going to do here?’ So, we’ve got no money, and I’m walking the streets and came up with, ‘I wanna be a billionaire, so frickin’ bad.’”
When Mars proposed the song to McCoy, he turned it down because of the economic recession. However, he knew the song had potential. McCoy and Mars also got inspired by the Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love.” Critics dubbed the song a “summertime smash” noting that it has a “stirring hook.”
3. “All I Ask” – Adele
While Adele is also known as a talented songwriter and generally writes or co-writes her songs, “All I Ask,” a song for her studio album, 25, was co-written by Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence and Christopher Brody Brown. Music critics praised the song’s lyrics, production, and of course, Adele’s vocals, which she called her most “showoff-y” during an interview with Rolling Stone. “I’ve never sung like that before. Never sang that high. The funny thing is that Bruno was hitting those notes in the studio too.”
The two reportedly had disagreements over using the word “lover” in the lyrics. Mars conceded, “Once she recorded it, it became one of my favorite parts of the song. She told me she hopes I’m in the audience when she sings that line live so she can flick me off.”
4. “Nothin’ on You” – B.o.B featuring Bruno Mars
One of the biggest hits of 2010 was B.o.B’s debut single, “Nothin’ on You.” It became a massive success and received generally positive reviews from music critics. In a 2010 interview with MTV News, Mars said, the song came together “magically.” “Me and Phil always had that hook.” He added, “So one day our other partner — the Silent Bob of the Smeezingtons — Ari, he walked into the studio and said he programmed the drums [over]. It had this old-school hip-hop beat. I said, ‘Gimme the piano,’ and that was the first thing I started playing. Magically, that melody worked with this track we were doing.”
Despite the song’s success, Mars admitted that he also hit the lowest point in his career. Mars shared in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that when they played the song to a “music industry decision-maker,” he wanted to give the song to a “blond-haired, blue-eyed” talent. Mars, who is of Filipino and Puerto Rican descent, said, “I think that was the bottom, because even with the song that I thought I had in my back pocket to seal the deal, things like that are coming out of people’s mouths. It made me feel like I wasn’t even in the room.”
5. “F U” – Cee Lo Green
When Cee Lo Green dropped his catchy song “F U,” it quickly became unavoidable. The upbeat tune, complete with its cheeky, unapologetic lyrics dominated the airwaves and became a pop culture staple (Gwyneth Paltrow’s version in her Glee guest starring role comes to mind.)
Bruno Mars co-wrote the critically and commercially acclaimed song. During his 2010 interview with US Weekly, he talked about the inspiration behind the heartbreak song. “Well, Cee Lo is one of those artists who says whatever it is that he wants to say. And what do you really want to say to a girl who leaves you for a guy with more money? Do you want to say ‘good luck? Have fun in life?’ No. You want to say, ‘F*** you!’ And if anyone’s going to do it, it’s going to be Cee-Lo.”
Bruno Mars’ songwriting abilities stretch beyond his own hits. From working with hip-hop stars like Flo Rida, rapper B.o.B, and diva Adele, Mars has proven again and again that he’s not just a performer, but also a talented and versatile songwriter of various genres.
