Bruno Mars is, without a doubt, one of the most talented and well-known male pop stars of our generation. Known for his catchy hooks or heartfelt ballads, he’s one of the most versatile artists out there today. Currently, the soulful entertainer is on a world tour and has been away from music for x years, but that didn’t stop him from setting records.
Bruno Mars’ Music Break
Mars joined forces with Anderson Paak for his last project three years ago. The two formed a duo called Silk Sonic and delivered one of the smoothest soul/RnB albums of the modern age. They blended classic sounds of soul and RnB with the modern twist of the 90s and 10s RnB, funk, and a touch of pop. The album did great, debuting at number 2, and won 4 Grammy awards.
As for his solo career, Mars released his last project 8 years ago. 24K Magic was a more upbeat pop, funk, and RnB album that was inspired by his upbringing. The album also debuted at number 2 and won seven Grammy awards. For the first time in his career, the star faced cultural appropriation allegations, and it seemed people were canceling him.
Bruno’s Return Through Guest Features
Mars has been busy touring, and the tour is still ongoing, but earlier this year, he collaborated with singer/songwriter and actress, Lady Gaga for a beautiful duet, Die With A Smile that went viral on TikTok, proving that there is a spot for slow, deep romantic songs on the platform. The song debuted at number one on Spotify, Apple Music, and iTunes and number three on the Billboard Charts.
As the track became more popular, fans noticed that both Lady Gaga and Mars had moved into the top five of the most monthly listeners on Spotify and became the fastest song on the platform to surpass nine hundred million streams. Mars ranked at number two of the most streamed artists on Global Spotify and the success just kept on coming.
The Pop Icon Goes K-pop
After teasing her lead single to her debut album, K-pop idol ROSÉ finally released ‘APT’, which features the US singer. The song instantly caught on by both K-pop fans and Western music lovers. The song is an upbeat pop-funk song with pop-rock elements, making Rose stand out from the route her former bandmates took. ‘APT’ is about a drinking game played in South Korea.
The song became a commercial success, winning seven first-place awards in South Korea and landing in the top ten of the US Billboard charts, becoming the first song by a female K-pop soloist to do so. As for Mars, his monthly listeners kept on climbing until he eventually became number one for the first time and also set a new peak record.
Final Thoughts
Despite being away from the music scene for almost a decade, Mars now joins Justine Bieber as the male soloist with the most number one’s in Billboard Pop Songs airplay charts history (10), proving that there is still a spot for male pop stars in the modern music scene where female pop stars are dominating. With his massive success this year, even scoring a Grammy nomination for his song with Gaga, it isn’t hard to think why his fans think it’s time for him to make a comeback.
Each album by Mars has been a commercial success, each live performance at each award show is memorable, being spoken about days after the event. Pop needs male artists again, it needs to platform male stars because having both genders thriving is fun. Today, he forms one of two dominant male artists in pop/RnB, alongside The Weeknd and hopefully, his new winning streak convinces him to make a comeback.
