Prior to Bruno Mars performing on Saturday Night Live, he sat down with ELLE Magazine and got into depth about his new album, what he thought about Kanye West‘s SNL Performance, and what his future plans are.
Check it out after the jump…
If you don’t recognize Bruno Mars, then just turn on the radio. He’s the R&B mastermind writer/producer behind practically every ounce of DJ-fuel: Cee Lo’s snappy Motown kiss-off “Fuck You,” B.O.B’s sultry single “Nothing On You” and Travie McCoy’s catchy ode to capitalism, “Billionaire.” On Tuesday, the 24 year-old Hawaii native released his solo debut, ‘Doo-Wops & Hooligans,’ anchored by the melodic “Just The Way You Are.” And this weekend, he’ll provide the soundtrack to Saturday Night Live.
ELLE: Even though you were behind some of the biggest songs of the summer, was going solo always your goal? Bruno Mars: I got signed at a young age, and, it’s not like the movies—you don’t get signed and all of a sudden hit songs falling into your lap, so I had to learn and see the way things were behind the scenes. Luckily, I got a chance to sell one of my records. That helped pay rent, so I figured that I’d just start producing for other acts and then hopefully, one day labels would hear me sing these demos and take a chance.
ELLE: You famously wrote Cee Lo’s “Fuck You.” How did you two meet? BM: We’re label mates, and I knew that he was working on his album so I just kept putting it in everyone’s ear, like, “Yo, I need to work with him. It’d be a dream come true.” We hooked up at the studio, we started working, we did a couple of records together. We did a record on Travis McCoy’s album called “Dr. Feel Good,” which he’s singing on; he’s on my album, “The Other Side,” so it’s only natural. We all got to the studio and came up with one of our favorite songs.
ELLE: Were you worried “Fuck You” wouldn’t get airplay because of the lyrics? BM: You know sometimes, you just gotta do things that feel right. And Cee Lo’s the type of artist who’ll say whatever the hell he wants to say.
ELLE: What are you going after sound-wise on your solo album? BM: I’ve been a songwriter and a producer for a while now and I’m always hopping around from different genre to genre, and I’m hoping “Nothin’ On You,” “Billionaire,” and “Just The Way You Are,” were a warning to people that I might not just stick to one sound. So on [Doo-Wops & Hooligans], I was just really trying to be open. I would just sit down in the studio, pick up a guitar, and write a song, whether it called for a reggae beat or whether it was a ballad. It was kind of a free fall. Let me just do what I want; let me get this out of my system. And I’m already thinking about my second album.
ELLE: You must be excited to perform on SNL this weekend. BM: Geeze. The first time you’ll see me singing “Just The Way You Are” on TV is on that show, live.
ELLE: Will you try to weasel your way into a skit? BM: I don’t know how those things work. I’d love to, but I’m fine with just performing.
ELLE: And you’re following the Kanye performance from last week. Did you see it? BM: Yeah, wasn’t that incredible? That was my idea! I was gonna wear a red suit and have ballerinas dancing to “Just The Way You Are.”
ELLE: You better talk to your stylist, ASAP.
BM: No, I’m just kidding. He was amazing though, definitely, he definitely woke me up. Now you’re making me nervous. What the hell is going on? This is supposed to be a nice, sweet interview.
ELLE: Oh no, didn’t they tell you we just try freak you out here at ELLE?
BM: Right, like, “This is your first big moment. Good luck following Kanye.”
Plus check out Bruno Mars performs “Grenade” in this extended session of Billboard’s Tastemakers series LIVE at Mophonics Studios NY.
Bruno Mars has officially scratched off “perform on Saturday Night Live“ off of his bucket list. His dream became a reality when he was the musical guest last night (Saturday, Oct. 09, 2010) on “SNL” for the first time. He was looking very “Hairspray” retro, rocking a pompadour, blue blazer, black pants, white button down, black skinny tie, and some black & white oxfords to match his band. Quite gentlemanly. Nice way to celebrate his 25th birthday, which was actually last week.
Mars performed 2 songs last night, the first being his #1 hit “Just The Way You Are,” which was backed up by his band. It also included a string section and a tambourine-thumping backup singer. The other was a mix between “Nothin’ on You” into “Grenade.” When Mars returned to the stage, he picked up a guitar and plucked a mellowed-out version of his chorus for B.o.B‘s smash “Nothin’ On You.”
The singer then told the crowd, “That was then, this is now,” and put down the guitar as he launched into “Grenade.” Mars peppered the performance with hip-swaying moves, looking like Elvis Presley. He finished his performance in a very classic rock-star style with an excited jump in the air. Perfect vocals and what a show!
Bruno Mars‘ debut album ‘Doo-Wops & Hooligans,’ is in stores NOW. It was released, Oct. 5th, with his single “Just the Way You Are” topping charts, according to Billboard.com. Go get a copy if you haven’t yet. Such a DOPE record. It’s a must-have!
Check out some photos from Bruno’s performance taken from my phone via my TV, sorry for some of the blurry ones….
Check out Bruno’s performances below after the jump….AMAZING!!
According to MTV News; Singer/songwriter Bruno Mars is formally charged!
Mars has been charged with felony drug possession, in Las Vegas last month, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The “Just the Way You Are” singer is alleged to have been in possession of 2.6 grams of cocaine after he played a show at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on September 19.
According to Las Vegas police, Mars was taken into custody after a bathroom attendant at the Hard Rock alerted a security guard that a man was spending a lot of time one of the stalls and may have been using drugs. The attendant also said he noticed Mars, born Peter Hernandez, had a “baggy of white powder substance.” When Mars left the stall, the guard made him give up any drugs he may have had and the star produced “a white powder substance, which was consistent with cocaine, from his left-front jeans pocket.”Mars reportedly copped to his bad behavior, telling the guard he “did a foolish thing and has never used drugs before.”
Mars tested positive for cocaine at the time of his arrest and, according to The Associated Press, the star faces up to four years in jail and a $5000 fine if convicted. The singer, who has appeared on chart-rulers such as B.o.B’s“Nothin’ On You” and “Billionaire” by Travie McCoy, is due in court on November 18.
On Friday, Mars’ label Elektra issued a short statement, reading, “We congratulate Bruno Mars on his chart-topping success, and provide him with our full love and support.”
Mars’ debut LP, Doo-Wops & Hooligans drops on Tuesday.
Bruno Mars Arrested In Las Vegas On An Alleged Cocaine Charge…
When idolator.com interviewed Bruno Mars last month and asked the 23-year-old hitmaker if he had any crazy Vegas stories he’d like to share, his response was:
“Yeah, I don’t wanna talk about that.”
He was joking, but his arrest at 2:40 a.m. on Sunday in Sin City was no laughing matter.
Rising singer-songwriter Bruno Mars was found with a bag of cocaine in a Las Vegas casino bathroom following a nightclub show over the weekend, police said Monday.
The “Just the Way You Are” crooner was arrested early Sunday after being detained by security at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Mars, whose real name is Peter Hernandez, was found with 2.6 grams of cocaine and booked into county jail on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, police said. He faces possible felony charges.
An aide to Clark County District Attorney David Roger in Las Vegas said the case was under review and formal charges had not been filed, though Hernandez, 24, was given a court return date of Nov. 18. The office declined further comment.
Hernandez‘ publicist at Atlantic Records did not immediately return messages seeking comment from The Associated Press. A hotel spokeswoman declined comment. It was not immediately clear whether Hernandez has a lawyer.
An arrest report for Hernandez said a bathroom attendant told police Hernandez was taking a long time in a stall with a bag of a white, powdered substance. The attendant alerted a security guard, who confronted Hernandez as he left the stall. The security guard said he asked Hernandez to hand over any narcotics he had, and Hernandez pulled a bag of cocaine from his left-front jeans pocket. Hernandez was taken to a holding cell where he was questioned by an arresting officer. When asked what was going on, Hernandez replied: “Can I speak to you honestly, sir?” and said he acted foolishly and had never used drugs before, the arrest report said.
Mars performed a show Saturday night at the Hard Rock’s Wasted Space nightclub. The hotel-casino is separate from the restaurant chain with the same name.
Meanwhile, Mars has yet to acknowledge his arrest. He tweeted the following early this morning:
“Texas is dope! Im in dallas rite now looking foward to meeting some folks @ the radio stations. tune in for a special live performance”
“What the hell is going on? Why is it that now all these brilliant artists want to damage their careers on some serious dumb-ass shit. Bruno Mars is so talented, and he just ruined his reputation by adding this red flag to his name. Well lets just say allegedly. ;o). I wish him well.”
Jay-Z & Eminem’s first show at Yankee Stadium for their “Home & Home” tour was full of surprises. It was a star studded event.
The duo brought out special guests that included: Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Beyoncé, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Drake, Nicki Minaj, B.O.B., 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Swizz Beats, and Bridget Kelly for the show in which both headliners went through dozens of songs each.
Check out videos from the show below:
Jay-Z & Kanye perform “Power” Remix and Nicki Minaj comes out for “Monster”
Jay-Z performs his verse from “Free Mason” and does “Renegade” with Eminem.
Jay-Z & Eminem perform “Renegade” and “Light Up” with Drake
Jay-Z & Chris Martin perform “Heart of the City”, “Most Kingz”, “Lost” and “Viva La Vida” at Yankees Stadium
Jay-Z & Beyoncé perform “Forever Young”
Eminem brings out B.o.B., 50 Cent & G-Unit, D-12 & Dr. Dre for his set at Yankee Stadium
Sunday night at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards the audience went Gaga over the night’s top nominee while Taylor Swift and Kanye West delivered performances that reflected on the infamous incident that put them both in the spotlight after last year’s VMAs. So who were the winners at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards?
Comedian Chelsea Handler, who admitted she was “high as a kite”, hosted the 27th annual VMAs, rocking a house on her head as she made her grand entrance on to the stage. Her monologue included the obligatory disses. After giving a nod to the cast of MTV’s Jersey Shore, Handler told the audience, “Don’t applaud- they’re the reason MTV doesn’t play your videos.”
Musical guests at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards included Eminem, Rihanna, Usher, Justin Bieber, Florence and the Machine, Drake, Mary J. Blige, Swizz Beats, Taylor Swift, Linkin Park and Kanye West.
Lady Gaga accepted the Best Female Video Award from comedian Ellen DeGeneres. Gaga told her fans, “Tonight, little monsters, we’re the cool kids at the party.” And as Gaga accepted several awards throughout the evening, her constant costume changes kept things interesting. She also announced the title of her new album- “Born This Way”.
Eminem was also a big winner, but jetted from L.A.’s Nokia Theatre before accepting any of his awards. His show at Yankees Stadium was slated for today and he had to hit the road.
Let’s break it down!
The night opened up with Eminem performing his comeback hit “Not Afraid”, which lead into a surprise appearance by Rihanna for “Love the Way You Lie”. Looking a lil Courtney Love circa 1995, but much cuter.
Hearing Rihanna’s voice come out of the blue and very unexpected gave me chills in a good way.
It was definitely nice to see her and Eminen performing together on stage. Definitely one of my picks for best performances of the night.
DOPE breakout song of the year.
Justin Bieber put on an a semi-good performance with great dancers, a cool drum solo and confetti. He gets kudos for reacting fast to losing a drum stick. He had a quick recovery during his solo.
Next on stage was Justin’s mentor, Usher. His medley of “DJ Got Us Falling in Love”/”OMG ” was not my favorite performance to be honest. He barely sang anything. He sounded really bad and I was not a fan of the dancing. The ninja dancers descending from the ceiling were fun, but there wasn’t really anything memorable about the performance.
In my opinion Usher flopped this one.
Now was it me or were the majority of these performers lip synching? That was really starting to piss me off about the whole show.
Good punch line moment was when, Katy Perry hands Nicki Minaj the VMA Moon Man award and tells the rapper that’s she found her a “stiff man”.
I needed the laugh and that to me was funny!
Florence and the Machine may have sung her hit song “Dog Days Are Over”, but what she should have been singing was “Underdog Days Are Over”. She was definitely one who had a great performance. While much of the music world has finally started to take notice of the phenom that is FATM, mainstream music listeners have only just started to see the singer on their radar. Florence showed the MTV VMAs what real singing is all about.
She sang her ass off….GREAT!!
Now off to the best collabo performances of the night besides Eminem & Rihanna‘s performance. I have to hand it over to the next performers of the night.
Bruno Mars got everyone hyped for his upcoming album when he and B.o.B. performed their huge hit “Nothin’ on You“. B.o.B. kept the momentum going while performing his joining of two worlds collabo for “Airplanes” with Paramore’s Haley Williams.
Williams is super dope and has some serious swag.
Williams ended the performance while taking it back to her roots and performing with her band under a skyline of floating lightbulbs. This trifecta performance was likely was off of most people’s radar and yet delivered the most impressive talent of the night.
Drake got all “Fancy huh“, while rocking a white tuxedo jacket. His surprise guests consisted of Mary J Blige andSwizz Beatz. It was something expected from Drake, since he’s been on some serious hype lately. He’s everywhere! It was a good mood booster a very nicely high-energized performance.
Justin Bieber took home the moon man for Best New Artist award, but got a bit confused and couldn’t figure out how to get on the stage.
Linkin Park performed their song “Catalyst” off-location on the top of the Griffith Observatory. Good performance.
Last night was Lady GaGa’s night at the 2010 MTV VMA’s as she won 8 awards including “Video Of the Year.” GaGa rocked three crazy pieces of fashion, all of which seemed to be ones that she appeared in recently in magazine pictorials.
Later the legendary Cher took the stage, calling herself “the oldest chick with the biggest hair and the littlest outfit”. She also said she had shoes older than most of the VMA nominees.
Cher still looks good for her age. She still can rock a see-through outfit and not give a damn about what anybody says.
Cher presented Lady Gaga with the award for Best Video of the Year.
A well-deserved win for Gaga.
After shedding tears of joy, GaGa was emotional and moved by the win that she even went as far as telling fans the album title for her next album. She scratched the plans of a New Year’s album title announcement and just blurted the three worded title. The album title for her next album will be called, “Born This Way”.
Now what was the deal with her meat dress? Really Gaga? I thought it was a bit way out of the box, but with Gaga you never really know what to expect.
She’s still DOPE!!
Now for the most anticipated, what I should be saying the most talked about performances of the night go out to Taylor Swift & Kanye West.
What a Difference a Year Makes…
A year after Kanye West stormed the VMA stage, stealing Taylor Swift‘s thunder as she accepted her award for best female video, the rapper was back on the VMA stage to make amends…
But first, Taylor Swift showed a mature and much more solemn side of herself. Swift performed her new song, “Innocents”, off her yet to be released album ‘Speak Now’. The song was penned about West‘s infamous interruption of Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video at last year’s VMAs. The video clip of the incident played at the beginning of her performance, making it clear who and what she was singing about. But the lyrics “32 and still growing up now” and “who you are is not what you did” seemed to offer forgiveness to the rapper. The song, forgiving West of his rudeness, is one of Swift’s strongest songs lyrically to date.
Now off to Mr. West…
Asis Ansari’s introduction for Kanye West should have been funny. It had all the makings to be a classic Ansari funny moment, but fell short. Like, really short.
Thankfully, Kanye’s performance did not fall short.
West ended the night on a high with his own pennance, delivering a song called “Runaway”, an ode to being a “d—-bag’ and offering a toast to “scumbags”.
Even more shocking?
Taylor Swift was nowhere in sight. While both artists had their performances slightly overshadowed by the anticipation of a possible cameo from one another, neither Swift nor West collaborated on either performance. A positive reuniting of the two music powerhouses would have easily been the show-stealer.
That definitely would have been the icing on the cake, but unfortunately it didn’t happen.
Lets not talk about the pre-show performance. Nicki Minaj & Will.i.am?! WACK as hell, now don’t get me wrong I am a fan of the both of them, but I feel the performance could have been superfly and it just went down the drain for me. I was not impressed. Sorry guys. This is just my opinion.
Oh and lets not forget Will.i.am’s black face and Nicki’s outfit. WTF was that?!! Bad, bad, bad fashion choices.
Major Winners at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards:
BEST FEMALE VIDEO
“Tik Tok” – Ke$ha
“California Gurls” – Katy Perry
“Video Phone (extend remix)” – Beyonce featuring Lady Gaga”Fifteen” – Taylor Swift “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga – WINNER
BEST ROCK VIDEO
“Ignorance” – Paramore
“Flash Delirium” – MGMT “Kings and Queens” – 30 Seconds To Mars-WINNER
BEST MALE VIDEO
“Airplanes” – B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams
“In My Head” – Jason Derulo “Not Afraid” – Eminem – WINNER
BEST POP VIDEO
“Tik Tok” – Ke$ha
“Nothing on You” – B.o.B featuring Bruno Mars “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga – WINNER
BEST HIP-HOP VIDEO
“Airplanes” – B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams
“Forever” – Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne & Eminem
“Pursuit Of Happiness” – Kid Cudi featuring MGMT & Ratatat “Not Afraid”-Eminem – WINNER
BEST NEW ARTIST
“Tik Tok” – Ke$ha
“In My Head” – Jason Derulo
“Massive Attack” – Nicki Minaj featuring Sean Garrett
“The Ghost Inside” – Broken Bells “Baby” – Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris – WINNER
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
“Kings and Queens” – 30 Seconds To Mars
“Not Afraid” – Eminem “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga – WINNER
BEST COLLABORATION
“Airplanes” – B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams
“Telephone” – Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce
“My First Kiss” – 3OH!3 featuring Ke$ha
“Empire State of Mind” – Jay-Z and Alicia Keys “Video Phone (Extended Remix)” – Beyonce featuring Lady Gaga – WINNER
BEST DANCE MUSIC VIDEO
“Evacuate The Dancefloor” – Cascada
“OMG” – Usher featuring Will.I.Am “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga – WINNER
BEST ART DIRECTION
“Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga
“Not Afraid” – Eminem
“Video Phone (Extended Remix)” – Beyonce featuring Lady Gaga “Dog Days Are Over” – Florence and the Machine – WINNER
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
“Telephone” – Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce
“Video Phone (Extended Remix)” – Beyonce featuring Lady Gaga
“OMG” – Usher featuring Will.I.Am
“Tightrope” – Janelle Monae featuring Big Boi “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga – WINNER
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Not Afraid” – Eminem
“Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga
“Little Lion Man” – Mumford and Sons
“Dog Days Are Over” – Florence + The Machine
“Empire State of Mind” – Jay-Z and Alicia Keys – WINNER
BEST DIRECTION
“Empire State of Mind” – Jay-Z and Alicia Keys
“Not Afraid” – Eminem
“Kings and Queens” – 30 Seconds To Mars “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga-WINNER
BEST SFX (SPECIAL EFFECTS)
“21st Century Breakdown” – Green Day
“Symphonies” – Dan Black
“Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga
“Not Afraid” – Eminem “Uprising” – Muse – WINNER
BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO
“Symphonies” – Dan Black
“Stylo” – Gorillaz featuring Bobby Womack and Mos Def
“Strawberry Swing” – Coldplay “Tighten Up” – The Black Keys-WINNER
Check out the photos and videos below…
Eminem & Rihanna
Lady Gaga
Taylor Swift
Kanye West
What do you think of the MTV VMAs 2010 Winners list for the Video Music Awards?
Last night was Lady GaGa’s night at the 2010 MTV VMA’s as she won 8 awards including “Video Of the Year.” GaGa rocked three crazy pieces of fashion, all of which seemed to be ones that she appeared in recently in magazine pictorials.
JNEL & J. Magazine 
