Going to a Bruno Mars Concert? Good, Because He Wants It to Change Your Life
We already know that Bruno Mars is sexy as hell, but it never hurts to be reminded of that fact over and over again. The "24K Magic" singer graces the cover of WSJ magazine's men's fashion issue, and it will make you want to put your Versace (or, you know, your H&M dress) on the floor. In addition to looking so good in the photos, Bruno, who recently wowed the world with his Prince tribute at the Grammys, opens up about everything from his upcoming world tour to his epic Carpool Karaoke session with James Corden. See his best quotes below.
- On his style: "The style stuff all comes from watching my dad — the pinkie rings, the pompadour, everything. My dad would take me to school in some big, busted-up Cadillac, and he'd be wearing a rhinestone jacket and have his hair all whipped and greased up, flashy glasses, and I was like, 'My dad's not like the other dads at school!' I'd try to get out of the car, zoom out. And now I'm the one driving the busted Cadillac, wearing some gaudy sh*t, and it's what makes me happy."
- On his upcoming world tour: "I want the show to be powerful, because people spent some money on a ticket. I've seen Prince and Michael Jackson; those are nights I will remember forever. I'm not doing my job unless I leave a piece of me everywhere I go — if you do the right show, it will stay with people and they'll tell their kids about it. I hope people can see what I was feeling when I made the records. Then I want to go beyond their expectations and fly."
- On growing up with musical parents: "If you took your kid to school with you every day, and you were studying rocket science, he'd probably be a rocket scientist. So that's just it — my dad and mom took me to work every single day, and I got to see what it's like to entertain an audience. I got to entertain everybody who came to Hawaii — a roomful of people that didn't speak English, from around the world — and to see what music can do, and how it can bring the world together."
- On "24K Magic": "We were trying really hard to tap into the '90s R&B music that we grew up with, and it's a very fine line — it can get tribute-y, it can sound forced. But that New Jack Swing sound brought me so much joy as a kid, so we took that on and did our best to try to get that feeling, that effortless fun. If '24K Magic' is supposed to sound like I'm having the time of my life, you gotta hear me smiling on the record."
- On his Carpool Karaoke session with James Corden: "My biggest memory of that day was that the second it ended, I got a little depressed. Like the last day of vacation, where you're on the plane home and feel sad that it's over. It was so euphoric, I just wanted to do it again. There's a moment at the end of 'Uptown Funk' where we're just sitting there and breathing heavily, and that was real. His commitment was everything — we left it all in the car. I think he's 100 percent on his way to being one of the greats. He has this unquantifiable energy, where you want to watch it and be a part of it somehow."
- On not endorsing random products like other celebrities do: "I just don't want to feel gross. It's as simple as that. I don't want to feel gross, I don't want to regret any decisions. Even if I turn down a sweet check because I don't want to be on that billboard, hawking some shit to the world — I just don't need to do that. Because you get one shot at this. I'm not a model. I'm not an ice skater. I'm not a chef. I'm here to do music. And I want to be able to look back and say, 'Yeah, I did it the way I wanted to do it.' Whether it triumphs or fails, I can live with that."