Bruno Mars has been a pop and R&B music staple for over a decade. Nowadays, people talk about his collaboration album with Anderson Paak, “Silk Sonic,” that garnered extreme critical and commercial success. His single with Mark Ronson in 2015, “Uptown Funk,” was one of the most popular songs of the previous decade. However, I think his earlier works are extremely nostalgic and they still hold up so many years after their initial releases. 

Bruno Mars rose to fame as a solo singer-songwriter in the year 2010 after the success of him being featured on “Nothin’ On You” by B.O.B. and “Billionaire” by Travie McCoy. He, then, went on to release his debut album, “Doo-Wops & Hooligans,” in the same year. The album had three singles that went number one internationally, which were “Just the Way You Are,” “Grenade,” and “The Lazy Song.” And songs that did not go number one were also very popular that people still listen to today, such as: “Marry You,” “Runaway Baby,” “Talking to the Moon,” and “Count On Me.” The record as a whole was very loved, due to the fact that Mars included a multitude of influences. It touched on feelings of unbridled fun and positivity mixed in with relationship troubles, pain, and loneliness. The different music styles and lyrical themes throughout the album really drew people to Bruno Mars right away. “Doo-Wops & Hooligans” received five Grammy nominations in 2011, with the album winning Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for “Just the Way You Are.” 

At the end of 2012, Bruno Mars put out his sophomore album, “Unorthodox Jukebox,” which included even more of an array of musical influences than his first album. His second album also incorporated more explicit lyrics and topics than its predecessor. It also had five singles, two of which reached the number one spot on Billboard, the songs being “Locked Out of Heaven” and “When I Was Your Man.” The three other singles, “Treasure,” “Gorilla,” and “Young Girls,” grew to major or mild success. “Unorthodox Jukebox” was met with pretty positive reviews, and it also brought even more success to Bruno Mars. It was the fourth best-selling album of 2013, and it received the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. This album, specifically, still gives so many people, including myself, a great deal of nostalgia and it is still very enjoyable to listen to. 

Bruno Mars just proves that his place in the music industry is so well deserved, and he should absolutely have all of the praise he gets for his musical styles and his lyrics. His album titles are also extremely creative and unique, and they really fit the vibes of the songs on each album. Even though Bruno Mars is still extremely popular in the music scene in 2024, I feel like his early works still deserve so much positive attention and should not be overshadowed by his more recent releases.