14 DAY TRIAL // Everybody loves Bruno Mars, the man of the hour right now in music. Talented, a consummate artist and a very charming young man, his is the name on everybody's lips. Playboy knows this too well.
The Grammy-nominated singer graces the cover of the latest Music Issue of the magazine and, as expected, he's also featured in an in-depth interview.
Bruno talks about the kind of music he makes – which has been compared to the classic hits of a time long gone, those that are now completely replaced by bubbly pop tracks from manufactured pop stars –, his idols and his ideal duet partner.
Speaking of his most recent album, “Doo-Wops & Hooligans,” Bruno says it might not be the most lyrically complex material out there, but it's music from the heart.
“My album is called Doo-Wops & Hooligans, but it’s not a 1950s ‘Earth Angel’ sound like you hear in Grease-type movies. I could sing you a thousand and one doo-wop songs. I love the simplicity in that music. It’s not superpoetic, it’s just from the heart,” he says.
Not surprisingly, Bruno is a fan of Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, the both of whom he's been compared with in certain aspects.
“Growing up in the showbiz world, I looked up to those guys: Frank Sinatra and of course Elvis Presley,” he says.
“My dad was into the 1950s doo-wop era. If you look at those groups, or at James Brown, Jackie Wilson and the Temptations in the 1960s, you’ll see you had to be sharp onstage,” Bruno explains.
Now we know where he gets his energy from, Bruno being one of the few artists of today who actually sounds – and looks! – better live than on studio-recorded materials.
If he could choose his next partner for a duet, Mars would pick Jimi Hendrix, he tells the publication.
“Jimi Hendrix. I think he’s the greatest guitar player in the world, and I would want to see him do his thing in person. He’s the reason I picked up a guitar in the first place,” the singer explains.
The Bruno Mars Playboy issue will be out on newsstands tomorrow, Friday March 16.