Bruno Mars: Next Steps

The remarkable thing about Bruno Mars—okay, just one remarkable thing; the guy’s talented—is how vividly he manages to make the past come alive without ever feeling like a nostalgia act. Yeah, his music looks back, blows it kisses, sometimes even gets on bended knee, but in the end the sense is that Mars—like Elvis and Michael Jackson before him—uses the past to push things forward, keeping ties to tradition without ever feeling hemmed in by it. Compressing decades of soul, pop, R&B and hip-hop into bright, shiny bites, here’s a playlist of his album cuts, collaborations and features designed to take you beyond the basics.

Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada