Mars's concerts feature The Hooligans, a band that includes a guitarist, bassist, drummer, keyboardist, and a horn section. They also serve as dancers and background singers. Critics noted the difference the backup band and the arrangements made to the sound of the live versions of the songs compared to those on the album. The shows feature all-band choreographed dancing arrangements, including footwork inspired by James Brown and the splits. The shows are influenced by the disco era with a soul revue-inspired set.
In addition, long, mellow, and soft interludes that echo the smooth contemporary R&B style which was popular during the 1990s are also part of the show. The set lists blend several genres of music, including pop, doo-wop, funk, R&B, soul and reggae. His shows usually feature pyrotechnics, strobe and laser lighting, and he typically plays the drums and guitar.
In 2021, Pollstar named Mars the hip-hop/R&B touring artist of the 2010's decade. "Jungleland," Born to Run. This is the culmination of Springsteen's street epics. He pulls together all of the characters, elements, and scenes he'd previously written to create his masterpiece of the genre. It's one of his definitive songs, but it's also one of the most inscrutable, which explains why it didn't get played on the radio much.
"Jungleland" is not a single; it's that song that outsiders know about, but don't know. In other words, it's Springsteen's covenant with the early fans. It's for and about them — "the hungry and the hunted" — and it's written in code, the way troubadours would transmit news to peasants without the nobility catching wind of a message. Magic Rat and Barefoot Girl escape the Maximum Lawmen. The "opera out on the Turnpike" is the old Garden State Arts Center. Kids flash guitars just like switchblades.
The performance is phenomenally operatic, with so much color, shading, emotion, and tension. Bittan is the MVP — on piano, organ, and Fender Rhodes — and when the guitar does come in, Bruce is at his fiercest, accompanied by the drums so regal and precise. And, of course, there's that heartrending sax solo. In many ways, "Jungleland" is Clarence's song.
His solo emotionally dominates the track, so much so that Springsteen waited a year after the Big Man's passing to play it live again. It could have fit on Wrecking Ball, somewhere between "We Take Care of Our Own" and "Easy Money," lyrically and sonically. The melody is evocative, broad as a western landscape; the vocal delivery full of weary frustration and underscored by highly satisfying gigantic guitar chords that sound like thunder and lighting. Springsteen states he wrote the song many years before the current occupant of the White House, but that doesn't mean the song still isn't about him and everyone like him in history or still to come. In 2013, Mars told Rolling Stone that record executives "had trouble categorizing him", and were consequently unsure which radio stations would play his songs, or to which ethnic group he would appeal.
In the same month, he confessed that "Nothin' on You" was rejected by a "music industry decision-maker" because of his race. That experience made him feel like a "mutant", and he says that was his lowest point. Various black celebrities, including Stevie Wonder, Charlie Wilson, 9th Wonder, Marjua Estevez, and Stereo Williams dismissed the accusations.
Mars has spoken often about his influences and has given credit to several black artists, such as Babyface, Teddy Riley, and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. Mars is one of six children and came from a musical family which exposed him to a diverse mix of music genres, including first and foremost Rock and Roll, and later reggae, rock, hip hop, and R&B. His mother was both a singer and a dancer, and his father performed Little Richard rock and roll music, which inspired him as a young child. His uncle was an Elvis impersonator, and also encouraged three-year-old Mars to perform songs on stage by that artist and Michael Jackson. At the age of four, Mars began performing five days a week with his family's band, The Love Notes, and became known in Hawaii for his impersonation of Elvis Presley.
When he was five he urinated himself during a performance of Elvis's "Can't Help Falling in Love" , which led his parents to think they could be making a mistake. However, Mars never wavered. In 1990, Mars was featured in the Hawaiian tabloid shopper MidWeek as "Little Elvis" and performed in the halftime show of the 1990 Aloha Bowl. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Mars moved to Los Angeles in 2003 to pursue a musical career.
In 2009, he co-founded the production team The Smeezingtons, responsible for various successful singles for Mars himself and other artists. He rose to fame in 2010 buoyed by the success of "Nothin' on You" by B.o.B and "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy, both of which featured his vocals. That year Mars released his debut studio album Doo-Wops & Hooligans, which blended pop with reggae pop and R&B. It spawned the international number-one singles "Just the Way You Are", "Grenade", and "The Lazy Song".
Drawing inspiration from disco, funk, rock, reggae and soul genres, his second studio album, Unorthodox Jukebox , was his first number one on the Billboard 200. It amassed two Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits, "Locked Out of Heaven" and "When I Was Your Man". Peter Gene Hernandez , known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, musician, and dancer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical styles, including pop, R&B, funk, soul, reggae, hip hop, disco and rock. Mars is accompanied by his band, the Hooligans, who play a variety of instruments, such as electric guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, drums, and horns, and also serve as backup singers and dancers. "The Fever," 18 Tracks.
Springsteen gave this one away, folks. He wrote it and gave it to Southside Johnny, who recorded and released a fine version, to be sure. "Fever" was recorded as part of the Wild & Innocent sessions, and it was distributed to friendly radio stations to build anticipation for the next record. If you lived in a Springsteen stronghold, you might have known it already, or maybe you heard it live on the '78 tour.
It's a loose and languid song, and it embraces a different kind of smoldering soulfulness than the Asbury Jukes version. (Southside is more Otis, Bruce is more Sam Cooke.) The E Street arrangement is jazzy, dominated by piano, organ, cymbals, finger snaps, and the best part, the band singing on the choruses. "Fever" is also a vivid snapshot of the E Street Band at a very particular place and time, when they were still lost boys.
There's something melancholy and wistful about that. Made in Mexico schooled in France Ooh La lovin' she needed no teaching, Oh man I can say international ways I believe in. Mexican Girl don't leave me alone, I got a heart as big as stone, And I need you believe me to be here and love me tonight. Mexican Girl I want you to stay, You know my heart is longing to say, That as long as I live I will always remember the one that I called my Mexican Girl.
Her skin was soft as the velvet sky, and her hair it shone in the moonlight, and as the music did play well the night turned to day, and I held her tight. Then she looked at me with her dark brown eyes, and she whispered Haste La Vista, Well I don't know what that means but it sounded so good so I kissed her. Words and Music by Chris Norman / Pete Spencer Copyright Chris Norman/Pete Spencer Dice Music Limited. The new song comes as part of the duo's highly anticipated project, An Evening with Silk Sonic, set to release later this year.
Directed by Mars and Florent Dechard, the music video "skates" us into summer with its warm and inviting hues, harboring the familiar feel-good disco-R&B nostalgia with its '70s-inspired fashion and cinematographic moments. "I'm tryna roll, I'm tryna ride, I'm tryna float, I'm tryna glide—No, no, don't be shy, just take my hand and hold on tight," Mars sings in the chorus. In January 2019, SUGA provided a rap feature on Lee So-ra's single "Song Request". The track was co-written by SUGA and Tablo of Epik High, who also produced the track.
The single debuted at number three on South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart and at number two on Billboard's World Digital Songs chart, with 3,000 downloads during the song's two-day charting period. SUGA later produced a track for Epik High's Sleepless in extended play, titled "Eternal Sunshine", in February. He co-wrote and produced the digital single, "We Don't Talk Together", for singer Heize, which she released on July 7.
In December, American singer-songwriter Halsey released the song "SUGA's Interlude", from her third studio album Manic, which both featured and was produced by SUGA. "The River," The River. There are so many reasons why this is one of Springsteen's best compositions. The title seems so simple and direct, except that the nature of the river changes from verse to verse.
It's a device of escape, of purification, of redemption, of solace. The first time I heard this song in Europe, the rapt applause made me remember that this is a story as old as time, as old as dirt, as old as humankind. It was an awe-inspiring, unifying moment. Instrumentally, the track is unparalleled. The harmonica opens the track, keening like a train whistle high in the distance. It's accompanied by an elegant 12-string guitar, the dueling melodies on organ and piano, and the barely controlled emotion lurking behind Springsteen's voice.
The fact that he based "The River" on his sister's life is actually the least interesting thing about it. "New York City Serenade," The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. The dramatic piano chords that open "New York City Serenade" deliberately make a statement and set a tone before drifting off into the gentle, lilting melody of the song's body. It grabs your heart, squeezes, and doesn't let go.
"Serenade" is almost ten minutes of grandeur and desire. It's one of the best songs about New York City, but it's also a song that could have only been written by someone who wasn't from there, for whom the city was life and escape and hope. When the strings soar, your spirit sings. "So walk tall or baby don't walk at all." Words to live by. "Better Days," Lucky Town. An optimistic, boisterous statement of intent.
Better days didn't simply show up; he's willing them into existence. The emotion in the vocals is what sells the song. "Man at the Top," Tracks. "The real dream is not the dream, it's life without complications.
And that doesn't exist," Springsteen told Rolling Stone in 1987. There's a little gospel flavor on this Born in the U.S.A. outtake, but the melody is almost too lightweight for the lyrics. When it's performed live without the extraneous ornamentation, you feel its bones and the strength of the composition. (Yes, he's only done it three times, but it was still breathtaking.) Regardless of form, the line "Here comes a kid with a guitar in his hand/Dreaming of his record in number-one spot" always tugs at the heartstrings.
"Hitch Hikin'," Western Stars. The opening cut on Bruce's latest album begins so quietly and minimally you think it will be a normal Springsteen acoustic song. His voice and guitar share a gentle melody through the first verse and chorus, but a minute in, as we reach the second verse, the strings coast in from behind and the acceleration expands in the verses and choruses to follow. It's the sound of the road, of forward movement; it's light and airy and feels like big fluffy clouds casting shadows on the freeway.
"Worlds Apart," The Rising. A song about love between two worlds — between a Western soldier and a local woman — during wartime. Tape loops, Qawwali singing, and Arabic rhythms open the track, which then expands to layer a rock melody on top.
By the end, it's got a guitar solo, harmonica, and a haunting organ melody line. On the tour to support The Rising, "Worlds Apart" was an unexpectedly tremendous live number, rhythmic and powerful, with various instrumental bridges used to replicate the textures of the recording without duplicating it. Figuring out how to make "Born to Run" work affected Springsteen's songwriting process not only for the rest of the album of the same name, but for the rest of his career. The themes and characters he established on that song formed the basis of his work and persona, and for the past 43 years he's continued to write about love, faith, hope, struggle, meaning, and identity.
He has explored the dark side of the American dream, broken promises, and the possibilities of salvation and redemption. Just as important, he's exalted the "the majesty, the mystery, the ministry — of rock and roll! " as he used to declare onstage, capturing the heat and joy of a busy dance floor on a Saturday night, and his wholehearted belief in rock music as nothing less than a genuine force of liberation. He is the first male artist to place two titles as a lead act in the U.S. top 10 simultaneously.
In total, he has eight number-one singles in the U.S. In 2018, he matched Beyonce and Mariah Carey as the only artists with three top-five singles in the U.S. from their first three studio albums. In the same year, he became the first solo male artist with nine number ones in the U.S. Mainstream Top 40 chart.
Mars, Sheeran and Jewel are the only artists with two songs to spend at least half a year in the U.S. top 10. 24K Magic was set to be issued in March but was postponed several months due to Mars's appearance at the Super Bowl halftime show. At that time, seven songs had already been recorded.
They were composed mainly by Shampoo Press & Curl, a production team consisting of Mars, Lawrence, and Brown, which replaced the Smeezingtons. In May 2016, the singer split with his manager because Creed sold half his company. Mars took his business affairs under his own management company, Gorilla Management, operated by Aaron Elharar. At the 2017 Grammy Awards, his work on Adele's "All I Ask", a track from her third studio album, 25 , brought him a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. In 2017, Guinness World Records recognized Mars as the "First Male Artist to achieve three 10-million-selling-singles".
