Singer sued for plagiarizing Bruno Mars’ music When I Was Your Man (2013) in his tube Flowers released in 2023.
No flowers or dancing between Miley Cyrus and Bruno Mars. According to Rolling Stone , A new lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court in Los Angeles by a company called Tempo Music Investments that claims that Flowers includes unauthorized “exploitation” of several elements of the song When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars.
In January 2023, the American singer released Flowers which would become a real success. It allowed him to win his first Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance. It was streamed over a hundred million times in its first week of release and entered the American Billboard Hot 100.
Yet from the very first days, Bruno Mars fans pointed out similarities with When I Was Your Man released in 2013 in the singer’s second album Unorthodox Jukebox. Melody, chords and lyrics are at the heart of the debates. Bruno Mars, who has won around thirty awards since the beginning of his career, sang about a painful breakup, while Miley Cyrus celebrates being single. Eleven years ago, one sang: “I should’ve bought you flowers and held your hand” (“I should have given you flowers and held your hand”). The other interpreter ten years later: “I can buy myself flowers (…) I can hold my own hand” (“I can buy myself flowers (…) I can hold my hand”).
Tempo Music is therefore seeking damages. Co-authors Gregory Hein and Michael Pollack are targeted, but also Sony Music Publishing, Apple and other companies accused of distributing the song. That’s not all. With this complaint, the rights holders hope to obtain a ban on Miley Cyrus reproducing, distributing or publicly performing the song. For the moment, the two artists have not spoken out.
