'70s & '80s Musicians That Walked So Bruno Mars Could Run

Bruno Mars is one of the biggest musical acts on the planet, and he hit the ground running. Releasing his first album, "Doo-Wops & Hooligans," in 2010, the Hawaiian-born star had two No. 1 Billboard Hot Hits hits with his cover of Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are" and "Grenade." In 2012, "Knocked Out of Heaven" got him back at No. 1 for six weeks, and in 2014, his smash collaboration with Mark Ronson, "Uptown Funk," hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for an astounding 14 weeks. 

That year, he headlined the Super Bowl Halftime Show, and since then he has been an evergreen presence on the charts. As recently as 2025, he topped the charts again alongside Lady Gaga with "Die With A Smile," and scored another major international hit with "APT," alongside K-Pop superstar Rosé. The same year, it was announced that Mars had accrued 150 million monthly listeners on Spotify, the first artist in history to do so.

But while Mars' popularity has never been in doubt, the truth is that he is also something of a controversial figure, with some music fans complaining that Mars' music and stage persona are too derivative of other artists, and that he lacks originality. Is this a fair argument? In our opinion, not really.

The fact is, all artists are the sum of their influences and their attempts to replicate the musical successes of those who came before them, blending them into a modern version of what came before. Is Mars really that different from, say, Oasis, who replicated The Kinks and The Beatles, Beyonce, whose influences include Aretha Franklin and Lauryn Hill, or Kendrick Lamar, who has been open about his hero-worship of Tupac Shakur? Here are the artists who made Bruno Mars the artist that he is today, and whose influence he should always wear proudly.

When it comes to pop music permeated with funk and soul, there are few influences as foundational to today's artists like Sly Stone. The Sly & The Family Stone leader carved a unique place for himself in the pop music firmament during the late 1960s and early 1970s, laying the groundwork for the later funk acts like Parliament and Funkadelic, both of which have also been influential for Bruno Mars.

Stone's work in the 1960s is especially informative when it comes to engaging with Mars' discography. It was a time when Stone mastered the crafting of No. 1 hits with songs like "Everyday People" and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" proving to be crossover hits with the power to top the charts, with the latter combining an irresistible funk bass line with a chantable hook that Mars would later replicate on "Uptown Funk." Stone's later work in the 1970s got edgier and more political, neither of which could really be said of Mars' work so far, but nevertheless, Stone's discography offers a blueprint for a bestselling artist looking to mature toward weightier themes.

In the 1980s, an artist came along who pushed the boundaries of what Sly Stone had achieved even further. Multi-instrumentalist Prince brought prodigious mastery and prolificness to funked out, soul-infused pop while simultaneously taking his stage persona and stagecraft to the next level. Mars is famous for his showmanship and stage presence, and these aspects have definitely been impacted by his familiarity with numerous Prince live shows, including his legendary Super Bowl appearance back in 2007, which critics generally agree was one of the greatest performances in the history of the event.

Like Prince, who kept much of his work at his Paisley Park studio hidden away in his vaults, Mars is secretive about what goes on behind the scenes. As well as Prince's showmanship, Mars has demonstrated that, like the Purple One, he is adept at crafting songs for other artists, writing hits for Brandy and Flo Rida with his songwriting partner Philip Lawrence and famously co-writing Cee Lo Green's "F*** You!" back in Mars' breakthrough year in 2010. More than anything, he was reportedly an unshakeable perfectionist, an aspect critics have noted about Mars.

Another towering figure in the history of music whose career was especially formative for a young Bruno Mars was James Brown, the Godfather of Soul whose live shows were legendary. Considered by many to be the ultimate showman of the 20th century, Brown was known for his delirious stage persona and the boundless energy he offered audiences as he treated them to relentless high-tempo funk and wailing ballads, all performed with a tightly-honed backing band that responded to his every command as though he were a drill sergeant. Brown went further than many of his contemporaries in incorporating dance moves into his performances, as well as theatrical gimmicks such as his supposedly being taken off stage by handlers after exhausting himself on stage, but returning time and again to the mic as though he were compelled by God to entertain.

Mars has honed a similar persona and work ethic in his live concerts, typically leaving audiences with the impression that he and his band have exerted themselves to the nth degree for their entertainment. It's a winning approach that Mars channeled from Brown performances he'd encountered as a youngster. "I'd watch James Brown on an old concert from 1964, 'The T.A.M.I Show'. Seeing him changed my life," he said (via The Irish Examiner).

Another undeniable influence on Bruno Mars was the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson. Like Prince and Sly Stone before him, Jackson was adept at blending genres as he saw fit to craft his next hit; for example, he increasingly employed rock elements in the 1980s on tracks such as "Bad" and "Dirty Diana." Mars is similarly praised for his versatility, like Jackson being a master of pop, R&B, funk, soul, and rock, and able to combine elements of each seamlessly.

But there is a more direct link between Jackson and Mars, with the latter learning much of his stagecraft in his teenage years as a Michael Jackson impersonator (he had previously impersonated Elvis Presley as a child). He has continued to use Jackson as a source of inspiration during his solo career, not only in his continued ability to mimic Jackson's signature dance moves and vocal style, but also in his decision to perform full dance routines with his own troupe, during which, like Jackson himself, he manages the challenging feat of continuing to sing live, where many artists would choose to mime. For many, he is the modern King of Pop, whose talents deserve the title just as much as his streaming numbers.