The 10 Best Bruno Mars Songs of All Time

It’s safe to say that wedding playlists were never the same after Mars released “Just the Way You Are.” (To be fair, you could say the same about many of Mars’ songs, particularly the sappier ones from his debut album.) And so this is Mars at his schmaltziest, a true romantic (no pun intended) who had no reservations about lovebombing his girl with his whole chest. This was long before he became a sex-craved lothario, positioned as the inoffensive and idealized boyfriend prototype. (This was very popular at the time, see also: One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful.”) And yet? “Just the Way You Are” has its charms, whether you like the song or not.

Bruno Mars dipped all the way into his New Jack Swing bag with “Finesse,” included on 2016’s “24K Magic,” yet there’s something irresistible about Cardi B’s presence on the remix that sends it to the next level. The song alone has blood pumping through its veins — a collar-popped boast about how much swaggier Mars is with his girl by his side — but Cardi slides onto this beat with an early ’90s rap cadence that adds so much flair to a track that’s already, well, dripping in finesse. They captured lightning in a bottle with the chemistry on this duet, easily one of the most confident, catchy songs in Mars’ discography.

It’s not every day — or decade, really, considering the gaps between solo albums — that we get the Mars track where he’s been wronged by the woman he’s so actively pursued. That admission of defeat is most evident on “Smokin Out the Window,” where both Mars and Anderson .Paak bemoan a woman who won’t pay them any mind even after they’ve paid her rent and for the diamonds on her neck. What really sells the song, though, is the lead-in to the chorus where they sing, “This — bitch — got me” in a cadence that’s too pain-struck and, frankly, show-stopping to deny.

When Mars released “Locked Out of Heaven” in 2012, comparisons were immediately made to the Police based on the reggae-rhythm guitar and Sting-like yelps that set off the track. But much like Mars’ greatest work, he manages to adapt it to his own style as the song hits its stride on the chorus, making for a classic Mars singalong (if you’re able to hit those skyscraping notes, that is). “Locked Out of Heaven” isn’t just notable for how well-constructed it is — it also marked one of the first real examples of how Mars can take inspiration from the past and adapt it to his present.

Step aside, “Sexual Healing,” Mars has entered the pantheon of tropical R&B come-ons. “Versace on the Floor” isn’t sung in a delicate coo like Marvin Gaye’s source material, yet they both operate in a similar sonic realm of 1980s slow jams with a seductive warmth. Mars spends the first full minute of the song crooning against a bare keyboard before the full suite of instruments chimes in and he sings with all his might: “Oh, I love that dress but you won’t need it anymore.” In most other contexts, this would resonate as very corny, but Mars’ earnestness transcends.

What, you’re surprised this song made the cut? “Uptown Funk” almost instantly became one of the defining songs of the 21st century, farming the sound and aesthetic of acts like Morris Day and the Time and James Brown for a joyous blast of pop savvy. For the song, Mark Ronson teamed with Mars for a tune that runs at full speed without losing its breath, even though it took over 100 takes and comes together in a chaotic patchwork. This song set the table for “24K Magic” and the singles that followed, in that Mars can really master any style you put in front of him.

The Silk Sonic experiment could have coded as a nostalgia play, and in many ways it did, simply for the fact that it was so similar to its 1970s source material. But Mars and Anderson .Paak truly made it their own with their collaborative album and Grammy-winning lead single “Leave the Door Open,” a spot-on ode to the era of satin buttondowns and bellbottomed pants. They pull directly from groups like the Spinners and the Delfonics, yet they do it with just the right amount of over-the-top humor that it somehow makes the grand romantic gestures work. (“Just shaved (smooth like a newborn)” is so flagrant that you can’t help but laugh.) The fact that it leads in to one of the stickiest choruses on that side of the decade? Priceless.

You have to remember the cultural context of “When I Was Your Man”: Not only was it one of two Mars chart-toppers for 2013 (the other being “Locked Out of Heaven”), but it was a barebones piano and vocal duet amid a sea of Macklemores and Robin Thickes. But beyond the shock value of a ballad crowning the chart in a year of songs about excess (or, in the case of “Thrift Shop,” maybe not), the reason that this song poked its head out is because it’s a wallop of a tune. Few artists, maybe Adele or Beyoncé, could pull off such a wowing solo performance and sell it like he did. That’s the power of Mars — behold.

Mars is a master of the feel-good tune (pretty much half the songs on this list fall under that designation), and “Treasure” stands tall as one of his most buoyant. It’s crisp and plucky in the way that the best of ’80s funk and soul was with a prominent bass line, flashy guitars strums and starry synths — think Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You,” but modernized. “Treasure” was included on his sophomore album “Unorthodox Jukebox,” an album that felt far more realized and singular than his debut “Doo-Wops & Hooligans,” certainly due to tracks like “Treasure” that played to his greatest strengths.

In pop music, no one feels themselves more than Mars, at least lyrically, and he once again makes that very clear on “That’s What I Like.” The song itself sounds rich, all twinkles and sprightly bounce, yet he sings of a lavish life that’s even richer: a beach house in Miami, a chef named Julio who serves that scampi, strawberry champagne on ice. All of this, mind you, is in an effort to treat his girl like the queen that she is, a recurring theme for the endlessly chivalrous Mars.

On its surface, “That’s What I Like” is easily Mars’ most digestible and immediate single in his discography, but it also scratches at something deeper: That Mars has a bountiful charm that’s the true selling point. That’s the secret sauce for many of Mars’ most successful songs, even when they veer dangerously close to the source material. Mars is nothing if not one of pop’s most consummate showmen, and “That’s What I Like” is the proven case study.