That Was Then & This Is Now: Bruno Mars
From a brand-new solo artist with a massive voice to one of the most accomplished hitmakers in pop music…
Bruno Mars has come a LONG way.
Welcome to That Was Then & This Is Now, a feature where we take one of the artists you hear all the time and put their THEN and NOW side-by-side.
For our third edition, we’re going back to the very beginning of Bruno’s solo career—and then jumping all the way to 2026.
When Bruno Mars released “Just the Way You Are” in 2010, he was introducing himself to the world as a solo artist. The song became his first solo No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and helped launch a career that would go on to include countless hits, Grammy Awards and multiple eras of music.
And it’s pretty remarkable to think that the guy singing that sweet piano-driven love song would eventually give us everything from “Uptown Funk!” to Silk Sonic.
Fast-forward to 2026, and Bruno is back in the spotlight with “Risk It All,” the second single from his latest album, The Romantic.
And this isn’t just another Bruno hit. “Risk It All” became his first solo No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200, while also becoming his 13th No. 1 on the Billboard Pop Airplay chart.
It’s a very different sound from the Bruno we met back in 2010—more romantic, sophisticated and rooted in the bolero and Latin influences that helped shape his musical identity.
Nearly 16 years separate these two songs… but they’re both unmistakably Bruno Mars.
