Chart-topper Bruno Mars shows the world how a comeback is done

As 2025 winds to a close, one name towers above the rest on the global music charts — Bruno Mars. After years away from solo releases, Bruno returned with a string of collaborations that not only dominated streaming platforms but also swept major awards, redefining what a comeback looks like. The singer spent a record-breaking 26 weeks atop the Billboard Global 200 with two big hits: APT featuring BLACKPINK’s ROSÉ and Die with a smile with Lady Gaga.

Bruno is the first artiste I ever called my favourite. I must have been 11, far too young to have opinions about melody or groove, but I remember the conviction clearly. There was something irresistible about him. Perhaps, it was his voice, that liquid blend of charm and sincerity or the way he made happiness sound like hard work. Ironically, my mother decided his ‘The lazy song’ would make a good alarm, a choice that still feels like a cosmic joke. There’s nothing quite like being jolted awake by someone cheerfully declaring, ‘Today I don’t feel like doing anything’.

Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars at 2025 Grammys
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Special Arrangement

In retrospect, that song was part of the lesson. Bruno Mars was never lazy; he just made it look effortless. Over the years, I’ve watched him shapeshift from doo-wop dreamer to disco revivalist to smooth soulman, and realised that beneath all the glitz is an artist with a deep respect for the architecture of pop. He doesn’t treat genre as a box but as a playground. Every time he returns, it’s in a new costume, a wink, a rhythm, a mood we didn’t know we missed.

Lately, he’s been on another golden streak. Die with a smile, his lush duet with Lady Gaga, was one of 2024’s biggest global hits — all sweeping strings and cinematic melancholy, the kind of ballad that reminds you how grand simplicity can be. Then came APT, with Rosé, a breezy slice of cross-continental pop that felt both K-pop and Motown at once. And, just when we thought he might settle into that elegance, he veered into the outrageous with ‘Fat Juicy & Wet’ alongside ‘Sexyy Red’, proof that his humour, like his groove, is very much alive.

There’s something delightful about that sequence. It’s as if Bruno Mars is conducting a social experiment on how far pop can stretch and still remain itself. His music moves through eras and moods with the ease of a time-traveller who’s too busy dancing to get nostalgic. And yet, even as he borrows from the past, he never sounds dated. Each song feels like a conversation between generations, genres and between the performer and the joy of performing.

Bruno and Rose
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

For those of us who grew up with him, Bruno Mars has become less a pop star and more a point of continuity. He’s been the soundtrack to first crushes and long car rides, heartbreaks and karaoke nights. His songs have the strange ability to belong equally to our childhoods and our adulthoods. Maybe that’s why he endures — because in a world that’s always chasing what’s next, he reminds us of what still works: melody, rhythm, charm.

Watching his evolution feels oddly personal. The child, who once claimed him as her favourite singer now listens with different ears, aware of the craft, the references, the retro callbacks. But every now and then, when Treasure comes on, I still catch myself smiling the same way I did back then. It’s a small, quiet kind of joy — one that makes you grateful for artistes who keep growing without letting go of their sparkle.

Bruno Mars’s greatest trick isn’t just his versatility. It’s his sincerity. Beneath the sequins and swagger is a musician who still believes that music should make you feel — whether it’s a slow jam, funk groove or a tongue-in-cheek alarm clock anthem. And maybe that’s why, years later, he’s still my favourite.