Miley Cyrus accused of impersonating Bruno Mars in 'Fool' song lawsuit
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Miley Cyrus is being sued for allegedly copying a Bruno Mars hit song.
Tempo Music Investments, which owns a portion of the copyright to Mars' hit song “When I Was Your Man,” is suing Cyrus for “striking similarities” to her hit song “Flowers,” according to court documents obtained by Fox Business.
“Any fan of Bruno Mars' 'When I Was Your Man' knows that Miley Cyrus' 'Flowers' couldn't have achieved all that success on its own,” the lawsuit states.
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Tempo Music Investments, which owns a portion of the copyright to Bruno Mars' hit song “When I Was Your Man,” sued Cyrus for “striking similarities” to his hit song “Fools.” (Getty Images / Getty Images)
“'Flowers' mimics numerous melodic, melodic and lyrical elements of 'When I Was Your Man', including the melodic pitch design and verse sequence, connecting bass-lines, specific bars of the chorus, some theatrical elements, lyrical elements, and certain chord progressions,” they claim in court documents.
“It's undeniable, based on the similarities and numbers between the two recordings, that 'Flowers' wouldn't exist without 'When I Was Your Man'.”
“It's undeniable, based on the similarities and numbers between the two recordings, that 'Flowers' wouldn't exist without 'When I Was Your Man'.”
The “Count On Me” hitmaker was not named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, filed Monday, Sept. 16, in Los Angeles federal court.
Cyrus earned her first set of Grammy wins for record of the year and best pop solo performance at the awards show in February 2024. (Vijay Mahindra/Mayur/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
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Co-writers Gregory Hein and Michael Pollack were listed in the lawsuit alleging unauthorized “exploitation” of the song. Multiple defendants, including Sony Music Publishing and Apple, were additionally named in court documents.
Mars' hit “When I Was Your Man” singer, 38, wrote Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine and Andrew Watt.
Tempo Music Investments claims in the document that it acquired copyright interests in Mars' track in “2020 or thereabouts.”
Mars received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance for the song “When I Was Your Man” in December 2013. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
“The opening vocal line from the chorus of 'Flowers' begins and ends with the same vocal line as the opening vocal line of the verse of 'When I Was Your Man,'” the lawsuit states.
The music investment platform demands that Cyrus, 31, and the defendants listed in the suit stop reproducing, distributing or publicly displaying “Flowers.”
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Tempo Music Investments is seeking additional compensation, but the amount is still undetermined.
Representatives for Cyrus had no comment, while representatives for Mars did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
The lawsuit between the two music stars came after Cyrus won her first set of Grammys for Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 66th awards show in February 2024.
Cyrus performed the song live at the event, and “Flowers” won Best International Song at the Brit Awards earlier this year.
“Flowers” became an overnight sensation, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and breaking the record for the fastest song to reach one billion streams on streaming service Spotify. (Getty Images)
“Flowers” became an overnight sensation, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and breaking the record for being the fastest song to reach one billion streams on Spotify.
Meanwhile, in April 2013, after more than 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Mars' hit song, “When I Was Your Man,” peaked at No. 1.
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Mars also received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance for the song in December 2013, and in 2014, the song won the award for “Most Performed Song” at the Pop Music Awards organized by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
In May 2021, “When I'm Your Man” was awarded her eleventh platinum certification.
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