As Bruno Mars not only killed one but both of his performances at the Grammy Awards, I started to wonder if he was undervalued. One of the most consistently brilliant performers on the planet, people seem to constantly push his talents aside for other singers like Justin Timberlake or #Adele. And unlike the latter, Mars has never had to ask to restart a performance. As shown in his riveting tribute to the late Prince, Mars can do pretty much anything. He can sing live (which is a rarity), he can dance and he can play a plethora of instruments. Mars can give his fans a real 360 degree experience.
However, he constantly is overshadowed by bigger personalities and in an industry of extremes, it is 'go big or go home.'
Bruno Mars is not controversial
Whether we like it or not, controversial people are the personality types that the majority of people are drawn to. These are the types of people that speak their minds or use their platform to change the way in which people perceive a certain subject. When Beyoncé came out with “Lemonade” it was a tribute to black culture and more specifically black women. On the opposite side of the spectrum, when Mel Gibson went on his anti-Semitic rant, it was a not so nice remind that ignorance still exists. Mars is one of the few celebrities that does not seem to have many skeletons in his closet.
He could just have a very good PR person or in all actually may be a nice person. For some reason, being considered nice is often associated with being boring. Even the type of music that Mars makes is not too over the top. Sure he talks about sex but he envelopes his songs in such uplifting rhythms that people immediately feel happy whenever they listen to his music.
As likeable as Adele is, she has had her controversial moments and had two at the Grammys. First was her George Michael tribute which she started over again and second was her odd statement about her estranged father.
The industry no longer rewards true artists
It is safe to say that Bruno Mars is one of the few artists that does not need auto tune to sound great.
In fact, he often sounds better during live performances. It used to be a requirement for a singer to actually be able to sing the songs that they recorded. Could you imagine Whitney Houston not being able to sing any of her smash hits? With the prevalence of auto tune and vocal sweetening, artists are spending more time on creating an image then perfecting their craft. Wild hair colors and revealing outfits appear to be all the rage. Some people might argue my point by saying that Cher had revealing outfits and that is true. However, she first started out, she was rather modest and focused being taken seriously as a performer. Mars has always been a showman but not someone who will get in your face and tell you how great he is.
He lets his performances do the talking for him. Though he might still be underrated, by the reactions on social media to his Prince tribute, I think he gained a whole legion of fans that were searching for the next teen burnout. With his latest album, let's hope that he gets the much need recognition he deserves.
