Bruno Mars Once Revealed His Favorite Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson Songs
During an interview, Bruno Mars discussed his childhood fascination with the way Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson performed songs. He revealed his favorite Elvis song and his favorite Jackson song. Notably, one of these songs was far more popular than the other.
Bruno Mars said Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson performed songs in a similar way
In a 2013 interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune, Mars compared the King of Rock’ n’ Roll to the King of Pop. “The biggest thing is the command they both have on stage … how they can control the crowd and the band,” he opined. “I think there’s a performance of Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show where he does ‘Hound Dog.’
“At the end, he slows it down, and — to me — it looked like an improv moment, not like something they rehearsed,” Mars added. “It was like [Presley] saw girls freaking out and said to himself: ‘Watch me slow it down — and then really go nuts.'” Mars noted Elvis slowed down the performance before dancing. Mars felt Elvis captured the audience.
Subsequently, Mars praised Jackson. He said all the kids of his generation listened to the King of Pop. Mars said no singer in the history of pop, hip-hop, or rock “has ever done it any bigger than” Jackson.
Bruno Mars liked watching Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson perform songs when he was a child
During a 2014 interview with The Beijinger, Mars was asked to name his favorite songs by Elvis and Jackson. “Some kids watch Michael Jordan or Joe Montana or Mike Tyson and want to get into sports,” he said. “And I was watching rock stars – Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, James Brown, The Beatles.
“I was fascinated by that I guess at a young age,” Mars added. “Let’s say, Michael Jackson, I’m going to go with ‘Dirty Diana.’ Elvis Presley, I’m going to say ‘Heartbreak Hotel.'”
The way the world reacted to ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ and ‘Dirty Diana’
According to The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, “Heartbreak Hotel” peaked atop the Billboard Top 100 for eight weeks. The Billboard Top 100 was the forerunner of the Billboard Hot 100. “Heartbreak Hotel” subsequently appeared on the compilation record Elvis: 30 #1 Hits. Elvis: 30 #1 Hits was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for three weeks of its 118-week run.
“Dirty Diana” was a huge hit as well. The song was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week. It spent 14 total weeks on the chart. “Dirty Diana” appeared on Jackson’s album Bad. Bad was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for six weeks and spent 171 total weeks on the chart.
Mars enjoyed “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Dirty Diana” and it appeared the American public did as well.
