Watch: Bruno Mars Opens Up

In 2010, Bruno Mars took over the pop charts, both as a singer ("Just The Way You Are," "Nothin' On You") and as a songwriter/producer (Cee-Lo, Mike Posner). In this clip, Mars — who's ringing in 2011 with a gig at the Renaissance Hotel in New York — talks to Rolling Stone about the wrestling-based origins of his name, shows off his Elvis impersonation skills and talks about the inspiration for some of his most popular tracks.

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Song Stories

“Baby Got Back”

Sir Mix-a-Lot | 1992

While watching a Budweiser commercial during the Super Bowl, Sir Mix-a-Lot thought the skinny female models in the ad didn’t represent reality. So he wrote this ode to ample bottoms, featuring its famous to-the-point lyric: “I like big butts and I cannot lie.” MTV banished the video, featuring shaking booties and sexually suggestive fruit, to 9 p.m. or later. “I thought my career was over,” he told Rolling Stone. “Then I called Rick Rubin, and I told him the video was banned, and he was like, 'Great!' We sold another 2 million records.”

More Song Stories entries »

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