What We Know About Bruno Mars' New Album
Bruno Mars has come out of his musical semi-retirement to start a new band with Anderson .Paak and the pair's first joint project will feature Parliament Funkadelic's bassist Bootsy Collins.
The singer-songwriter announced the upcoming album on his Instagram, writing: "We locked in and made an album. The band's called Silk Sonic. First song drops next Friday 3/5." The accompanying image appears to be the album's artwork, which resembles a vintage 1970s poster. It shows Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak under the title "An Evening With Silk Sonic," and teases funk fans with the additional slogan "Special Guest Bootsy Collins."
Anderson .Paak also enthusiastically notified the public about the collaboration through his social media. "WE MADE AN ALBUM!! YALL GET THE FIRST SONG NEXT FRIDAY 3/5!! ROCKET EMOJIS AND ALL THAT!!!" the Grammy award-winning musician wrote. Funk icon Bootsy Collins promoted the upcoming single on his Twitter, promising his devotees that there was "A Lot of Funked Up Sheet Comin' ur way."
Paak, Mars, and Collins' upcoming project was met with positive reactions from fans — including some famous ones.
Big Sean and Busta Rhymes were among the fans thrilled by the album announcement
The internet was quick to hype up the unexpected trio. "Bullying WORKS", one Bruno Mars fan rejoiced on Twitter. "We forced dat *ss to finally release some music."
Celebrities were equally excited about the project. "Awe f**k yeah!!!!" rapper Big Sean commented on Bruno Mars's post. Busta Rhymes, who teamed up with Anderson. Paak on the single "YUUUU" in 2020, left ten head-exploding emojis on the musician's Instagram.
According to Pitchfork, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak previously toured together extensively in 2017. The first rumor that they were working on music together came later that year when the pair reportedly showed up at Abbey Road with Disclosure and legendary bassist Nile Rodgers. They also both appeared separately on Chic's last album, per The Independent.
The last album released by Bruno Mars, 24K Magic, came out in 2016. The singer joked about how long his dormant period had been on Instagram, captioning a post, "If you don't release music, you can't lose any Grammys. #ThinkAboutIt" after the Grammy nominations were announced in November 2020. From the sound of it, Mars will be a hot contender at the 2022 ceremony.