Quotes from Bruno Mars

You know, when Michael Jackson does the moonwalk, he's showing off! When Prince or Hendrix do a guitar solo, it's confidence! I would hate to be at a show and some nervous wreck is sweating up there and doesn't feel like he deserves to be there.

Writing for other artists helped me figure out that magic you have to capture to make everyone connect with a song.

In pop music, the public usually see the results - the hit records, the Grammy Awards performances, the concert tours - but not all the work that goes into getting into the spotlight. And not everyone realizes that, even if you have a lot of talent, chances are you won't make it.

Hawaiian music is beautiful and simple.

Songwriters, you have to work - you have to wait for residuals. You have to pray that the song's going to be a hit. And then a year later, you might get a check.

Ever since I was a kid, this was all I wanted to do. I've wanted to do music. I wanted to sing. It's all I know.

I signed up to be a musician, I want to perform, I want to sing.

I grew up listening to the Police, I grew up performing in bars, singing Police songs.

'Nothin' on You' by B.o.B was the first song where I heard myself on the radio. I'd been trying my whole career to write a song like that, which incorporates live instruments with hip-hop and singing.

I came to California and got signed at a young age. And it's not like you see in the movies, where you start rubbing shoulders with Timbaland and Pharrell, and you become a giant pop star.

You gotta know what you are, who you are and how you want to be portrayed.

My dream was to not get a day job but to sleep, wake up and do my music. I want to keep that dream forever.

Every artist should want to be like Michael Jackson

I don't try and be dark, but there are obviously darker emotions that I want to capture sometimes.

Music is not math. It's science. You keep mixing the stuff up until it blows up on you, or it becomes this incredible potion.

I know a lot of artists say this, but it's hard to put myself in a box. I just write songs that I strongly believe in and that are coming form a special place. There's no tricks.

In my songs, I'm not saying something that's never been said before. The have lyrics aren't going to blow people away. It's the emotion and the melody that drive it home.

I love the Sex Pistols. I'm a big Beach Boys fan and a huge Zeppelin and Queen fan.

I don't throw lavish parties or nothing like that - I just want a bed and a TV.

Hawaii is paradise. It sounds cheesy to say it, but there's music in the air there.

I don't ever want to come out with something safe and get away with, 'It sounds good!' It's got to be more than sounding good. The music I like are events.

My mother is a singer, my sisters all sing, my uncles are incredible singers and guitar players, so it's just kind of been like my habitat.

Today, I'd like to talk to Bob Marley. I'd just like to ask him what was his method. Bob is one of the greatest songwriters ever. I don't know if people understand how powerful his songs are and the simplicity and genius behind them, from 'Redemption Song' to 'Is This Love?' and 'I Shot the Sheriff.'

I love doing shows. I love rocking shows. I love playing instruments. I love singing. If I can find a way to do that and feed my family, then I'm a happy man.