I like the song & think it is very catchy. It will be all graduating high school seniors summer jam! But, OMG! she sounds exactly like KE$HA!! WTF?!!!!!!

Bruno Mars' new Hot 100 leader 'When I Was Your Man' joins Adele's 2011 smash 'Someone Like You' as the only piano-and-vocal-exclusive No. 1s in the chart's 54-year history.

Amid a boom of hi-NRG EDM club anthems, stomp-and-clap folk/rock sing-alongs and rapped odes to bargain-hunting, a simple piano ballad, Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man," crowns this week's Billboard Hot 100.

The melancholy tale of lost love sports only Mars' vocals and his own piano accompaniment.

Amazingly, of the 1,023 songs to previously top the chart, dating to its Aug. 4, 1958, launch, just one also features nothing but vocals and piano: Adele's "Someone Like You," which ruled for five weeks beginning on Sept. 17, 2011. The song showcases Adele singing and Dan Wilson on piano.

With its 2-1 lift this week, "Man" is the first ballad to top the Hot 100 since "Someone." Before Adele's ascension, no ballad had reigned since Rihanna's "Take a Bow" the week of May 24, 2008. "Man" is the first No. 1 ballad by a male since Akon's "Don't Matter," which led the Hot 100 the weeks of April 7 and 14, 2007.

With its 2-1 lift this week, "Man" is the first ballad to top the Hot 100 since "Someone." Before Adele's ascension, no ballad had reigned since Rihanna's "Take a Bow" the week of May 24, 2008. "Man" is the first No. 1 ballad by a male since Akon's "Don't Matter," which led the Hot 100 the weeks of April 7 and 14, 2007.

Songs like "Bow" and "Matter," however, include instrumentation beyond piano. Much more uncommon is a hit compelling enough for pop radio to slow its tempo to only a voice and piano without drums, strings or other sonic elements.

Throughout the Hot 100's history, piano ballads have reigned, but until Adele and Mars' songs, none were as stripped down as "Someone" and "Man." All-piano-and-vocal hits have charted, but none previously had reached No. 1. Sarah McLachlan's "Angel," for example, rose to No. 4 in 1999.

A chronological trip back through the Hot 100's archives reveals examples of No. 1 piano ballads, but all include other instrumentation.

Updating a recap first published on Billboard.com when "Someone" reached No. 1, let's time-travel through the chart's past … keying … in on some of the most notable such hits.

The 2000s (through this year) have brought such piano-intensive No. 1s largely courtesy of Fox's "American Idol" coronation songs, including Carrie Underwood's "Inside Your Heaven" (2005) and Fantasia's "I Believe" (2004). Plus, in 2005, the series' original winner, Kelly Clarkson, reached No. 7 with "Because of You." None of those songs, however, are as bare-bones as "Man" or "Someone."

Similarly, Alicia Keys' "Fallin' " (No. 1 in 2001), Lonestar's "Amazed" and Mariah Carey's "Thank God I Found You," featuring Joe and 98 Degrees (each No. 1 in 2000), are piano-driven but not entirely so.

Following Mars' "Man," could another pure all-piano ballad soon reign? Rihanna's current hit "Stay," featuring Mikky Ekko, features only their vocals and piano by Justin Parker. The song rebounds to No. 4 this week, having risen as high as No. 3 so far.


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With more tools available when it comes to music production, perhaps ballads stand out more now, helping to make the most compelling of such songs rarer, and, thus, more appreciated than ever before.



For the complete article, go to www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/1556769/a-history-of-hit-piano-ballads-on-the-hot-100

Pat, are you referring to this article: www.billboard.com/articles/news/1556579/bruno-mars-man-gunning-for-no-1-on-hot-100-next-week

" The sale price seems to be a play for No. 1 by Mars' label, Atlantic Records, which scored a chart-topper with his previous hit, "Locked Out of Heaven." The company Tweeted missives to its followers on both April 2 and 3 urging fans to purchase the 69-cent song. Mars himself retweeted one of those Tweets to his 15.9 million followers. (He has the 19th-most-followed account on Twitter.) The song is also selling for 69 cents in the Amazon MP3 store, where discounted hit songs are more common."

Yea, I saw it but it's a standard sales strategy, although the album sales didn't get a big spike, dropped by 27% (still clocked in at #10 on BB200).

I actually like "When I Was Your Man" a lot, but absolutely can't stand "Locked Out Of Heaven". I switched station whenever that song came on my radio.

Psy Debuts New 'Gentleman' Video at Stadium Concert

Psy may have set a high bar for himself in following up on his massive hit, "Gangnam Style," which became the most-watched video in YouTube history by garnering 1.5 billion hits. So he gave his new video, "Gentleman" a suitably grand introduction, premiering the video during a concert at Seoul's World Cup Stadium on Saturday. According to Reuters, 50,000 fans packed the stadium and nearly 160,000 more watched a live stream of the concert online.

The video for "Gentleman," which was released at midnight, offers a few familiar elements from "Gangnam Style," including comedian Yoo Jae Suk dancing in a yellow jumpsuit, antics in an elevator and a similar signature dance. It also features K-pop singer Ga In from Brown Eyed Girls. Amid the demonstrations of distinctly un-gentemanly behavior, Psy declares "I'm a mother father gentleman."




source: www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/psy-debuts-new-gentleman-video-at-stadium-concert-20130413#ixzz2QPe2pcLO