According to NewsNation, Mars has allegedly racked up over $50 million in gambling debt at MGM. A source close to the matter spilled the chips with the outlet. “He owed millions to the MGM,” they said.
“[MGM] basically owns him,” they continued. “He makes $90 million a year off of the deal he did with the casino, but then he has to pay back his debt. [He will] only make $1.5 million per night after taxes.”
Mars has become a staple in Las Vegas’ entertainment thanks to his residencies (including a solo run and one as part of Silk Sonic). But, based on NewsNation‘s report, the Grammy Award winner’s forthcoming series of shows at Park MGM isn’t about fan demand but more about making good on his supposed outstanding balance.
Although Mars and none of his representatives have commented on the allegation, he’s been candid about his love for casinos. For example, in 2016, he and James Corden jammed out during his “Carpool Karaoke” segment on Late Late Show, and Mars joked about his gambling kick.
With the allegations out, Mars’ 2013 story with GQ has resurfaced. In the interview, the singer reflected on how his love for gambling started back when he was 19 years old. “I used to be like a loudmouth,” he said. “You know the guy, people would want to take his money. If you do get them to lose, they’re out for you, they’re gunning for you. And that’s when they’re weak. And that’s when you jump or pounce on them.”
Mars went on to detail his first major loss of a hundred dollars. “I remember my first bet,” he said. “My hand was shaking, and a guy called me out on it and embarrassed me,” he said. “You gotta lose. You just have to lose to win, to understand.”
Bruno Mars has not addressed the claims.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The first half of 2022 was dominated by Silk Sonic and their album An Evening With Silk Sonic. The debut album of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, as a tandem,is officially certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
“WE DID IT BROTHER, LOVE YOU @BRUNOMARS!! WHAT A RIDE,” Anderson wrote on Instagram. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT HELPED BRING THIS PROJECT TO LIFE! INFINITE LOVE TO ALL THE FANS, THANK YOU!!!”
This year, Silk Sonic took home two of the Grammys’ biggest awards: Song of the Year and Record of the Year. Silk SOnic won the awards for “Leave the Door Open.”
“I want to thank everybody that helped us with album…. Andy I couldn’t be prouder to be doing this with you, man. Thank you so much,” Bruno Mars said. “You know what? Because of you, me and Andy are gonna be singing this song forever so God bless you all.”
The Kelly Clarkson Show has been airing for a couple years now, and during the program’s run, its titular host has established herself as a real force in daytime television. She hasn’t lost touch with her music roots, though, as the show’s “Kellyoke” segment regularly has Clarkson putting her spin on recognizable tunes with her covers. On today’s episode, she took on Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s Silk Sonic hit “Leave The Door Open” and showed that she can really sing just about anything.
Clarkson’s backing band delivered a serviceable performance of the soulful song, and Clarkson, being the pro that she is, dominated the track with her powerful vocals, whether she was belting it out during the climactic moments or keeping things reserved and smooth during more low-key sections.
Clarkson has had a handful of memorable moments on her show this year. She successfully covered some of this year’s other biggest hits, like Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” and Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever.” Of course, she also had a particularly illuminating conversation with country legend Clint Black, in which she described a time that she narrowly avoided voiding her bowels on stage, saying, “I got some kind of wrecked up from some kind of food and I literally… we were in an arena, and I shouldn’t tell this story, but like I said, my man: I don’t have a filter. I had to run backstage to my quick-change. I grabbed this poor trash can and boy, I destroyed it. It was bad. It was bad, Clint.”
Watch Clarkson sing “Leave The Door Open” above.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Now that Silk Sonic has released its debut album, An Evening With Silk Sonic, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak are ready to give something else a try. In fact, they just announced their next endeavor: The duo is hosting a new limited Apple Music radio series, which shares its name with the new album. They also shared a trailer for the show today.
The series premieres today at 10 p.m. ET on Apple Music 1 and press materials note of the first episode, “On the debut episode, Bruno and Anderson, with the help of Bootsy Collins, invite listeners to join them on an after-hours journey with music from The Jackson 5, Con Funk Shun, Thundercat, The Isley Brothers, Partynextdoor, and much more.” Of the series as a whole, press materials also say, “Over the course of four one-hour episodes, the pair feature Silk Sonic-inspired sets of all of their favorite records, ranging from old-school hits to R&B jams, hip-hop, funk, disco, and everything in between. From surprise guests to even more surprising conversation, it’s your turn to be a fly on the wall and spend some time with the kings of smooth.”
Mars says of the show, “Apple Music asked us to host a radio show to talk about the album. We had so much fun that we’ve decided to retire from music and become full time radio personalities. We want to thank Apple Music for helping us find our new calling. Goodbye cruel world of music. Hello radio. See you at the top.”
.Paak added, “When we come together on those rare instances when the clouds open and the stars unite, we go as Silk Sonic. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s never too late to turn it around, and speaking of never too late, I think we right on time.”
Watch the teaser clip above.
An Evening With Silk Sonic is out now via Atlantic Records. Get it here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.
Silk Sonic’sorigin story dates back to the European leg of Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic Tour. Anderson .Paak served as the opening act for the string of shows and it’s here that Silk Sonic’s funky, free-spirited roots were planted. More than four years later, the tourmates-turned-good-friends delivered what will undoubtedly be one of 2021’s most memorable albums with An Evening With Silk Sonic. This brief, but rich musical experience, is birthed out of a few things: Bruno and .Paak’s trajectory in their careers, the combination of their respective inspirations, and a schedule that was unexpectedly freed up due to the coronavirus pandemic.
An Evening With Silk Sonic is a unique spectacle that Bruno and .Paak were kind enough to release in a format that allows us to infinitely experience this magic. From the very moment that the curtains open and Bootsy Collins’ ethereal voice seeps out, Silk Sonic coasts with no regard for distractions and an incredible display of showmanship. Collins’ multiple appearances on An Evening With Silk Sonic are key as it’s an endorsement that requires both acknowledgment and respect. Bootsy Collins, who rose to fame beside James Brown, stands as one of the front names in funk’s history. That’s on top of inductions to the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame and Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame as well as being recognized as one of the top bassists of all time.
That’s exactly what makes An Evening With Silk Sonic so special. The idea that a mere collection of jam sessions beautifully produced a body of work created in the glory of greats from the 1970s. “After Last Night,” which supplies help from Thundercat and Bootsy Collins, balances sensual and soulful with funky and yearnful. Bruno and .Paak lay stomach-flat with feet to the sky on cloud nine after an unforgettable experience with the woman of their dreams. “If I still had my phone, I’d call every girl I know / And tell them goodbye,” the duo sings blinded by love. “Cars, clothes, diamonds, and gold / Anything you want, any place you want.” This dramatic account of surefire love after one encounter is soon greeted with an equally-dramatic display of despair and sadness on “Smokin’ Out The Window” after both singers find out their newfound romance is nothing but a sham. That’s exactly how Silk Sonic’s show is supposed to be: exaggerated, hyperbolic, and melodramatic. It’s a quality that .Paak solidifies on that song. “Look here, baby I hope you find whatever it is that you need,” he says. “But I also hope your triflin’ ass is walking ‘round barefoot in these streets!”
The theatrics behind Silk Sonic’s new album, when taken from the viewpoint of Bruno and .Paak’s respective discographies, is a clash of 24K Magic and Yes Lawd!. The intentional blast to the past intertwines itself with dressed to the nines cockiness on An Evening With Silk Sonic. .Paak leads a ridiculously confident and infectiously good declaration of self-excellence on “Fly As Me,” one that also crowns a lucky woman with a top-notch title of her own. “I’m tryna love, is you gon’ love me back?” .Paak quips on the track. Towards the backend of the album, Silk Sonic gets lost in gambling and the other addicting aspects of Las Vegas on “777.” If you needed any proof that Bruno and .Paak could be the life of the party, “777” is both evidence of that and an enticing invitation to join them in some high-risk/high-reward fun.
A large part of Silk Sonic’s success lives behind the scenes. Critically-acclaimed producers and songwriters James Fauntleroy and D’Mile live within the notes of the album. Fauntleroy co-wrote three of the album’s nine songs while D’Mile co-wrote and co-produced each one in addition to delivering background vocals and contributions to the project’s instrumentation. Furthermore, Babyface’s contribution to “Put On A Smile,” a song dedicated to putting on a front through heartbreak, as well as that from others throughout the album, are notable in their own right. Together, they emphasize Bruno and .Paak’s strive to make An Evening With Silk Sonic as perfect and flawless as possible. The freedom of the album’s jam session contributes to the rawness and true spirit of the project while help from the industry’s best ensure that its rough edges aren’t too sharp.
Long story short, Silk Sonic did it. An Evening With Silk Sonic is fun, charismatic, and ambitious in all the best ways. Sure, the sonics of this project aren’t particularly new, but it’s a change in the wind direction in today’s R&B/soul landscape. And yes, maybe the album could’ve been a bit longer, but according to D’Mile every song Silk Sonic and company created appears on the album, except one. Bruno and .Paak gave us everything that had for their first collaborative effort. Soon enough, fans from all over will be able to spend an evening with Silk Sonic when the duo (hopefully) goes on tour. Once that comes to an end, An Evening With Silk Sonic will be capsuled as a moment in time for years to come. So let’s enjoy the great music and make room for the memories that will arrive with it because An Evening With Silk Sonic won’t be forever.
An Evening With Silk Sonic is out now via Atlantic/Aftermath. Get it here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
After months of build-up, Silk Sonic finally released An Evening With Silk Sonic. The album was preceded by a trio of great singles, “Leave The Door Open,” which topped the singles chart, “Skate,” and “Smokin’ Out The Window.” So far, the reception has been positive. Shortly after it was released, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak stopped by Apple Music to speak about the album.
“Everybody told me the cheat code is linking up with this dude,” .Paak said about Bruno. “Get Bruno on your side, and yeah, it’s dope.” He added, “I tell him all the time I have a lot of trust in him and that felt good too. I felt like a large part of my career I’ve done collabs and everything but it felt good to be able to trust a dude to try it like this – great vocal producer, one of the greatest vocalists I’ve ever worked with and just pushing me to a different level.”
Bruno also spoke about the album’s concept. “We needed this to work,” Bruno said. “We just wanted it to feel like… feel special. Instead of trying to get too cute with the concept.” He added, “It’s like, man, what’s more special than Anderson Paak behind a drum set singing a song and me having his back when it’s my turn, you know? And the band moving in the same direction, it was just like… it’s like a musician’s dream, being in the studio recording a song like that.”
You can watch Silk Sonic’s interview on Apple Music above.
An Evening With Silk Sonic is out now via Atlantic/Aftermath. Get it here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
At last, Bruno Mars and Anderson. Paak’s new Silk Sonic album, An Evening With Silk Sonic, is finally out. With Mars and .Paak at the helm, there’s not much need for featured guests, but they packed a couple into one track: Bootsy Collins (who also serves as the album’s narrator) and Thundercat join the fun on the smooth and funky “After Last Night.”
Mars told Apple Music of the song, “That one got a lot of Bootsy on it. And my boy Thundercat came in and blessed us. It’s just one of them songs — everything was built to be played live, so that song is one of those we can keep going for 10 minutes.”
In an interview from March, Mars said of working with Collins, “He represents what a superstar is, from the whole package, everything. From the silhouette, the glasses, and we grew up listening to that. He’s got that iconic voice, so when me and Andy put this project together, I said, ‘It’d be cool to have Bootsy narrate this thing and thread all these songs together.’” .Paak added, “We put the setlist of doom together, you know, and we needed somebody, a real OG, to host it and guide everything along.
Meanwhile, Thundercat has been doing some tweeting about the album. Late last night, he shared a photo of himself with .Paak and Mars, and this morning, he revealed he apparently got a gift from Collins, as he posted a photo of a pair of flashy glasses and wrote, “Thank you uncle @Bootsy_Collins you have made me who I am & I love you so much. Blastin off into some good vibrations!!!”
In a hilarious faux press conference posted earlier today on Instagram, Anderson .Paak announced that he’s launching a brand new label. Dubbed Apesh*t, he explained that the name is partly an acronym for “Anderson .Paak Empire” and a reference to the fact that “we on some other sh*t.”
A press release indicated that Apeshit is indeed a partnership with Universal Music Group and that Paak’s focus is on “no gimmicks, no button-pushing, just raw talent.” An unusual success story himself, this effort definitely feels like he’s trying to find other multi-talented artists that have gone undiscovered the way he was until he broke through on Dr. Dre’s Compton album in 2015, and then with his own album Malibu in early 2016. “I’m looking for artists that can captivate an audience,” he elaborated in the Instagram video. “I want musicians. I want people that can play instruments and perform at the same time.”
Apesh*t has a website up already proclaiming itself as “A disruptive platform for the most captivating talent in the world,” as well as a new Instagram account with upwards of 6,000 followers on its first day of existence. “Do you plan on signing artists from Korea?” one of the actors in the Instagram clip asked in Korean. Paak replied in Korean with “Yes lawd!”
It feels like strategic timing to introduce Apeshit to the world as An Evening With Silk Sonic,Paak’s album with Bruno Mars as Silk Sonic, is set to arrive on November 11th. As the video comes to a close, he looks at the camera and delivers a parting thought on the venture: “The game is crazy man. This industry can be like a jungle. Snakes, tigers, rainy days, hot days…What I’m trying to say is look: If the industry is like the jungle? Well, I guess we got no choice but to go APESH*T!”
It looks like we’re all getting to spend An Evening With Silk Sonic a lot sooner than previously thought. After the duo consisting of pop-funk megastars Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak declared their album delayed so they could touch up the “parts that need a little more… grease,” they made an abrupt about-face this afternoon, announcing the album’s title and moved-up release date, November 11, with a photo post featuring funk godfather Bootsy Collins.
The anticipation for their album has been sky-high ever since they released their groovy debut single as a group, “Leave The Door Open” in March of this year. Since then, they’ve performed the chart-topping throwback at the 2021 Grammys, the iHeartRadio Music Awards, and the BET Awards. Their second single, “Skate,” was released in July, advancing the retro-futuristic sound of “Leave The Door Open” and proving that the duo had even more funk in store for their fans.
Silk Sonic also joked about adding golden-voiced R&B singer H.E.R. to their roster and even created a jingle for SelvaRey Rum. Meanwhile, it looks like their full album will hit just in time for the holidays.
An Evening With Silk Sonic is due 11/12 via Atlantic Records. You can pre-save it here.
Bruno Mars is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak have taken their time introducing Silk Sonic to the world: After releasing their hit debut single “Leave The Door Open” in March, it took nearly five months for them to drop their next one, “Skate.” Now, they’re putting their patience on display once more: The duo’s debut album, An Evening With Silk Sonic, was initially set for a fall release, but now it’s being pushed back to January 2022.
They made this reveal in a new Rolling Stone feature. The piece notes that the duo decided they wanted to release more songs before the album so each one could “breathe a bit,” with Mars saying, “I don’t want to be binge-watched.”
He also explained where he and .Paak are at with the album at the moment, saying, “We’re really in touch-up mode now. We’ve got the bones of most of the album, so it’s really about touching up parts that need a little more… grease.” .Paak added, “Which could mean redoing the song from scratch!”
With a laugh, Mars continued, “Being here for another three years! But no. We’re not there. We were there. We had some moments in the danger zone! I think we put the pressure on ourselves by putting out ‘Leave The Door Open’ — but a deadline is important, because at some point, you gotta say, ‘This is it.’ Otherwise you’re gonna work it ’til you hate it. But there’s a beauty in that — you do have to get sick of it, because that means you put the love and the time and the passion in it, and it’s taxing. That bridge [on ‘Leave The Door Open’] almost broke the band up. But it wasn’t right, and we all felt it.”
