Miley Cyrus Sued Over Award-Winning Song Flowers For Allegedly Copying Bruno Mars

By maks in News On 17th September 2024
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We all know that Miley Cyrus can buy herself flowers... but she might soon need to buy herself an attorney too.

The singer behind the hit song ‘Wrecking Ball’ has found herself in some legal trouble over her award-winning track 'Flowers.' 

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She’s now facing a lawsuit, with claims that the song borrows too much from a Bruno Mars tune.

Bruno Mars, whose real name is Peter Gene Hernandez, isn’t the one suing her. 

Miley Cyrus carrying a basket of flowers back in 2017 Matthew McNulty/Getty Images

The lawsuit was actually filed by Tempo Music Investments, a company that holds part of the copyright for Mars’ song ‘When I Was Your Man.’

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When Miley, the 31-year-old former Hannah Montana star, released ‘Flowers’ in January last year, fans quickly noticed the similarities to Bruno Mars' hit.

The inspiration behind Cyrus’ song is believed to be her split from Australian actor Liam Hemsworth, who starred in The Hunger Games as Gale Hawthorne.

The couple got married in 2018 but filed for divorce just a year later.

According to TMZ, which has seen the lawsuit, Tempo Music is claiming that Miley’s ‘Flowers’ is “intentionally copying” Bruno Mars' ‘When I Was Your Man.’ 

The company alleges that the melody, harmony, and chorus in ‘Flowers’ are "substantially similar" to the verse in Mars’ track.

TMZ also reports that the legal documents state: "It is undeniable based on the combination and number of similarities between the two recordings that 'Flowers' would not exist without 'When I Was Your Man'." 

Fortunately, Bruno Mars isn't the plaintiff behind the lawsuit against Miley Cyrus Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for NARAS

Now, Tempo Music is pushing for Miley to be banned from performing ‘Flowers’ at future concerts. 

They also want her to stop distributing the song, which won her a Grammy.

Rolling Stone, who also got a copy of the lawsuit, shared that it says, "Any fan of Bruno Mars' 'When I Was Your Man' knows that Miley Cyrus' 'Flowers' did not achieve all of that success on its own. 

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"'Flowers' duplicates numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elements of 'When I Was Your Man,' including the melodic pitch design and sequence of the verse, the connecting bass-line, certain bars of the chorus, certain theatrical music elements, lyric elements, and specific chord progressions."

To give a better idea of the similarities, here’s a look at the lyrics:

Liam Hemsworth and Cyrus pictured just months before their split in 2019 Presley Ann/WireImage

Mars’ chorus goes:

"I should have bought you flowers, and held your hand. 

"Should have gave you all my hours, when I had the chance. 

"Take you to every party 'cause all you wanted to do was dance. 

"Now my baby's dancing, but she's dancing with another man."

Cyrus’ lyrics, on the other hand, are:

"I can buy myself flowers, write my name in the sand. 

"Talk to myself for hours, say things you don't understand. 

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"I can take myself dancing, and I can hold my own hand. 

"Yeah, I can love me better than you can."

So far, neither Mars nor Cyrus has spoken out about the lawsuit.