Miley Cyrus faces lawsuit for allegedly copying Bruno Mars for ‘Flowers’

AMERICAN singer-songwriter Miley Cyrus is facing another legal challenge—this time, a copyright infringement lawsuit for allegedly copying a song by singer-songwriter Bruno Mars for her GRAMMY-winning song “Flowers.”

According to reports, a company named Tempo Music Investments filed a lawsuit on Monday before Los Angeles federal court, accusing the 31-year-old pop icon and her co-writers of incorporating unauthorized elements from Mars’ “When I Was Your Man” to “Flowers.”

“When I Was Your Man,” a heartbreaking ballad, was released in 2012. Meanwhile, “Flowers,” a self-love anthem that won “Record of the Year” at the 2024 GRAMMYs, was released in 2023.

International media outlets obtained a copy of the lawsuit, which claimed that Cyrus’ “Flowers” “duplicates numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elements” of Mars’ “When I Was Your Man.” 

This included 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 progression,” the lawsuit further read.

While Mars was not named as a plaintiff in the suit, Tempo Music Investments said it has a share of the copyright to “When I Was Your Man.”

The company named Gregory Hein and Michael Pollack as Cryus’ co-defendants, as well as Sony Music Publishing, Apple, Target, Walmart, and other companies for distributing “Flowers.”

“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.’ With ‘Flowers,’ Cyrus, Hein and Pollack have created a derivative work of ‘When I Was Your Man’ without authorization,” the lawsuit stated.

As of this writing, Cyrus has yet to comment on the issue.

About ‘Flowers’

“Flowers” is the lead single of Cyrus’ eighth studio album “Endless Summer Vacation,” released last year.

It took over the internet, claiming the top spot of Billboard’s “Hot 100” chart for eight non-consecutive weeks.

In “Flowers,” Cyrus expresses the feeling of not wanting to part ways with someone, but then they realize they are better off without that person.

The chorus part goes, “I can buy myself flowers / Write my name in the sand / Talk to myself for hours / Say things you don’t understand /I can take myself dancing / And I can hold my own hand / Yeah, I can love me better than you can.”

In a previous interview with British Vogue, Cyrus revealed that “Flowers” was initially written “in a really different way,” stressing that it used to be more like “the saddest song.”

The original chorus was, “I can buy myself flowers, write my name in the sand, but I can’t love me better than you can,” she said.

The pop icon then described “Flowers” as “a little fake it till you make it.”

The song’s music video, which now has over 850 million views on YouTube, featured Cyrus enjoying a day with herself.

Cyrus also performed “Flowers” live at the 66th GRAMMYs.