Miley Cyrus Accused of Copying Bruno Mars Song in “Flowers” Lawsuit
1992-present
Miley Cyrus Now: Singer Sued for Allegedly Copying Bruno Mars Song
Miley Cyrus as been hit with a lawsuit over her chart-topper “Flowers.” A music rights company claims the 31-year-old singer’s Grammy-winning track copied parts of Bruno Mars’ 2013 single “When I Was Your Man.”
Filed in Los Angeles federal court by Tempo Music Investments on September 16, the lawsuit accuses Cyrus and her co-songwriters of infringing on the copyright of the Mars hit, citing “striking similarities” between the two songs. The investment platform owns a stake in the song’s copyright but isn’t affiliated with Mars.
“‘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,” the lawsuit reads.
Tempo Music is seeking to stop Cyrus from performing “Flowers” and end the distribution of the song by companies, such as Sony Music Publishing, Apple, and Target. Cyrus has yet to publicly comment on the matter. “Flowers” collected the 2024 Grammys for Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance in February.
Who Is Miley Cyrus?
Miley Cyrus is a Grammy-winning singer and actor. The daughter of country star Billy Ray Cyrus, she began acting at a young age, landing the starring role on the hit show Hannah Montana in 2004. Cyrus went on to release several successful albums, including 2008’s Breakout and 2010’s Can’t Be Tamed, while becoming increasingly known for her wild behavior. Her 2013 single “Wrecking Ball,” backed by a controversial video, became her first No. 1 hit. Along with retaining a presence on radio, Cyrus served as a coach on The Voice for two seasons. The singer won her first Grammy Awards in 2024 for her hit song “Flowers.”
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Miley Ray Cyrus
BORN: November 23, 1992
BIRTHPLACE: Franklin, Tennessee
SPOUSE: Liam Hemsworth (2018-2020)
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Sagittarius
Early Life and Career
Born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992, in Franklin, Tennessee, Miley Cyrus is the daughter of 1990s country star Billy Ray Cyrus. She changed her name to Miley Ray Cyrus in 2008, legally adopting the nickname she was given as a baby for often smiling.
Miley grew up on the family farm, near Nashville, Tennessee, with two siblings and three half-siblings. Her godmother is country music icon Dolly Parton. Cyrus was passionate about acting at a young age, appearing on her father’s television series, Doc, and in Tim Burton’s Big Fish (2003).
Hannah Montana
In 2004, Cyrus beat out 1,000 hopefuls to land the starring role of Miley Stewart on the hit Disney show Hannah Montana. The tween series features a young pop superstar (Montana) who hides her celebrity identity to be an everyday teen in real life (Stewart).
To accommodate filming, the entire family moved to Los Angeles with Billy Ray joining his daughter on screen as her fictional dad-manager. Her star on the rise, Cyrus released a successful Hannah Montana soundtrack album in 2006.
In 2007, Cyrus’s double album, Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus, led to the launch of the Best of Both Worlds Tour. The concert series sold out in record time and was extended by 14 dates to help placate disappointed fans. Her successful 3-D concert film collected $31.3 million during its opening weekend in February 2008.
Enthusiasm for Cyrus’ TV alter ego remained strong through the end of the decade. Hannah Montana: The Movie scored at the box office, bringing in more than $79 million following its April 2009 release. Cyrus bid farewell to the role with the conclusion of Hannah Montana in early 2011.
Albums and Hit Songs
Breakout, The Time of Our Lives, and Can’t Be Tamed
Cyrus’ second studio album, Breakout, became a huge hit in 2008, reaching the top of the pop album charts. The following year she released the EP The Time of Our Lives, featuring the hit singles “Party in the U.S.A.” and “When I Look at You,” the former becoming one of the singer’s most successful song to date, selling more than 5.38 million copies and earning a spot among the best-selling singles of all time. The young star followed that success with the release of a new album, 2010’s Can’t Be Tamed.
“We Can’t Stop,” “Wrecking Ball,” and Bangerz
Cyrus sought to distance herself from her Hannah Montana persona by cutting her hair short and wearing edgy fashions, but no one was quite prepared for how far she would go: At the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) in August 2013, Cyrus stunned the audience with her raunchy performance of her single “We Can’t Stop.”
Around this time, she appeared nude in the video of a follow-up single “Wrecking Ball.” However, the swirling controversy seemed to bolster sales of Cyrus’ fourth studio album, Bangerz, released in October 2013. Meanwhile, “Wrecking Ball” became her first U.S. single to top the pop charts and earned her Video of the Year honors at the 2014 VMAs.
Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz and Younger Now
Named host of the 2015 VMAs, Cyrus concluded her efforts that evening by announcing the release of a new, free album. A departure from her pop roots, Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz explored themes of psychedelia as it wound through its 23 tracks. The album drew mixed reviews, with some critics praising the artist’s willingness to push creative boundaries while retaining a sense of radio-friendly tracks. Her follow-up album, Younger Now (2017), featuring the lead single “Malibu,” marked a return to more conservative fare.
She Is Coming and Plastic Hearts
Her seventh studio album on the way, Cyrus released its first installment, the seven-track EP She Is Coming, in May 2019, with the single “Mother’s Daughter” arriving a couple of weeks later. Cyrus followed with “Slide Away” that August, before teaming with Ariana Grande and Lana Del Rey for “Don’t Call Me Angel,” from the Charlie’s Angels soundtrack.
Her full album Plastic Hearts followed in November 2020 and reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200. It’s most successful song was “Midnight Sky.” Even bigger success was just ahead.
“Flowers” and Endless Summer Vacation
Cyrus kicked off 2023 by releasing “Flowers,” which quickly became her second No. 1 hit song. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks and anchored her eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation, that arrived in August. Both the song and the album were commercially and critically successful, earning the singer six Grammy nominations.
In February 2024, Cyrus accepted her first Grammy Awards. “Flowers” won Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.
Movies and TV
The Last Song, LOL, and So Undercover
In 2010, Cyrus starred in the romantic drama The Last Song, a movie based on a novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. Her coming-of-age drama LOL (2012) also was geared toward tween audiences, while her attempt to branch out slightly, as a private investigator in So Undercover (2012), wound up as a direct-to-video release in the United States.
The Night Before, A Very Murray Christmas, and Crisis in Six Scenes
Cyrus resumed her film work in 2015 by appearing as herself in two holiday comedies: The Night Before, starring Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and the Bill Murray variety special A Very Murray Christmas. The following year she teamed with Woody Allen to star in the Amazon series Crisis in Six Scenes.
The Voice
Already a veteran of the small screen, Cyrus put her hosting duties to task once again as one of the new female coaches of season 11 of The Voice, the other being Alicia Keys. The women competed to discover the top artist, alongside veteran coaches Adam Levine and Blake Shelton. Cyrus left at the end of the season but returned for season 13 in 2017.
Black Mirror and Bright Minded
Following a small, uncredited voice role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Cyrus was the center of attention in the June 2019 season 5 opener of the TV series Black Mirror, in which she played a pop star named Ashley O. The following spring, she launched the interview show Bright Minded: Live with Miley on Instagram Live as a way of helping the public cope with the coronavirus outbreak.
Copyright Infringement Lawsuits
In 2018, Jamaican singer-songwriter Michael May, who performs under the name Flourgon, filed a lawsuit alleging Cyrus’ 2013 hit “We Can’t Stop” was based on his 1988 song “We Run Things.” According to his complaint, Cyrus had lifted the lyrics “We run things / Things don’t run we” from May’s “We run things / Things no run we,” and “significantly incorporated” his “vocal melody/rhythm/cadence/inflection.” Cyrus agreed to pay Flourgon $300 million in a settlement that was finalized in early 2020.
More than four years later, Cyrus is again facing a lawsuit over her second No. 1 hit, “Flowers.” In September 2024, a music rights company sued the singer over claims that the Grammy-winning track copies elements from Bruno Mars’ song “When I Was Your Man.” Mars isn’t affiliated with the company, which owns a share of the song’s copyright.
Books
In 2008, Cyrus stirred up controversy by posing for revealing shots taken by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz, which appeared in Vanity Fair magazine. The resulting criticism prompted an “embarrassed” Cyrus to apologize to fans, though years later she tweeted that she wasn’t sorry at all, with a four-letter word for emphasis.
In 2009, Cyrus provided a look into her life with the autobiography Miles to Go, featuring previously unseen photos, family stories and “a look at her inner circle of loved ones.” In a statement around this time, Cyrus said of the book, “I am so excited to let fans in on how important my relationship with my family is to me. I hope to motivate mothers and daughters to build lifetimes of memories together and inspire kids around the world to live their dreams.”
Ex-Husband Liam Hemsworth
Cyrus, who has made headlines for her romantic life, briefly dated Nick Jonas of the musical group the Jonas Brothers in 2007. She was also romantically linked to model Justin Gaston and actor Carter Jenkins, among other celebrities.
In June 2012, after three years of dating, Cyrus announced her engagement to actor and Hunger Games star Liam Hemsworth. The pair called it quits in September 2013, and although they later rekindled their relationship and got married on December 23, 2018, they separated again the following summer.
Quotes
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