Singer Bruno Mars performed with his group at the Super Bowl 50 (Photo : YouTube/NFL)
The Sequence, a female band, has accused Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars of copying their song "Funk You Up." The group alleged the duo stole the hook from the hit single released in 1979.
A representative for the three-member girl group Kali Bowyer said there were very notable similarities between the two songs. The song in question "Funk You Up" has a distinctive hook which seems to appear in Mars' "Uptown Funk," Bowyer told TMZ.
The timing could not have been worse for Mars and Ronson. The duo recently took home a Grammy for Record Of The Year with their 2014 hit. However, according to the entertainment website, the girl band is unsure about filing a lawsuit.
On previous occasions, the song "Uptown Funk" has been at the center of controversial plagiarism allegations. Viktorija, a Serbian pop star, claimed the song infringed a track of hers called "Dark Streets Are Not For Girls"; however, the Serbian singer refrained from filing legal action.
Ronson told British media at the time, that he put it down to the popularity of the song that people claim he stole the hook. In addition, he was quoted as saying he had not had a hit as big as "Uptown Funk" before.
In 2015, Ronson included five names to the songwriting credits of "Uptown Fink." It was reported that he made the decision following similarities between the song and another 70s hit "Oops Upside Your Head" by The Gap Band.
Meanwhile, A-list designer Donatella Versace revealed to Billboard the thinking behind Mars' suit she designed for the Super Bowl. It is reported that Mars sent her white roses to say thank-you for the baseball jersey-inspired outfit.
The outfit comprised of Medusa gold buttons and trimmings. In addition, the leather suit had Greek inspired gold cuff edgings as well. The outfit was completed with Nike Cortez sneakers that sported a golden trademark swoosh sign.
"As with many things in fashion, we had to work fast, but it was so much fun to create," Versace told the publication. She added that while designing the suit, they consulted Mars for the look he wanted to achieve and what the "the performance would be like" in terms of mobility.
Watch Mars perform with Beyonce at the Super Bowl :
