Musicians Bruno Mars (L) and Mark Ronson attend The 58th GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on February 15, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo : Getty Images for NARAS/Larry Busacca)
Bruno Mars' and Mark Ronson are being sued for the hit song "Uptown Funk" by a group from the 1980s who claimed the song is similar to theirs. Collage from Minneapolis, United States which only has one surviving member Larry White claimed "Uptown Funk" has similarity to their 1983 song "Young Girls."
Ronson-produced "Uptown Funk" is the lead single from Mars' 2014 "Uptown Special." It was a hit in eight countries and sold more than 6.1 million copies in the US alone. The single has Mars as the featured vocalist, and Jeff Basker as the writer and production team member.
Mars' monster hit is his biggest single to date, with over 6.1 million copies in sales. It is Billboard's second-longest number-one hit song. It reported a $100k a week through streaming on Spotify.
Collage claimed "Uptown Funk" is a thinly-veiled copy of their "Young Girls" in rhythm, melody, structure and harmony. The group believes Mars and Ronson may have heard "Young Girls" and been influenced by it.
Mars and Ronson are both huge fans of Minneapolis and the electro-funk soul of the 1980s of which Collage was a part. White is demanding a cut of the profits of "Uptown Funk," TMZ reported.
Earlier, all girl group Sequence claimed their 1979 single "Funk Up Girls" was similar to "Uptown Funk" but did not go on with the legal action. Gap Band's 1979 hit "Oops! Upside Down" is one of the songs that is said to influence "Uptown Funk," which explains why the Wilson brothers were in the song writing credits.
Meanwhile, Mars kicked off the MTV Europe Music awards on Nov. 6, Sunday, with his first stage performance of the "Uptown Funk" follow-up "24K Magic." The American pop revivalist sang "Show time! Show time! Guess who's back?" while showing off disco moves synched with the stage floor's lights.
Justin Bieber was the event's biggest winner, edging out Lady Gaga during the awarding night in Rotterdam with three awards, thanks to his fans "Beliebers." He had nominations in five categories and won "Biggest Fans," "Best Song" for "Sorry" and "Best Canadian Act." Gaga won "Best Look" and "Best Female," Reuters reported.
Listen to Collage's "Young Girls" in the clip below:
