Bruno Mars

“I just know that I'm a fan of all different kinds of genres. You're supposed to be free doing music, and that's how I feel.”

“'Nothin' on You' by B.o.B was the first song where I heard myself on the radio. I'd been trying my whole career to write a song like that, which incorporates live instruments with hip-hop and singing.”

“I'm a big fan of songs like Joe Cocker's 'You Are So Beautiful' and Eric Clapton's 'Wonderful Tonight' - songs that go straight to the point.”

“Hawaii is paradise. It sounds cheesy to say it, but there's music in the air there.”

“I'm the Nickelodeon version of DangerMouse.”

“Honolulu is a melting pot.”

“I guess if I'm a product, either you're chocolate, you're vanilla or you're butterscotch. You can't be all three.”

“I feel, as a songwriter, it's one of the hardest things to do - to sit down and say how you feel.”

“I don't try and be dark, but there are obviously darker emotions that I want to capture sometimes.”

“Doo-wop is special music to me because it's so straightforward and melody-driven and captures emotions.”

“I love the Sex Pistols. I'm a big Beach Boys fan and a huge Zeppelin and Queen fan.”

“Today, I'd like to talk to Bob Marley. I'd just like to ask him what was his method. Bob is one of the greatest songwriters ever. I don't know if people understand how powerful his songs are and the simplicity and genius behind them, from 'Redemption Song' to 'Is This Love?' and 'I Shot the Sheriff.'”

“Songwriters, you have to work - you have to wait for residuals. You have to pray that the song's going to be a hit. And then a year later, you might get a check.”

“There are no record companies in Waikiki.”

“I love that I can talk to my fans through Twitter, to cut out the middle man. Because I've done interviews where my words have gotten twisted, so it's nice to be able to have things coming straight from me.”

“I always say I wanna work with Alicia Keys. I'm in awe of her.”

“You know, when Michael Jackson does the moonwalk, he's showing off! When Prince or Hendrix do a guitar solo, it's confidence! I would hate to be at a show and some nervous wreck is sweating up there and doesn't feel like he deserves to be there.”

“There's always a bittersweet kind of thing, but I feel like everything had to work out the way it is. Everything that had to happen, happened.”

“I feel it's my job to continue being a student of music if I want to continue being an artist and a producer of other artists. You have to keep filling your mind with other music. You have to be ahead of the curve.”

“Ever since I was a kid, this was all I wanted to do. I've wanted to do music. I wanted to sing. It's all I know.”