Miley Cyrus is facing a lawsuit for alleged copyright infringement regarding her popular 2023 single “Flowers.” The lawsuit, filed by Tempo Music Investments, claims that the song contains similarities to Bruno Mars’s hit “When I Was Your Man,” for which Tempo asserts it holds a copyright share.
“Flowers,” released as the lead single from Cyrus’s eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation, has become one of her most successful songs, topping charts globally and earning two Grammy Awards in 2024 for Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance, in addition to a nomination for Song of the Year.
“When I Was Your Man,” which debuted in 2012, was a number one hit in the United States and received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance.
According to reports, Tempo Music alleges that Cyrus’s track copies chord progressions, reflects some lyrics from Mars’s song, and shares significant similarities in melody, harmony, and chorus. The lawsuit claims, “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’.”
Tempo Music is said to be seeking unspecified damages and is requesting that Cyrus, 31, be prevented from distributing or performing “Flowers” in public.
Bruno Mars, 38, is not named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Representatives for both Cyrus and Mars have been contacted for comments on the matter.
In 2019, reports indicated that Warner Music Group and Providence Equity Partners planned to invest $650 million in music catalogs through the newly formed Tempo Music Investments. Additionally, three years later, it was reported that Mars had sold a portion of his catalog to Warner Chappell Music, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Fans of Cyrus noted similarities between “Flowers” and “When I Was Your Man” around the time of its release, recalling that her ex-husband, Liam Hemsworth, was rumored to have dedicated Mars’s song to her in the past.
In her lyrics, Cyrus appears to reinterpret parts of Mars’s song, contrasting lines like, “I should’ve bought you flowers” with her own, “I can buy myself flowers.” The chorus of “Flowers” expresses independence, as she sings about being able to love herself better than someone else can. Cyrus is credited as a co-writer on “Flowers,” alongside songwriter and producer Aldae (Gregory Hein) and songwriter/producer Michael Pollack, while “When I Was Your Man” was written by Mars, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, and Andrew Wyatt.