Miley Cyrus is facing a lawsuit for alleged copyright infringement concerning her hit 2023 single “Flowers.” The lawsuit has been filed by Tempo Music Investments, a company that asserts it holds a portion of the copyright for Bruno Mars’s song “When I Was Your Man.”
“Flowers,” the lead single from Cyrus’s eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation, has achieved remarkable success, topping charts globally and earning two Grammy Awards in 2024 for Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance, along with a nomination for Song of the Year. Conversely, “When I Was Your Man,” released in 2012, was also a chart-topping success in the US and received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance.
According to reports, Tempo Music Investments claims that “Flowers” copies the chord progressions and shares some lyrical elements with Mars’s ballad. The lawsuit asserts that there are significant similarities in melody, harmony, and chorus. Court documents are said to state that “Flowers” could not exist without “When I Was Your Man.”
The company is seeking unspecified damages and is requesting that Cyrus, 31, be prohibited from distributing or performing “Flowers” live. Notably, Bruno Mars, 38, is not named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Representatives for both Cyrus and Mars have been contacted for comment. In 2019, it was reported that Warner Music Group and Providence Equity Partners planned to invest $650 million in music catalogues through Tempo Music Investments. Three years later, Mars reportedly sold part of his catalogue to Warner Chappell Music, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Upon the release of “Flowers,” fans noted similarities to “When I Was Your Man,” which her ex-husband, actor Liam Hemsworth, was rumored to have previously dedicated to her. The lyrics in Cyrus’s song appear to contrast Mars’s verses, reflecting themes of self-empowerment. While Mars sings, “I should’ve bought you flowers,” Cyrus’s chorus features the lines, “I can buy myself flowers.”
Fans observed that the melody in Cyrus’s chorus seems to echo that of Mars’s song. Cyrus is credited as a co-writer of “Flowers,” alongside Aldae (Gregory Hein) and Michael Pollack, while “When I Was Your Man” was composed by Mars, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, and Andrew Wyatt.