Miley Cyrus is facing a lawsuit for alleged copyright infringement related to her popular 2023 single “Flowers.” The complaint is filed by Tempo Music Investments, a company claiming it has rights to part of the copyright for Bruno Mars’s song “When I Was Your Man.”
“Flowers,” which serves as the lead single from Cyrus’s eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation, has become one of her most successful tracks, reaching the top of 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.
Released in 2012, Mars’s “When I Was Your Man” also achieved No 1 status in the U.S. and received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance.
According to reports from TMZ, Tempo Music Investments alleges that Cyrus copied chord progressions and mirrored elements of the lyrics from Mars’s ballad, highlighting notable similarities in melody, harmony, and chorus. The court documents reportedly argue that “Flowers” could not exist without “When I Was Your Man.”
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and requests that Cyrus, who is 31, be prohibited from distributing “Flowers” and performing it live. Bruno Mars, aged 38, is not named as a plaintiff in the case.
Cyrus’s and Mars’s representatives have been contacted for comments regarding the lawsuit.
In 2019, Variety detailed plans by Warner Music Group, alongside Providence Equity Partners, to invest $650 million in music catalogues through a newly established platform called Tempo Music Investments. Three years later, Billboard reported that Mars had sold part of his catalogue to Warner Chappell Music, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Around the time “Flowers” became popular, fans of Cyrus noticed striking similarities to “When I Was Your Man,” which her ex-husband, actor Liam Hemsworth, was rumored to have dedicated to her.
In “Flowers,” Cyrus appears to reinterpret Mars’s