Miley Cyrus' Grammy-Winning Song Flowers Allegedly Copied From Bruno Mars' When I Was Your Man: Lawsuit

Miley Cyrus has been sued for allegedly picking portions of Bruno Mars 2013 song When I Was Your Man for her Grammy-winning hit track Flowers. The singer-songwriter, along with her co-writers Gregory Hein and Michael Pollack, has been accused of "intentional copying" constituting infringement.

According to a lawsuit filed on Monday by Tempo Music Investments in Los Angeles federal court, claims were made that Flowers includes unauthorised "exploitation" of the original song. The case also accuses companies including Sony Music Publishing, Apple, Target and Walmart for distributing the song.

The lawsuit claims that the melodic designs of the two songs share the same "musical fingerprint", citing a side-by-side comparison of the lyrics. For instance, Mars sings, "That I should have brought you flowers and held your hand." On the other hand, Cyrus croons "I can buy myself flowers and I can hold my own hand".

According to The Guardian, the lawsuit reads: "Any fan of Bruno Mars’ When I Was Your Man knows that Miley Cyrus’s Flowers did not achieve all of that success on its own. Flowers duplicates numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elements of When I Was Your Man, including the melodic pitch design and sequence of the verse, the connecting bass line, certain bars of the chorus, certain theatrical music elements, lyric elements, and specific chord progressions."

It continues: "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. With Flowers, Cyrus, Hein and Pollack have created a derivative work of When I Was Your Man without authorisation."

"Indeed, the opening vocal line from the chorus of Flowers begins and ends on the same chords as the opening vocal line in the verse of When I was Your Man," the complaint added.

Similarities between Flowers and When I Was Your Man

Miley Cyrus wrote Flowers post her divorce with actor Liam Hemsworth. It released in January 2023 and turned an instant hit. It stayed in the Billboard Hot 100 chart for eight weeks. That's not all. Flowers even got Cyrus her first Grammy.

When I Was Your Man, on the other hand, released in 2013. Fans were quick to notice similarities in the melody, harmony and chorus.

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