Bruno Mars Hosts His First Primetime TV Special

Bruno Mars: 24K Magic Live at the Apollo
Bruno Mars: 24K Magic Live at the Apollo (Photo by Michele Crowe © 2017 CBS Broadcasting, Inc)

Grammy winner Bruno Mars will star in his first primetime television special on Wednesday, November 29, 2017 at 10pm ET/PT. The one-hour music-filled presentation, Bruno Mars: 24K Magic Live at the Apollo, will air on CBS and features Mars on stage at the iconic Apollo Theater in New York City. The taped special will also include Mars and his band, Hooligans, hitting the streets to talk to fans as well as never-before-seen performances, according to CBS.


“For me, Bruno Mars is the greatest performer in the world,” stated executive producer Ben Winston. “To be producing his first television special is a true honor. This will be a special show and a special night.”

“Bruno Mars is the ultimate live performer of this generation,” said Jack Sussman, Executive Vice President, Specials, Music and Live Events, CBS Entertainment. “He is the very definition of event television. He burns the roof off the Apollo while paying respect to its tradition and history. We at CBS are proud to be broadcasting his first TV special.”

Details on Bruno Mars’ Career, Courtesy of CBS:

Multi-Grammy Award winner and 21-time Grammy Award nominee Bruno Mars is a celebrated singer, songwriter, producer and musician who has sold over 180 million singles worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. Recently, his critically acclaimed and RIAA-certified double platinum album, 24K Magic, made an impressive debut atop the Top Digital Albums and R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, while also remaining in the Top 10 for 33 consecutive weeks. The album and its lead single, “24K Magic,” simultaneously hit #1 on the iTunes Overall Albums and Overall Songs charts during its week of release. The single has since climbed to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has also officially been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA. Mars’ quintuple platinum certified single, “That’s What I Like,” recently climbed to #1 on the Hot 100, marking his seventh Hot 100 chart-topper and his first #1 on the Hot R&B Songs chart, where it remained at the top spot for 19 consecutive weeks.

Mars is the first artist to have two songs spend 24 or more weeks in the Hot 100’s top 5 (“That’s What I Like” and “Uptown Funk”). He is the only artist in the past year to have two quadruple-platinum singles from the same album. Also, Mars is one of the few artists to have written and produced each of his #1 hits and has had a #1 song on the Hot 100 from each of his first three studio albums.

With seven Hot 100 #1s, Mars is now tied with Elvis Presley, Phil Collins and Frankie Valli for the seventh most chart-toppers among male soloists, and he is also ranked #1 among male artists with the most Hot 100 #1s for this decade, extending his lead over Justin Bieber, Drake, Eminem and The Weeknd. Mars took home two BET Awards this past June, including the coveted Best Male R&B/Pop Artist award. To celebrate his latest album, Mars has been traveling the globe on his massive 24K Magic World Tour, which sold over 1 million tickets in a single day. In 2015 Bruno dominated music charts with the hit single “Uptown Funk.” The worldwide smash is the longest-leading Billboard Hot 100 single of the 2010s and is only the 10th single in the Hot 100’s 57-year history to spend at least 14 weeks at #1. “Uptown Funk” took home three GRAMMY Awards this past year, including Record of the Year.

Mars returned to the Super Bowl Halftime stage in February 2017 to perform alongside Beyoncé and Coldplay at the Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show. In 2014 Mars made NFL history with the second most watched Super Bowl Halftime Show, which saw a record-breaking total viewership of over 115.3 million, all while being the youngest artist ever to serve as the sole NFL Super Bowl Halftime headliner. The performance gained him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program. According to Billboard, Bruno Mars scored his first five Hot 100 #1s faster than any male since Elvis Presley. As a singer, songwriter and producer, Bruno Mars has an impressive catalog of 37 Hot 100 hits.