The Story Behind Bruno Mars’ Unflinching Hit Song “Grenade”

When Bruno Mars connected with hit songwriter Claude Kelly, he was a new artist willing to lay his heart on the line through his music. He demonstrated that with his romantic debut single “Just the Way You Are.” So when he got into the writing room with Kelly, Philip Lawrence, Brody Brown, Andrew Wyatt, and Ari Levine, he was ready to be vulnerable. The result was “Grenade,” an aching pop ballad that finds Mars walking through a world of hurt for the one he loves, going so far as: I’d catch a grenade for ya / Throw my hand on a blade for ya / I’d jump in front of a train for ya.

The song helped solidify Mars as a superstar. In 2011 it charted worldwide, including hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning diamond certification for sales of more than 10 million copies. Below, Kelly tells American Songwriter about the essence of the song and why it stands out for its vulnerability.

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The Story Behind “Grenade”

“Funny thing about ‘Grenade’ is that it was kind of a shot in the dark because no one knew who Bruno was as an artist. I didn’t really know who he was as an artist either. It’s different when they’ve defined themselves and now you’re just giving them what they do. So I approached it as a songwriter who had a lot of respect for another songwriter, because he was a pretty well known songwriter before he became Bruno the artist that the world knows. We had one afternoon in LA in a studio that him and Philip Lawrence were working in together, and we came up with it really quickly.

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It was a collection of these extreme sacrifices you’d make for the one you loved and she’s not giving you the love back. Everyone’s been there. Everyone’s been played, even though no one wants to admit it. So the thing was it was just a song of those extreme things. What I had learned actually from Ne-Yo, what I think Ne-Yo reintroduced was that there’s always a space for men, male artists especially singers, to be vulnerable and they often don’t take advantage of that space enough. So Bruno by coming in and saying, ‘I love you just the way you are…’ I remember seeing the video and I was like, ‘He’s really lugging this piano.’ It was such a strong, smart visual. He’s like, ‘I’m pulling my music up a hill for you.’ And I was like, ‘God, that’s so good.’

It was so much different than all the bravado and sh** talk everyone was doing. Then when it came out, I had no idea what it would do because he was a new artist. So I was grateful that it did what it did. But I had no clue. That’s the story. I think a lot of times, those stories probably seem sexier than it is, but these songs kind of trip into their success.”

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