Miley Cyrus sued over Flowers for ‘intentionally copying’ Bruno Mars’ hit song

According to TMZ, Cyrus is named in a copyright infringement lawsuit by Tempo Music Investments, a company that claims to own a share of Mars’ track. Notably, the Locked Out of Heaven singer is not a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

In the documents, Tempo Music says the likeness of the songs “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.”

They claim Cyrus’ version is “intentionally copying” Mars’ track, and it seems they could have a case. If you listen carefully to the lyrics of each song, its choruses appear to have a lyrical connection.

Here is Mars’ chorus on When I Was Your Man, which he released in 2012.

“I should have bought you flowers. And held your hand. Should have gave you all my hours when I had the chance. Take you to every party ‘cause all you wanted to do was dance. Now my baby’s dancing. But she’s dancing with another man,” he sings.

Meanwhile, here is Cyrus’ chorus on Flowers, which she released last year and appears to run parallel to Mars’ song.

“I can buy myself flowers. Write my name in the sand. Talk to myself for hours. Say things you don’t understand. I can take myself dancing. I can hold my own hand. I can love me better than you can,” she sings on the track, which won her Record of the Year at the Grammys earlier this year.

Tempo Music claims Cyrus, her label and her producers have had access to Mars’ song, and they want to be financially compensated. They have also requested Cyrus be barred from distributing or performing Flowers.

Here in Australia, the album went straight to number one on the ARIA Album Charts – her first number one album in the country since Bangerz in 2013.

Flowers is said to be inspired by her relationship and marriage breakdown with Aussie actor Liam Hemsworth. The pair met in 2010 on the set of the romantic drama The Last Song.

After years of being on and off, they finally made it down the aisle in 2018, only to split in 2019.

“I wrote it in a really different way,” Cyrus told British Vogue last year after releasing the song.

“The chorus was originally: ‘I can buy myself flowers, write my name in the sand, but I can’t love me better than you can.’ It used to be more, like, 1950s. The saddest song. Like: ‘Sure, I can be my own lover, but you’re so much better.’”

But she decided to make it more empowering.

“The song is a little fake it till you make it,” she added. “Which I’m a big fan of.”