Travie McCoy reflects on long silence with Bruno Mars
McCoy first met Bruno Mars through his A&R rep, who introduced him to Mars’ production team
October 31, 2025
Travie McCoy says he hasn’t heard from Bruno Mars in years despite their massive 2010 hit Billionaire.
In a new interview, the Gym Class Heroes frontman, 44, looked back on working with Mars, now 40, and the song’s creation.
McCoy said he first connected with Mars through The Smeezingtons — Mars’ writing and production team, who were fans of Gym Class Heroes.
“They played me a rough demo of Billionaire,” McCoy recalled with People. “The original lyric was, ‘I want to be on the cover of Forbes Magazine standing next to Diddy and the Queen.’”
“I told Bruno, ‘I don’t want to say Diddy’s name every night,’” he said. “So he switched it to Oprah—easy fix.”
McCoy added with a laugh, “I’m glad he did. I don’t want to stand next to Diddy in anything.”
Fast forward 15 years, McCoy says they haven’t spoken in years. “He doesn’t return my calls,” he said.
