Bruno Mars' ‘The Romantic' takes singer to new heights

Bruno Mars has achieved something he has never managed before in his career, debuting straight at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, with his fourth studio album The Romantic opening with 186,000 equivalent album units in its first week.

It is a genuinely historic moment for the Grammy-winning singer. 

While Mars had previously climbed to No. 1 with Unorthodox Jukebox back in 2013, that took three months to reach the top. 

His 2016 album 24K Magic, widely assumed by many fans to have been a chart-topper, actually peaked at No. 2, famously blocked by Metallica's Hardwired… to Self-Destruct, a revelation that caused something of a stir on social media this past week. 

His 2021 Silk Sonic collaboration An Evening with Silk Sonic also maxed out at No. 2. 

Billboard notes that the 13-year gap between Mars' No. 1 albums is the longest for any living solo male artist since Paul McCartney's return to the top in 2018 with Egypt Station, which itself marked a remarkable 36-year gap. 

The rest of this week's Billboard 200 sees Bad Bunny's Debí Tirar Más Fotos hold at No. 2, followed by Morgan Wallen's I'm the Problem, Don Toliver's Octane, and Olivia Dean's The Art of Loving. 

The triumph comes just weeks after Mars briefly found himself in a different kind of spotlight. 

Last month, he fired back at a fan on X who had suggested he had been releasing "the same song for the past 10 years." 

Mars reportedly replied with a sharp, profanity-laced response before quickly deleting it, leaving only screenshots and widespread reactions in its wake. 

According to screenshots online, the singer tweeted back, “and u never been sh-t all yo life.”

Based on this week's chart, it seems the numbers have done the responding for him.