Bruno Mars has confirmed that his long-awaited next album is complete, with the project titled The Romantic set for release on Feb 27. The singer also revealed that new music will drop this Friday (Jan 9).
The 40-year-old Grammy winner shared the announcement on X, unveiling the album cover and opening vinyl preorders on his official website.
The Romantic marks Mars’ first solo studio album in nearly a decade, following 2016’s 24K Magic, which produced chart-topping hits such as That’s What I Like and Finesse.
Since then, Mars has remained active through high-profile collaborations, including Finesse (Remix) with Cardi B in 2018 and An Evening With Silk Sonic with Anderson .Paak in 2021.
More recently, he released Die With A Smile featuring Lady Gaga in 2024, as well as Apt, a collaboration with Blackpink’s Rosé that drew global attention.
Speaking to Billboard after the release of Apt in October 2024, Mars hinted that more music with Rosé was already recorded.
“Oh yeah, there is [more music]. And we love that song that we worked on — I won’t say the title,” he said. “We’re just trying to figure out when, or how.”
Mars also shared how the collaboration has changed how he is received in South Korea.
“It’s different for me now in Korea,” he said. “Because of Rosie, they treat me a little different now over there.”
He added that the song’s cultural influence drew him in.
“I really gravitated toward the song because it had a piece of Korean culture, and I thought that was magical.”
Mars went on to compare the cultural impact of Apt to Psy’s viral 2012 hit Gangnam Style, calling it a rare moment in global pop culture.
“I’ve never felt this before, I’ve never seen this before,” he said. “Rosie introduced something so authentic to people who didn’t know about it — including myself. Watching the world react to that has been magic.”
