Doo-Wops & Hooligans by Bruno Mars

Doo-Wops & Hooligans is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars, which was released on October 4, 2010 by Atlantic and Elektra Records. After the release of the EP It's Better If You Don't Understand (2010), Mars' writing and production team The Smeezingtons began working on the album with Needlz, Supa Dups and Jeff Bhasker as producers. Doo-Wops & Hooligans draws on a variety of influences. Lyrically, the album visualizes carefree optimism along with failed relationships, pain and loneliness. It was promoted primarily through the Doo-Wops & Hooligans Tour (2010–2012) and a number of television appearances. The album title was chosen to reflect simplicity and appeal to males and females. The album received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who praised the album's similarity to the work of American artists Michael Jackson and Jason Mraz, although others felt that the album tried too hard to appeal to all groups. On September 24, 2010, the album was made available before its official release. Nevertheless, it became a commercial success, topping the charts in Canada, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. It peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the United States and was 2011's second-bestselling album in New Zealand, the third-bestselling record in the United Kingdom and Australia (with UK sales of 1.2 million copies), and the fourth-bestselling album in Germany and Switzerland. The album has sold over 2.62 million copies in the United States as of 2017 and by 2012 had already sold six million copies worldwide. The first two singles from Doo-Wops & Hooligans—"Just the Way You Are" and "Grenade"—were successful internationally, topping the charts in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Subsequent singles "The Lazy Song" and "Marry You" were commercial successes as well, reaching the top 10 in over 10 countries; "The Lazy Song" topped the charts in the United Kingdom and Denmark. "Talking to the Moon" and "Count On Me" had a limited release, and "Liquor Store Blues" (featuring Damian Marley) and "Somewhere in Brooklyn" were promotional singles. Doo-Wops & Hooligans has been nominated for a number of awards; it received five nominations for the 54th Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album and Record of the Year for the single "Grenade". The album was also nominated for Best Album/Pop Rock International at the 2012 Swiss Music Awards. In 2010, About.com's Bill Lamb and Rolling Stone's Jody Rosen called Doo-Wops & Hooligans one of the year's best debut albums.