Grammys: Bruno Mars Wins Song of the Year for “That’s What I Like”

Bruno Mars took home song of the year for “That’s What I Like” at the Grammys on Sunday.

When the pop star — who is the third-most-nominated artist of the night with six total — took the stage to collect his award, he thanked his co-writers Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus and Jonathan Yip.

“I’ve known these guys for over a decade,” he said. “All the music business horror stories you see in the movies, we’ve been through all of it, and this is the first time on this album that we all came collectively as a group and put this song together and put the album together. So fellas, it’s an honor to share this with you tonight.”

The win came after a rousing, throwback-style performance of “Finesse” with Cardi B earlier in the night. Mars had previously been nominated three times in the category, but had yet to go home with a win.

“That’s What I Like” beat out Jay-Z’s “4:44”; Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito,” featuring Justin Bieber; Julia Michaels’ “Issues”; and Alessia Cara, Khalid and Logic’s “1-800-273-8255” — the latter of which was later performed by the trio alongside a group of suicide survivors; the song title is the number for the National Suicide Prevention hotline.

Rapper Jay-Z went into Sunday’s night’s show with a leading eight nominations, mainly from his 4:44 album, and had “Despacito” collected the trophy, the record-breaking, global Latin dance hit would have become the first-ever Spanish-language song to win the category. The last time a non-English-language song won was in 1959. “Despacito” was nominated for three total awards, including record of the year.

Legitimate change has been underway with the annual Grammys show, as 2018 also saw the major categories dominated by rap and R&B.

Bruno Mars has already taken home best R&B performance and best R&B song for “That’s What I Like,” and best R&B album for 24K Magic. Shortly after, he won record of the year for “24K Magic” and album of the year for 24K Magic.

The 60th annual Grammy Awards, hosted by James Corden, aired live from New York’s Madison Square Garden on CBS. See all the winners here.