I went into this Bruno Mars cover profile in Rolling Stone thinking it was just going to be a puff piece about his new album. While much of the profile is about his album, I was drawn into Bruno’s world of neurosis, eccentricity and magic. He reminds me a bit of a more low-key, less manic and much nicer Kanye West – there’s the same vein of eccentricity that runs through both men. I intended to just highlight the funny story Bruno told about Beyonce, but the whole piece is a pretty good read, and I think there are a lot of interesting quotes. Some highlights:

The process of finishing an album: That night, Mars stays at the studio until late. Around 3 a.m., he climbs into his 2010 Cadillac (“It might be time for an upgrade. I look like an Uber driver”) and makes the 20-minute trek to his home in the Hollywood Hills. His girlfriend, model Jessica Caban, is already long asleep, so Mars sits in the driveway by himself for another half-hour, listening and re-listening to today’s mix. The driveway is where he does some of his best work: “We’ve worked on songs till 3 or 4 in the morning, like, ‘This is gonna be the first single!’ – and the minute I take it to the car, it’s so obvious we were tripping,” he says. “Something happens when you roll down your window and you can hear the traffic and real noise – the way people are actually going to hear it.” There’s something about his car’s speakers in particular. “Even if I do get a new car one day,” he says, “that thing’s gonna be parked on the side of the house.”

He loves to play weddings: “I’ve been doing weddings since I was eight. It’s 101. It’s back to basics. What are you going to do at this bar mitzvah? Can you rip up a talent show at the high school auditorium? It’s healthy to go back to that.”

Chris Martin approaching him for a cameo at the Super Bowl this year: “I told him I don’t think so. I just felt like I’d just done it.” Martin persisted, asking Mars to swing by the Malibu studio where he was working. “So I drove out there and he pitched it. ‘You and Beyoncé, doing “Uptown Funk” – I want to be responsible for giving that gift to the world.’ That’s what he said, in his sweet, charming, English way. You’ve got to be careful with those [multi-artist] performances. They do it a lot on award shows, where you’ve got so many cameos but nothing solid.”

Even Bruno is floored by Beyonce’s professionalism: “She’s not f–king joking around. She’s going to get onstage and show everybody why she’s the best every single time. She’s got that monster in her.”

Funny Bey story: “Me and Beyoncé were both working on our diets, stressing out. Then the day before, we’re watching playback backstage, and she’s eating a bag of Cheetos. I’m like, ‘That’s what you’re doing?'” He mimes Beyoncé popping a Cheeto in her mouth. “She’s like, ‘There’s nothing more we can do these last two days. It’s gonna be what it’s gonna be. So I’m gonna enjoy this bag of Cheetos.'”

Kanye did have a beef with him: A few years ago, when he won Best Male Video at the MTV Video Music Awards for his song “Locked Out of Heaven.” Afterward, Kanye West went off about it at a show in Brooklyn. “I’m sitting there. … I’m watching Drake perform, I see Bruno Mars perform,” West recalled. “And then they start giving out awards and sh-t, and Bruno Mars won all the motherf–king awards! Can’t no motherf–king networks try to gas everybody up so they can sell some product with the prettiest motherf–ker out?” True to form, Mars doesn’t want to talk about it at first. (“That guy has so much press around him. I need my own damn press!”) But eventually he caves. “I won one award!” he says, laughing. (Actually, it was two that night.) He adds, “But he was right about the pretty part. It’s Kanye – bottom line, at the end of the day, we need Kanye. But what he said wasn’t a sting. You can come at me all you want – I’ve set myself up for that. But I am my own biggest critic. Whatever anyone says to me, they don’t know sh-t. But me and him, we’re cool. He called me and apologized.” (A representative for West had no comment.) “Kanye loves me, man. You know that. Who doesn’t? I’m Bruno Mars!”

[From Rolling Stone]

There’s more interesting stuff that I couldn’t fit into this story, like his argument with Adele over the lyrical use of the word “lovers” (she was pro, he was against), his absolute heartbreak over losing his mom, and how he’s not really prepared to marry his girlfriend of six years (they live together though). I enjoyed the Kanye story because I feel like that’s Kanye’s M.O. – says something bitchy, then calls to apologize. Rinse and repeat. And I would pay to watch Beyonce eat Cheetos.

Photos courtesy of Rolling Stone.