#1 Artist Of The Rock Era - Elvis Presley/#1 Hit Since 1964 - Uptown Funk

#1 Artist Of The Rock Era - Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley may be the single most important figure in American 20th century popular music. Not necessarily the best, and certainly not the most consistent. But no one could argue with the fact that he was the musician most responsible for popularizing rock & roll on an international level. Viewed in cold sales figures, his impact was phenomenal. Dozens upon dozens of international smashes from the mid-'50s to the mid-'70s, as well as the steady sales of his catalog and reissues since his death in 1977, may make him the single highest-selling performer in history. 

More important from a music lover's perspective, however, are his remarkable artistic achievements. Presley was not the very first white man to sing rhythm & blues; Bill Haley predated him in that regard, and there may have been others as well. Elvis was certainly the first, however, to assertively fuse country and blues music into the style known as rockabilly. While rockabilly arrangements were the foundations of his first (and possibly best) recordings, Presley could not have become a mainstream superstar without a much more varied palette that also incorporated pop, gospel, and even some bits of bluegrass and operatic schmaltz here and there. His '50s recordings established the basic language of rock & roll; his explosive and sexual stage presence set standards for the music's visual image; his vocals were incredibly powerful and versatile. 

Unfortunately, to much of the public, Elvis is more icon than artist. Innumerable bad Hollywood movies, increasingly caricatured records and mannerisms, and a personal life that became steadily more sheltered from real-world concerns (and steadily more bizarre) gave his story a somewhat mythic status. By the time of his death, he'd become more a symbol of gross Americana than of cultural innovation. The continued speculation about his incredible career has sustained interest in his life, and supported a large tourist/entertainment industry that may last indefinitely, even if the fascination is fueled more by his celebrity than his music. 

Born to a poor Mississippi family in the heart of Depression, Elvis had moved to Memphis by his teens, where he absorbed the vibrant melting pot of Southern popular music in the form of blues, country, bluegrass, and gospel. After graduating from high school, he became a truck driver, rarely if ever singing in public. Some 1953 and 1954 demos, recorded at the emerging Sun label in Memphis primarily for Elvis' own pleasure, helped stir interest on the part of Sun owner Sam Phillips. In mid-1954, Phillips, looking for a white singer with a black feel, teamed Presley with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black. Almost by accident, apparently, the trio hit upon a version of an Arthur Crudup blues tune "That's All Right Mama," which became Elvis' first single. 

Elvis' five Sun singles pioneered the blend of R&B and C&W that would characterize rockabilly music. For quite a few scholars, they remain not only Elvis' best singles, but the best rock & roll ever recorded. Claiming that Elvis made blues acceptable for the white market is not the whole picture; the singles usually teamed blues covers with country and pop ones, all made into rock & roll (at this point a term that barely existed) with the pulsing beat, slap-back echo, and Elvis' soaring, frenetic vocals. "That's All Right Mama," "Blue Moon of Kentucky," "Good Rockin' Tonight," "Baby Let's Play House," and "Mystery Train" remain core early rock classics. 

The singles sold well in the Memphis area immediately, and by 1955 were starting to sell well to country audiences throughout the South. Presley, Moore, and Black hit the road with a stage show that grew ever wilder and more provocative, Elvis' swiveling hips causing enormous controversy. The move to all-out rock was hastened by the addition of drums. The last Sun single, "I Forgot to Remember to Forget"/"Mystery Train," hit number one on the national country charts in late 1955. Presley was obviously a performer with superstar potential, attracting the interest of bigger labels and Colonel Tom Parker, who became Elvis' manager. In need of capital to expand the Sun label, Sam Phillips sold Presley's contract to RCA in late 1955 for 35,000 dollars; a bargain, when viewed in hindsight, but an astronomical sum at the time. 

This is the point where musical historians start to diverge in opinion. For many, the whole of his subsequent work for RCA -- encompassing over 20 years -- was a steady letdown, never recapturing the pure, primal energy that was harnessed so effectively on the handful of Sun singles. Elvis, however, was not a purist. What he wanted, more than anything, was to be successful. To do that, his material needed more of a pop feel; in any case, he'd never exactly been one to disparage the mainstream, naming Dean Martin as one of his chief heroes from the get-go. At RCA, his rockabilly was leavened with enough pop flavor to make all of the charts, not just the country ones. 

At the beginning, at least, the results were hardly any tamer than the Sun sessions. "Heartbreak Hotel," his first single, rose to number one and, aided by some national television appearances, helped make Elvis an instant superstar. "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" was a number one follow-up; the double-sided monster "Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel" was one of the biggest-selling singles the industry had ever experienced up to that point. His first two LPs, Elvis Presley and Elvis, were also chart-toppers, not just in the U.S., but throughout the world. The 1956 RCA recordings, while a bit more sophisticated in production and a bit less rootsy in orientation than his previous work, were still often magnificent, rating among the best and most influential recordings of early rock & roll. 

Elvis' (and Colonel Parker's) aspirations were too big to be limited to records and live appearances. By late 1956, his first Hollywood movie, Love Me Tender, had been released; other screen vehicles would follow in the next few years, Jailhouse Rock being the best. The hits continued unabated, several of them ("Jailhouse Rock," "All Shook Up," "Too Much") excellent, and often benefiting from the efforts of top early rock songwriter Otis Blackwell, as well as the emerging team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The Jordanaires added both pop and gospel elements with their smooth backup vocals. 

Yet worrisome signs were creeping in. The Dean Martin influence began rearing his head in smoky, sentimental ballads such as "Loving You"; the vocal swoops became more exaggerated and stereotypical, although the overall quality of his output remained high. And although Moore and Blackcontinued to back Elvis on his early RCA recordings, within a few years the musicians had gone their own ways. 

Presley's recording and movie careers were interrupted by his induction into the Army in early 1958. There was enough material in the can to flood the charts throughout his two-year absence (during which he largely served in Germany). When he reentered civilian life in 1960, his popularity, remarkably, was at just as high a level as when he left. 

One couldn't, unfortunately, say the same for the quality of his music, which was not just becoming more sedate, but was starting to either repeat itself, or opt for operatic ballads that didn't have a whole lot to do with rock. Elvis' rebellious, wild image had been tamed to a large degree as well, as he and Parker began designing a career built around Hollywood films. Shortly after leaving the Army, in fact, Presley gave up live performing altogether for nearly a decade to concentrate on movie-making. The films, in turn, would serve as vehicles to both promote his records and to generate maximum revenue with minimal effort. For the rest of the '60s, Presley ground out two or three movies a year that, while mostly profitable, had little going for them in the way of story, acting, or social value. 

While there were some quality efforts on Presley's early-'60s albums, his discography was soon dominated by forgettable soundtracks, mostly featuring material that was dispensable or downright ridiculous. He became largely disinterested in devoting much time to his craft in the studio. The soundtrack LPs themselves were sometimes filled out with outtakes that had been in the can for years (and these, sadly, were often the highlights of the albums). There were some good singles in the early '60s, like "Return to Sender"; once in a while there was even a flash of superb, tough rock, like "Little Sister" or "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame." But by 1963 or so there was little to get excited about, although he continued to sell in large quantities. 

The era roughly spanning 1962-1967 has generated a school of Elvis apologists, eager to wrestle any kernel of quality that emerged from his recordings during this period. They also point out that Presleywas assigned poor material, and assert that Colonel Parker was largely responsible for Presley's emasculation. True to a point, but on the other hand it could be claimed, with some validity, that Presleyhimself was doing little to rouse himself from his artistic stupor, letting Parker destroy his artistic credibility without much apparent protest, and holing up in his large mansion with a retinue of yes men who protected their benefactor from much day-to-day contact with a fast-changing world. 

The Beatles, all big Elvis fans, displaced Presley as the biggest rock act in the world in 1964. What's more, they did so by writing their own material and playing their own instruments; something Elvis had never been capable of, or particularly aspired to. They, and the British and American groups the Beatles influenced, were not shy about expressing their opinions, experimenting musically, and taking the reins of their artistic direction into their own hands. The net effect was to make Elvis Presley, still churning out movies in Hollywood as psychedelia and soul music became the rage, seem irrelevant, even as he managed to squeeze out an obscure Dylan cover ("Tomorrow Is a Long Time") on a 1966 soundtrack album. 

By 1967 and 1968, there were slight stirrings of an artistic reawakening by Elvis. Singles like "Guitar Man," "Big Boss Man," and "U.S. Male," though hardly classics, were at least genuine rock & roll that sounded better than much of what he'd been turning out for years. A 1968 television special gave Presley the opportunity he needed to reinvent himself as an all-out leather-coated rocker, still capable of magnetizing an audience, and eager to revisit his blues and country roots. 

The 1968 album Elvis in Memphis was the first LP in nearly a decade in which Presley seemed cognizant of current trends, as he updated his sounds with contemporary compositions and touches of soul to create some reasonably gutsy late-'60s pop/rock. This material, and 1969 hits like "Suspicious Minds" and "In the Ghetto," returned him to the top of the charts. Arguably, it's been overrated by critics, who were so glad to have him singing rock again that they weren't about to carp about the slickness of some of the production, or the mediocrity of some of the songwriting. 

But Elvis' voice did sound good, and he returned to live performing in 1969, breaking in with weeks of shows in Las Vegas. This was followed by national tours that proved him still capable of being an excellent live entertainer, even if the exercises often reeked of show-biz extravaganza. (Elvis never did play outside of North America and Hawaii, possibly because Colonel Parker, it was later revealed, was an illegal alien who could have faced serious problems if he traveled abroad.) Hollywood was history, but studio and live albums were generated at a rapid pace, usually selling reasonably well, although Presley never had a Top Ten hit after 1972's "Burning Love." 

Presley's '70s recordings, like most of his '60s work, are the focus of divergent critical opinion. Some declare them to be, when Elvis was on, the equal of anything he did, especially in terms of artistic diversity. It's true that the material was pretty eclectic, running from country to blues to all-out rock to gospel (Presley periodically recorded gospel-only releases, going all the way back to 1957). At the same time, his vocal mannerisms were often stilted, and the material -- though not nearly as awful as that '60s soundtrack filler -- sometimes substandard. Those who are not serious Elvis fans will usually find this late-period material to hold only a fraction of the interest of his '50s classics. 

Elvis' final years have been the subject of a cottage industry of celebrity bios, tell-alls, and gossip screeds from those who knew him well, or (more likely) purported to know him well. Those activities are really beyond the scope of a mini-bio such as this, but it's enough to note that his behavior was becoming increasingly unstable. His weight fluctuated wildly; his marriage broke up; he became dependent upon a variety of prescription drugs. Worst of all, he became isolated from the outside world except for professional purposes (he continued to tour until the end), rarely venturing outside of his Graceland mansion in Memphis. Presley even stopped leaving his home for recording sessions, cutting sessions that would make up the bulk of his final two albums, 1976's From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee and 1977's Moody Blue, at Graceland using an RCA Records mobile recording truck. (A collection of these final home recordings appeared in 2016, titled Way Down in the Jungle Room.) Colonel Parker's financial decisions on behalf of his client have also come in for much criticism. 

On August 16, 1977, Presley was found dead in Graceland. The cause of death remains a subject of widespread speculation, although it seems likely that drugs played a part. An immediate cult (if cult is the way to describe millions of people) sprang up around his legacy, kept alive by the hundreds of thousands of visitors who make the pilgrimage to Graceland annually. Elvis memorabilia, much of it kitsch, is another industry in his own right. Dozens if not hundreds make a comfortable living by impersonating the King in live performance. And then there are all those Elvis sightings, reported in tabloids on a seemingly weekly basis. 

Although Presley had recorded a mammoth quantity of both released and unreleased material for RCA, the label didn't show much interest in repackaging it with the respect due such a pioneer. Haphazard collections of outtakes and live performances were far rarer than budget reissues and countless repackagings of the big hits. In the digital age, RCA finally began to treat the catalog with some of the reverence it deserved, at long last assembling a box set containing nearly all of the '50s recordings. Similar, although less exciting, box sets were documenting the '60s, the '70s, and his soundtrack recordings. And exploitative reissues of Elvis material continue to appear constantly, often baited with one or two rare outtakes or alternates to entice the completists (of which there are many). In death as in life, Presley continues to be one of RCA's most consistent earners. Fortunately, with a little discretion, a good Elvis library can be built with little duplication, sticking largely to the most highly recommended selections.

#1 Pop Hit (1964-Today) - Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars

"Uptown Funk" (stylised as "UpTown Funk!") is a song recorded by British record producer Mark Ronson and American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars, for Ronson's fourth studio album, Uptown Special (2015). RCA Recordsreleased the song as the album's lead single on 10 November 2014. Jeff Bhasker assisted the artists in co-writing and co-producing the track, with additional writing from Philip Lawrence. This is Mars' fourth collaboration with Ronson (following Mars' own songs "Locked Out of Heaven", "Moonshine", and "Gorilla") and sixth with Bhasker (after "Talking to the Moon", "Young Girls" and the three previously mentioned songs).

The song went through many different incarnations, and was worked on for months. Ronson and Mars recorded it at multiple different locations worldwide, ranging from recording studios to dressing rooms. American bands Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and Antibalas perform horn parts on the song, while the song's lyrics interpolate a line from rapper Trinidad James' song "All Gold Everything" (2012). Several music critics noted its similarity with popular music from the 1980s. The song features heavy inspiration from the Minneapolis sound of 1980s-era funk music, having a spirit akin to works by Prince as well as Morris Day and The Time. Copyright controversies arose after the song's release, with multiple lawsuits and amendments to its songwriting credits.

"Uptown Funk" spent 14 consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, seven non-consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart, and topped the charts in several other countries including Australia, Canada, France, Ireland and New Zealand. It became the second best-selling single of 2015 and one of the best-selling of all-time. The song won two Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year. Its music video stars Ronson, Mars, and Mars' backing band the Hooligans dancing in a city street, and accumulated 2 billion views on video sharing website YouTube as of December 2016, making it the fourth most viewed YouTube video of all time.

Background

In 2012, Ronson produced songs for Bruno Mars' second studio album Unorthodox Jukebox, including the singles "Locked Out of Heaven" and "Gorilla". In June 2014, Ronson told Capital FM that he and Mars planned on working together again: "He's had a incredible run and it was great to be able to work on that record with him and hopefully we'll be making music for a while. [He puts on an] amazing live show." Ronson and Uptown Special co-producer Jeff Bhasker would set up shop whenever and wherever they found time with Mars, eventually recording in Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Vancouver, Memphis and New York City. Mars wound up playing drums throughout the album, as well as co-writing "Uptown Funk". Part of the track was recorded at Cherry Beach Sound in Toronto.

On 9 October 2014, Mike Mullaney (Music Director/Assistant Program Director at CBS Radio/WBMX), listened to the song, which was sent to CBS Radio for testing, and called it "the greatest song of all time". He added "The Ronson/Bruno tune is like JamesBrown/RickJames/TheTime jamming w/ badass brass band", describing it as "Filthy, funky" and complementing Bruno's vocals, "Bruno simply wails".

In April 2015, it was revealed that a settlement had been reached with The Gap Band's publishing company, Minder Music, to add core group members Charlie Wilson, Robert Wilson, Ronnie Wilson, keyboardist Rudolph Taylor and producer Lonnie Simmons as co-writers, due to the song's similarities to "Oops Upside Your Head", and that they would receive a 17% songwriting credit. Minder Music filed a claim into YouTube's content management system, which prevented publishers from receiving their payment.

Ronson, in an interview granted to Digital Spy, confessed that the song was to be entitled "Don't Believe me Just Watch". The earlier version of the song had "an inexplicable hard-rock breakdown and a chorus, in which Bruno Mars shouted, "Burn this motherfucker down!". They spent months working on the chorus until they came up the idea of not having one. The song almost didn't see the light of the day due to its early versions.

Composition and influences

"Uptown Funk" is in the key of D Dorian with a time signature of 4

4 and has a tempo of 115 beats per minute. "Uptown Funk" is also heavily influenced by the Minneapolis sound of the early 1980s, pioneered by Prince, The Time with Morris Day, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis with a touch of boogie of The Gap Band, and Zapp and a slight modern EDM twist. According to Ronson in Rolling Stone, the song "animates a Minneapolis groove." According to Chris Molanphy of Slate, "Uptown Funk" is a "brazen return to the electro-funk of the early ’80s."

According to Billboard writer Sean Ross, the song is widely influenced by funk artists and their songs. This includes Zapp's "More Bounce to the Ounce", One Way's "Cutie Pie", The Gap Band's "I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance (Oops Up Side Your Head)" and "Early in the Morning", Earth, Wind & Fire's "Getaway", The Sequence's "Funk You Up", The Sugarhill Gang's "Apache", George Kranz's "Trommeltanz (Din Daa Daa)" and The Time's "Cool" and "Jungle Love". The only song specifically credited on "Uptown Funk" is Trinidad James' 2012 top 10 R&B and rap hit "All Gold Everything". However, many of the songs cited "were released during the worst period of a 'disco backlash' that effectively kept all types of black music, not just disco, off of top 40", while "Uptown Funk" received instant airplay at top 40 radio.

Charles Moniz, one of the several engineers of the song, said that he helped with the "doh" vocal bass line on the track. Philip Lawrence said they needed an opening bassline, however Lawrence couldn't play the bass. Moniz told him to sing it. "That became what stayed on the album", according to Moniz. The team had been stuck on the chorus for a while, came offstage after a show one night and proclaimed: "I got it". Some of the track progressive phases were done on "makeshift studios" set up by Moniz in dressing rooms.

Reception

Nick Murray of Rolling Stone was positive, giving the song a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, praising "some George Kranz scatting and a Nile Rodgers guitar riff." He also wrote that Mars, Ronson and The Hooligans "channel the days when brags weren't humble and disco wasn't retro." Brennan Carley of Spin Magazine noted that "Mars sounds a bit like Nelly on the track, sing-rapping his way through goofy lyrics ("Got Chucks on / With Saint Laurent / Gotta kiss myself / So pretty")", while comparing the bass line to something "taken straight from Prince's playbook." He added that "It's a definite step towards more classic funk for Ronson, who has a history of dabbling in heavy horn sections and walking guitar solos." He finished by saying "Mars' voice keeps things light and bubbly though, making 'Uptown Funk' the kind of song you'll be unable to escape on the radio in a matter of days." Lucas Villa of AXS called Ronson "eternally cool" and added that the producer's "latest foray into 'Funk' is definitely his freakiest, freshest and most fun release yet."

In a mixed review for the parent album Uptown Special, Jim Farber from the New York Daily News gave an overrall 3/5 rating and claimed that Ronson "just got lucky." He particularly criticized "Uptown Funk" for being a "lazy track", unlike the rest of the songs, which "obsess on the past, but most enliven it." Similarly, in Andy Kellman's Allmusic review for the album, he criticized the song as "aiming for early Time and landing closer to a second-tier trifle -- One Way's "Let's Talk," for instance".

In January 2015, "Uptown Funk" was ranked at number 23, tied with Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass" on The Village Voice's annual year-end Pazz & Jop critics' poll. The same critics' poll ranked "Uptown Funk" at number eight the following year. Later the same month, the song was voted into Triple J's Hottest 100 at number 6.

Ronson won two Grammy Awards in February 2016, including Record Of The Year for "Uptown Funk."

Commercial performance

The song is reported to earn $100,000 for the label and composers per week for streaming on Spotify alone  and has more than two billion completed views on YouTube.

Canada

On 29 November 2014, "Uptown Funk" debuted at number 63 on the Canadian Hot 100. On the issue dated 10 January 2015, the song reached number one, a position it has held for fifteen consecutive weeks, becoming the second longest-running number-one single on the Canadian Hot 100, only behind The Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling", which spent sixteen weeks at number one. On the issue dated 25 April 2015, after fifteen weeks at number one, it was replaced by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's "See You Again".

United Kingdom

Following a September 2014 cover by Fleur East on The X Factor reaching number one on iTunes, "Uptown Funk" was released, with its release date being brought forward by five weeks. It debuted at number one in the United Kingdom with first-week chart sales of 118,000. This gave Ronson his first UK number one as either a producer or artist. The next week, despite selling over 181,000 copies, "Uptown Funk" fell to number two, being denied the coveted Christmas number oneby The X Factor winner Ben Haenow's winner's single, "Something I Need". In that same week, "Uptown Funk" made UK chart history by being the first single to be streamed more than 2 million times in a single week, being streamed a total of 2.34 million times. In doing so, the single took the title of being the all-time most streamed track in a single week, replacing Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud". The following week, "Uptown Funk" returned to number one and improved on its streaming record, being streamed 2.49 million times. It spent seven non-consecutive weeks at number one, before finally being knocked off the top on 8 February 2015 by Ellie Goulding's "Love Me Like You Do", which also broke its streaming record for a single week.

The song was certified a 'million-seller' by the Official Charts Company in February 2015, just seven weeks after its release. In May 2015, the song became only the third song released during the 21st century to be certified 3× Platinum. It had combined sales of over 2 million as of October 2015 (1.47 million purchases and 60 million streams).

"Uptown Funk" was the best-selling song of 2015 in the UK, with combined sales of 1.76 million during the year (total 2.3 million). On 10 June 2016, "Uptown Funk" became only the second single of the 21st century to go 4× Platinum, after "Happy" by Pharrell Williams.

United States

On the Billboard Hot 100, the song debuted at number 65 on the week-ending 21 November 2014 due to digital downloads sold, making it Ronson's first entry on the Hot 100. During its second week, "Uptown Funk" sold 110,000 digital copies, becoming the Hot 100's top Digital Gainer of the week, and nearing Streaming Songs with a gain of 2.5 million US streams. The song rose to number 18 in its second week on the Hot 100. On its third week the song rose to number eight, after its first full seven-day tracking period after the premiere of the music video, with 4.4 million streams, digital sales of 167,000 copies and debuting at Radio Songs at number 46 (28 million audience). At this point, the song became Ronson's first top 10 as an artist (and in his first visit with such a billing) and his third top 10 as a producer (Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" (No. 9, 2007) and Mars' "Locked Out of Heaven" (No. 1, 2012–13). On its fourth week, the song reached number five. This marked Mars' eleventh top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. On its fifth week, it reached a new peak of number 3, where it stayed for two weeks. The song claimed the Hot 100's three top Gainer awards (Digital, Streaming, Airplay), making it just the fifth title to sweep all three categories in the nearly three years of their side-by-side existence, and making Ronson the first male soloist to top Digital Songs with a debut chart entry (as a lead) since Sam Smith's "Stay with Me". The next week the song climbed to number two. The following week, "Uptown Funk" topped the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Ronson's first number-one single in the country and Mars' sixth. The song crowned the three major component songs charts (Digital Songs, Streaming Songs and Radio Songs) on the Billboard Hot 100. It also marked Ronson's first single to reach number one in radio songs; for Mars, it became his sixth, reaching fifth among acts with the most number-ones in that area.

The song became the first to crown the Hot 100 and its three main component charts for nine weeks (the previous record was held by Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass", which did so for two weeks). By spending a thirteenth week at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, it became Mars' longest command at the top position (among his six number-ones). It also became one of the longest running singles in Billboard's Hot 100 history and also the longest-running number-one single of the 2010s decade, by topping the chart for 14 consecutive weeks, also becoming the joint second-longest number-one single in Billboard history. This surpassed the previous record set by Robin Thicke with his 2013 single "Blurred Lines", featuring Pharrell Williams and T.I., which reigned at number one for 12 weeks. After its fourteenth week, it was replaced by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's "See You Again". The song stayed in the top three of the Billboard Hot 100 for 21 weeks, a record previously owned by "Smooth" by Santana and Rob Thomas. On 5 June, "Uptown Funk" spent a 25th consecutive week inside the US top 5, equalling the all-time record set by LeAnn Rimes with "How Do I Live" in 1997. "Uptown Funk" spent 31 weeks in the top-10, with the run ending in the issue dated 11 July 2015, the longest-running top-10 single after aforementioned "How Do I Live". As of June 2015, "Uptown Funk" has sold 6.1 million copies in the United States.

Music video

The music video was released on 17 November 2014. It stars Mars, Ronson and the Hooligans walking around a city, wearing brightly colored suits and chains. On 19 November, it was released on Vevo and YouTube. It was directed by Bruno Mars and Cameron Duddy. In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres on the Ellen Show, Ronson and Mars stated that it had been filmed in many cities where Mars was touring. Parts were also filmed at 20th Century Fox Studio's "New York street" backlot in Los Angeles, California. The video has over 2.08 billion views on video sharing website YouTube as of December 2016, making it the fourth most viewed YouTube video of all time.

Usage in media 

Fleur East covered the song the eleventh series of the The X Factor UK prior to the single's official release. East later included her live performance of the song on her debut album Love, Sax and Flashbacks.

"Uptown Funk" is played in "The Nuclear Man", a February 2015 episode of The Flash.

It was performed by Samantha Marie Ware, Noah Guthrie, and Marshall Williams in the ninth episode of season six of Glee.

The chorus of "Uptown Funk" ("Don't believe me? Just watch!") replaced the standard opening fanfare of NBC's Today on 23 February 2015. The chorus was played over the teaser for their coverage of the previous night's 87th Academy Awards.

On 2 April 2015 the New York-based Jewish a cappella group Six13 released their album Thirteen, which included the track "Uptown Passover", a parody of the song relating the story and traditions of the Jewish holiday.

On 10 April 2015 the Baltimore Orioles played the song in their music video during their home opener ceremony, recapping the great plays during their AL East Division winning 2014 MLB season.

The first of the two remixes was released on 12 February 2015 during Ronson's interview on Hot 97 featuring Mars and a new intro verse by rapper Action Bronson. Ronson also revealed that the final version included rapper Bodega Bamz. The second remix of the song featuring Mars and an intro verse by rapper Trinidad James. It was released by Billboard and uploaded on Bruno Mars' YouTube account on 13 March 2015.

Within the UK, a (somewhat humorous) claim has circulated that the song is based on the theme to The Really Wild Show, a BBC children's nature programme.

"Uptown Funk" is a playable on-disk song in the video game Rock Band 4. Another Ronson/Mars collaboration in "Locked Out of Heaven" would be available as downloadable content a little later after release.

In 2015, KFaceTV released the YouTube video "Dark Lord Funk," featuring a parody of the song as taking place in the Harry Potter universe, narrated by the character Lord Voldemort. Keith Allen directs, Elijah Thomas stars as Voldemort.

In 2015, Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song as "Uptown Munk" for their film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip. The song is also featured in the 2015 dance video game Just Dance 2016.

In 2015, British Pop-Band S Club 7 covered the song during their Reunion Tour "Bring It All Back 2015".

In November 2015 at SUSECon, the openSUSE Project unveiled a parody video named "Uptime Funk", alluding to KGraft, a new form of live Linux kernel patching to reduce downtime by avoiding reboots when applying updates.

In January 2016, Nissan used this song in one of its ads.

In February 2016, "Uptown Funk" was performed by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars during the halftime show of Super Bowl 50, alongside performances by Beyonce and Coldplay.

Stranger Things cast members Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin performed the song at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards before the show starting.

Copyright controversies and accusations

Copyright controversies about "Uptown Funk" have dogged Ronson and Mars, with The Gap Band's three core members being added on as songwriters as part of a mutually settled agreement given the inspiration given to the track by "Oops! Upside Your Head". Serbian pop artist Viktorija has also argued that "Uptown Funk" infringed on her track "Ulice Mracne Nisu Za Devojke". A third accusation was made by funk group Collage that released music in the early 1980s. The group sued Ronsons and Mars for alleged copyright infringement, claiming "Uptown Funk" and its own 1983 song "Young Girls" are "almost indistinguishable".