Bruno Mars Recalls Vegas Drug Bust: “I Was Young. I Was Drunk. I Wasn’t Thinking”

Bruno Mars is one of the biggest music stars in the world, but his 2010 drug bust, which came just as he was enjoying his first solo hit, could have ruined everything.  Talking about the incident in a new interview with GQ magazine, Bruno acknowledges the risk he took, and says, "I try every day to forget and keep pushing."

In September of 2010, Bruno was arrested in a bathroom at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Vegas and charged with cocaine possession.  He reportedly told the arresting officer that he'd done something "foolish" and that he'd never used drugs before.  The singer pleaded guilty to a felony, paid a fine, did community service and took a drug counseling course; the charges were subsequently erased from his record.

"I was young, man! I was in...Vegas.  I wasn't thinking," Bruno tells GQ when asked to explain what really happened that night.  When asked if he was scared and freaking out, the singer admits, "Oh, yeah, just like any other human, anyone that's ever been arrested before.  Of course. I was given a number one record, and I'm out doing dumb s**t."

When asked about his claim to the officer that he'd never used drugs before, Bruno tells GQ, "I don't know where that came from.  I was really intoxicated.  I was really drunk.  So a lot of that is a big blur, and I try every day to forget and keep pushing."

When pressed as to whether or not his claim that he'd "never done anything like that before" was, in fact, false, Bruno pauses and then says, "I don't know if I should comment on that or not."

As for what lessons Bruno learned from the incident, he tells GQ, "It can all be taken away.  You've slaved away for years and years and years.  You've prepped your whole life.  It's all you know how to do.  You're a kid experiencing life in Sin City, and...it can all be taken away.  Put you in a weird place.  Embarrass you."

Given that, GQ asks Bruno why on earth he decided to mention cocaine in the lyrics one of the songs in his new album Unorthodox Jukebox.  "If I changed for the masses so that I don't have to answer this question, then I'm a puppet!  Then this isn't fun for me anymore," he explains.