tv Piers Morgan Tonight CNN January 6, 2012 9:00pm-10:00pm PST
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around in the streets because there's no police or hospitals that work. this is a terrible thing for a nation. tax reform has been a huge issue during the gop race in this country. we hear a lot about who should pay more, who should pay less. the most important thing is that we pay. taxes fuel civil society. arguing about the right rate and how much to cut or raise it is great, but choosing not to pay? that's what puts entire once-proud countries like italy, greece, hopefully never the u.s.a., in jeopardy. on monday, we're in new hampshire. tonight, the hollywood heart throb's real love is politics. >> i want these guys to court me as a voter. they need to personally come to my house, piers. i think i deserve exactly the same respect as an iowa corn farmer. politics is retail, come to my house. >> rob lowe on the west wing, the real one and the television one. >> behind closed doors our real leaders are more similar to the west wing people than not. >> plus my exclusive interview with the biggest music star you may not have heard of. you should.
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six-time grammy nominee bruno mars. ♪ just the way you are >> i ask him the questions few others have dared to put to him. what's the worst song you've ever written? if i could take away the money or the women, which would you rather keep? >> definitely the women, piers. what kind of question is that? what is this, a setup? >> bruno mars, the man, his music. probably the biggest pop star in the world right now. this is ""piers morgan" tonight." white house staffer, he played one on tv. it may be my favorite series of all time, the west wing. he's a politics junkie. rob lowe joins me. how are you? >> i'm great. >> you must be excited because last time i interviewed you, politics is seeping through your veins, isn't it? >> look, this is one of my favorite times of year. iowa caucuses going into new hampshire.
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it's good. i've been watching a lot of you getting my info. >> it was an amazing night in iowa. i was part of the cnn team 3:30 a.m. one stage when you had 99% of the votes cast and there was one vote in it between santorum and romney, it was utterly thrilling. it was like a script out of the west wing. >> what i love about all of it is like the 2000 election, it runs counter to people feeling like what does it matter? does my vote really count? yeah, your vote counts. get out and participate. >> yeah. completely true. one vote as it seemed to be at one stage could have decided it. that's the moment to answer all the people who are apathetic about politics and still want change in their lives. it's that moment, isn't it? >> that's why i'm against term limits. we all have the power. term limits exist. vote people out of office if you don't want them around anymore. >> absolutely. >> you have to participate. you have to invest.
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you have to buy in. my sort of feeling is if you're not buying in, then nobody needs to listen to your voice. >> i couldn't agree more. what is your sense about the way the republican nomination process is going? i mean, everyone is assuming that mitt romney basically just has to turn up now and he'll win it. i'm not so sure. >> i'm also not so sure that any party should pick a candidate based solely on whether they can beat the other candidate. i mean, i think that it should be about what the person stands for and where they're going to take the country and all of that. that sort of classic stuff. doesn't it sound like more and more who can beat who? i don't think that's any way to decide things. that said, i think you're right. it looks like it's mitt. >> how do you feel? is he the kind of candidate that makes it a good race this year with obama? i think that's what america needs is a proper, aggressive
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battle between two formidable opponents and out of it comes a solution for america's problems. >> well, i do think that it would be a substantive discussion on issues for sure. i do think the two of them on a debate stage would be a lot of fun to watch. i think it would be a high level of discourse. they're both bright guys, pretty good orders. obama is an amazing aurator. i think mitt has gotten better and better on the stump as i've paid attention. i think it would be an interesting contest. >> you're an independent. i've said i want these guys to court me as a voter. in that courting process what should they be doing? how are they going to hook you in. >> they need to personally come to my house, piers. they need to come over and they need to watch some football with me and spend some quality face time. i'm no different than an iowa farmer. i deserve exactly the same respect as an iowa corn farmer. come and spend -- politics is
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retail, come to my house. >> let's take a look at "west wing" to remind ourselves of the great sam sea born, everything you've aspired to be but never made it. >> it was people pushing paper around 50 years ago, why does it matter? >> this country is an idea and one that's lit the world for centuries. treason is not just a crime against the living. it holds the graves of what people died for it. the fidelity. >> brilliant scene there from west wing. that was one of your favorite lines and one of mine. there's a great one when president bartlett makes a similar address about america when he is facewide a christian bigot in the oval office. there were moments like that which are relevant today, aren't they? america is crying out for a re-affirmation of what it is in their heart. >> yeah.
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it's this time of year that people look back on west wing because we would like to see that kind of idealized government and those leaders. i think behind closed doors our real leaders are more similar to the west wing people than not in fairness. in my experience in washington it's always been the people are there for the right reasons. they really believe in the great themes that the "west wing" drama advertised. they don't wear makeup as well as we do. >> if you were in the white house now advising president obama as the sam sea born character wharks would you be saying to him? >> well, without getting into the politics of it, i think this recess a pintment is exactly the kind of thing that the "west wing" white house chief of staff would have add voe katded for the president to be bold. so whether i like it or not, i
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reserve my right on that. i like that he's out there swinging his bat. he's the president. presidents should swing the bat? >> is he swinging the bat hard enough? >> for me, i always compare it to leadership. leadership is leadership is leadership. >> when you worked on the west wing and you saw the kind of i guess regime that a president has to go through, you have to study all this have as a group of actors and get it pretty accurate, the pressure, the straen of somebody like barak obama, you can almost see it the way his head has gone gray. this is a fake guy aging because it must be relentless, isn't it? >> i think every president should get a lifetime supply of grecian formula. look at clinton. he went white. the same thing for president obama.
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it really goes to show you that we probably cannot have any idea what it's like to wake up with that kind of pressure. i always try to think of that when we all get critical of our presidents. it's easy to sit on the sidelines and take pot shots. that job is a hard, hard job. you see it. you literally see it by the time the second re-election comes around. >> never mind being president, actually getting to that point is incredibly tough. this process that america has politically in these elections is quite an extraordinary test of endurance. look at santorum in iowa. 377 rallies in 99 counties. in england that would be almost unthinkable. the politician would have made that kind of commitment to one small part of the country. you english are so much more civilized. you wouldn't stand for living in iowa for two years. nothing against iowa, but two years is a long time to vacation
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in the ham tons let alone iowa. >> you've said you want to moderate a debate. if you were doing it now with the senior republicans, what are the areas that you sense most americans really care about? >> well, i mean, obviously they care about the economy because so many people are trying to figure out where they stand with the changing economy. i also like i think foreign policy. that's a really great time with the ee vnts in iraq today. it seems odd, we're just transitioning out of iraq and there's violence. this suny shi a stuff that was going on earlier in our time there has flared up. you have a new poier regime in north carolina. you've got syria. there's so much going on in the world. i want to know what they think about those things. sometimes america looks so inward that this is the
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commander in chief we're hiring. i know we have issues with the economy. i want to see focus on what they're going to do in the world as well. >> i have to say in america's defense. i've really admired the way you string out the debates and caucuses and primaries over a long period of time. by the end of it i get a feeling of what these people are really like. i'm not sure there's any other process in the world that is so forensic that lasts so long is so detailed. so no stone can be left unturned. the reality is by the time you pick a president very few surprises emerge. that's good for the process. >> it's like anybody can have a couple good cocktail parties and be charming, interesting, funny. but to do that 16 times, i don't know what the exact number of
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all of the debates have been, are going to be, you're not going to have a lucky punch and win it. it's the guy who's most consistent or woman. that's probably a good thing. the nixon kennedy debates, it might have been a different outcome. >> as i say television makes a difference now. if those debates had happened on the radio nixon would have woven comfortably. it was the fact it happened on the television. you saw an old guy and a hot young pup. >> i'm with the hot young pups. >> let's take a little break from this political stuff. i want to talk about your next incarnation on screen. you are wonderfully evil. i want to talk to you about that after break. gloria's the oldest looking which really pleased me. [ female announcer ] splenda® no calorie sweetener is sweet...
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of whore that you are. >> oh, my god. >> that was rob lowe's latest role. so i sat down two days ago and i watched this from start to finish. several observations. one, you look fantastically old and i like that. all of that boyish charm and good looks replaced by basically an old guy with gray hair. good. secretarily, you're wonderfully evil. i don't know what the real drew peterson's like. i don't know the caricature, but the way you play him is so sinister, gloriously evil. tell me about both these processes, one, looking old and, secondly, playing a guy like this who is so controversial. >> well, he's controversial and people know what he looks like. he's outrageous. he's over the top. he was all over the media until he was finally put in jail
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awaiting trial so i had to look like him. the challenge was how do i transform myself because i -- and not have it be a caricature. not make it look like a version of doing the clumps. >> you do look like him. you've also got this kind of aura that he has which is kind of sinister charm is how i would overview it. >> well, listen, he clearly, drew peterson, had something going on because he was going on wife number five and they were all young and beautiful. i think he has a sort of malignant charm. and the question was how do you find that? i watched hours and hours and hours and hours of footage on him. he's got a very particular speech pattern. the way he holds himself. all of the stuff that all actors do when they're playing somebody who's a real character. i just loved it because it was
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so far astray from what i do on "parks and recreation" where i play trey who is a total comedy character. >> you watch the west wing with charming sam. more interesting to me you're on a role with these evil roles. the next role is one of the most outstand dingily nasty creatures. >> i read a tweet. >> i love him. >> i'm glad you were among the fans. that's one of my favorites. that's insanity, that guy. >> even though you like all of these characters, i hear your wife isn't quite so happy. she didn't like the drew peterson role that you took on. i can understand why because in terms of a female point of view, this isn't the sexiest role for your husband. >> no. she didn't much like the gray hair. she definitely didn't like my sort of world view that i
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brought home each night after playing this guy. and i think she would rather me going back to sort of "west wingyan "characters. >> i didn't mary a character actor. what the heck is happening? >> do you have any qualms about playing a guy who remains out of prison? this isn't like a normal lifetime crime film where the guy is convicted and in prison, he could basically be portrayed in that sort of concept. >> yeah. >> here the guy remains technically an innocent man? >> yeah, which is in a way what's very interesting about this story because the final chapter hasn't been written. we don't know whether he'll walk like casey anthony, whether he'll be convicted, we just don't know. what you're left with is a character study of a very
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complicated, you know, sort of tragic, dangerous, almost cartoonish. i remember watching him live on national interview and him just walking off the interview happy as he pleased. oh, well then, good-bye. i'm going to go. take the earpiece out, off he went. he's an outrageous guy, and that's what actors live for, to play people who are larger than life. >> are you able to -- do you allow yourself to have any kind of view as to his innocence or guilt? >> no, because it's that thing of if you're playing a hero, you can't play a hero. if you're playing a villain, you can't play a villain. you can only play the human being. so it's a luxury that actors don't really have. they can't editorialize on their characters. they just have to play them. >> there was a report that he, drew peterson, laughed out loud
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when he heard you were playing. i couldn't figure out if that was a compliment or insult. >> i couldn't either. i read that. should i feel bad about this? >> he laughs out loud at the most inappropriate things. that may be a badge of honor. >> that's how i decided to take it at the end of the day. >> what i can say, it's a gripping thing to watch. i absolutely loved it. i think you bring a great heir of sinister charming menace to it. anyone will find it enthralling to watch. i applaud you for that. i applaud you for your book which which you came on to promote last time. i'm sure it was mainly down to me you spent 17 weeks on "the new york times" best sellers, stories i only tell my friends. >> it is. it's all you. the next book i'm putting a banner with your picture next to mine. >> paper back out. you must be thrilled with the way it's gone. >> i am.
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paper back came out this week. look, piers, i try withdrew peterson, the book, at this point of my life to do things that are a little different. you never know how it's going to go. the book ended up being honestly other than the west wing my most satisfying creative endeavor, but what i do for my day job's very collaborative. i had the great erin sorkin. there's a great cast. the book's all me. it rises and falls on me. so that it worked is a little extra bit of satisfaction, but i was humbled by people being so gracious about it. it's been fun. >> what was the single most repetitively boring question that you had to answer on your book tour? nchs my favorite part about the book tour, pierce, piers, i'm not sucking up, more people saw our interview than anything i
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did. more people were complimentary of it. i want to thank you for it because it was really, really fun and in depth. i got to talk about a lot of different things. i had a great time. what i learned about you, my good friend, when you hear the phrase after the break coming, you know you're about to get hammered. >> i've got a better one this time. after this interview running in the second half of the show i deliberately chose to interview somebody half your age, twice as good looking, bruno mars. how do you feel about that? >> not so good. thanks. let me get this straight. you're running clips of me with a double chin, gray hair, and then a guy who's 100 times hotter than me after i'm on. that's it. i'm leaving. >> yeah. the good thing is he rev develops in making you personally feeling uncomfortable. the fact that he's following you. you were his warmup man.
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i've deliberately egged him into a situation where we get bruno slams rob lowe, the old guy. >> the smackdown. if he wants a piece of me, i could only be pushed so far. >> rob, it's been a great pleasure as always. thank you for your kind comments. i thought it was one of the best interviews we had all year. you came to play. as you know in this game, it takes two to tango. come back any time you like. >> thank you. i will. i appreciate it. >> coming up, the singer song writer who is half rob lowe's age and twice as good looking. on "time magazine's" 100 most influential people on the planet. he's popular with the women. that's bruno mars. plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption.
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♪ there's not a thing that i would change because you're amazing just the way you are ♪ rather more glam ma rouse club in hollywood. i found somebody even more glamorous than rob lowe. that is bruno mars. welcome. >> good to be here. >> that's going to eat away at rob lowe. >> that's my goal in life. eat your heart out, mr. low. >> listen, you tweeted i thought 2010 was a great year but thanks to you guys 2011 has been the greatest year of my life. why? >> for many reasons. i toured the world this year. i've been to places that i never dreamt of going singing these song, promoting my album, and got a tremendous response.
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it's funny, that day i tweeted that i just bought my mother a house. >> really? >> yeah. and it's thanks to these fans. >> was that a dream of yours to do that? >> absolutely. she had been taking care of me for quite some time. it's time for her to sit back and relax. >> how did she react when when you did that. >> she said, it's not big enough. get me out of it. she was in tears. it was a very special moment for me. >> the thing i like about your story is it hasn't all just been easy. a lot of entertainers your age it goes crazy very young, it carries on and burns out. in your case you had this big wakeup call. you were 18 years old. you come to hollywood. mow town signs you up. you thought. >> this is it. >> i have arrived. >> yeah. >> i, bruno mars, am a motown sensation. boom, almost as fast as you got it they dropped you. how did that feel, that time in your life? >> it was taking a step back.
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i used to be able to walk into a room and say, i'm bruno mars, i'm signed with motown records. now i have to say i got dropped from motown records. you lose leverage and people believing in you. why didn't it work? >> how did you get told the news? >> it was like this. hey, we don't want you anymore. >> as brutal as that. >> it wasn't as brutal as that. it isn't motown's fault. i was too yuck. i didn't know what it was like. i knew i could sing. i knew i could sing but there's so much more i had to learn. i didn't come from the recording background. i came from doing live shows and performing with bands and that was my craft. i didn't know what it took to record an be a recording artist. now you have to write songs. now you have to establish who you are. i don't know if anyone knows who they are at 18 years old. >> did you react well or like most 18 year olds when -- >> i might have cried, shed some
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tears. >> did a part of you believe that, that maybe you weren't good enough? >> you definitely have those nights where you fell a little insecure, but i didn't want to give up. my goal was i'm not going to go back home. i'm not going back to hawaii and face my friends and my family saying it didn't pan out. i've got to do something. >> what did you change about what you were doing? how did you move from has been 18 to back on track? >> i think i grew. i grew as an artist. i grew as a writer. i wrote songs every day. i started producing. and, you know, practice is what you need. i've written a lot of awful songs. hopefully -- >> what's the worst song you've ever written frmgts i don't want to say it. this is cnn, come on. >> cnn worldwide audience, your worst bruno mars song you have ever written. the one that even now makes you come out in a weird sweat?
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>> me and my partner phil wrote a song called "bedroom bandit." that's all i have to say. >> i can't imagine how batd those lyrics are. >> i promise you, piers, had you been in the studio, we thought we were going to win 18 grammys with this song. the next day we called each other up like, what were we thinking? >> you told a good story that i read about you when you were talking about elvis presley and a bit of footage you'd seen of him performing on i think a tv show with an audience of women. there was a moment when elvis spotted the girls were going crazy. rather than doing what most guys do, speed up, get to the moment, he slowed it all down. >> that's right. >> everyone is in slow motion. >> i think it was the milton berle show. ed sullivan. he sang "hound dog." he had girls in the pam of his hand.
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he said, you know, what, watch this. you could tell it was an improv thing. i don't ne if that was live tv. he milked it for everything he was worth. i remember being a kid watching that saying, i want that. i want girls to scream like that. >> now they do, bruno. >> that's right. rob lowe, you hear that? >> numbers only rob lowe could dream about. what is the reality of being a heartthrob? >> heartthrob? >> me, bruno mars? >> not me. >> really, me? no, you're kidding me. let's cut through all that crap, shall we? >> what's the question. >> do you plead guilty to being a heart this rosh. >> i don't plead guilty to being a heart throb. they keep me -- >> some mornings you look in the mirror. >> yeah, you are the most beautiful man i've ever seen,
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but that's just me, piers. >> this is a stupid question, but when you look out now and you see a sea of beautiful women screaming at you. >> what else is knew? >> it's got to feel good? how good does it feel? is it actually a bit weird? >> it's the greatest feeling on earth. you can't deny that. like i said, i don't know if it's a sea of women. it's fun. it's fun. >> a break. i want to talk to you about your early life in hawaii. the time before this craziness. also talking about "time magazine" putting you in their 100 most influential people of the year ♪ because you're amazing just the way you are ♪ what ? customers didn't like it.
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4-year-old bruno, tomorrow's king of rock an roll. the world's youngest elvis impersonator. bruno. >> talking to my special guest, bruno mars. that's you as a 4-year-old doing your elvis impression. you were a good little elvis, weren't you? >> man, i see those. i don't remember that. i can't remember doing that. i don't even think i knew what i was doing, that i was actually
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impersonating somebody else. >> i've seen your parents say that unlike the other kids in the family who were quite shy when it actually came to performing on stage, you loved it. >> i was a ham bone. >> you wanted to be there. you wanted to be little elvis running around. is that true? do you remember that part of it? >> yeah. i remember one night i had 100 some odd fever, i was 5 years old, 6 years old, something like that. my mother wouldn't let me perform. i was bawling all night up in the room. i had to call in sick that night and i couldn't get to put my jumpsuit on. i was crying. that's the one thing i remember. >> what was early life for you and the family in hawaii. >> you know, hawaii is a special place, and because when i think about my childhood i think about my family, my sisters, my brother, us going to the beach. doing things that you would think a family that grew up in hawaii would do. my father who put this show
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together, what you see, the little elvis clips, we had the show six nights a week at the cher ra continue waikiki. it was me going to school and then at nighttime i turned into batman. >> what values did they instill in you? >> just family is everything fo us. you know, i wouldn't be where i am today without the support and the love that my parents gave me and the knowledge that my father gave me. he's the one that put me on to music. he's the one that showed me jackie wilson, james brown. >> what kind of advice did he give you? because he's putting you into a business he knew well. it can be a rough business. it can be a lonely place. >> right. >> it can be a place that you discovered as 18 that can be full of great highs and full of terrible lows. >> his advice, you see, my dad was a show man. my mom's the singer in the family. my dad is -- my dad was kind of
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the leader as far as putting shows together and finding guys that could sing and doing this doo-wop stuff. that was the show we were in. it was called the love note show. my dad has a love for 1950s doo-wop show. he made magic happen. that's what he did with this. as far as like my father was like leadership qualities. that's what he showed me. >> how do they feel, your family, when "time magazine," one of the most prestigious publications in the world comes out with its famous list of 100 most influential people in the world and you're on that list. you're sharing this with people like benjamin net tannian had a, justin bieber, barak obama. you weren't the only heart throb. that's a big moment? that's a moment that recognizes
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not just you but as a businessman and a young man with real influence over millions of people. >> i guess brought. i think my mother and father are extremely proud. to them i'll always be little bruno. that's what i need. doing what i do, i need my family and can go back home and feel safe doing what i do. >> if i could take away the money or the women, which would you rather keep? >> did he have definitely the women, piers. is this a setup? >> it's a good answer. >> don't you take away my women, please. don't you do that to me. >> this about this, bruno? this is a big question. >> i'm good. >> does the money in the end mean that much? it's obviously great to have it, but does it mean that much to you. >> no.
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no. i'm not doing -- of course, like i said, being able to buy my mom a house, that's something awesome that i've always wanted to do. i don't think -- if you're doing music for money, i don't know if you can be taken seriously. >> you've been involved with songs about desperately wanting to be a bill air. >> that's the beauty about billionaire. if you listen to the lyrics, it's not about -- it is. we touch on it a little bit. why i wrote that, i wrote that when i was flat broke. i just helped write a song for flow rider that was the number one song in the world. biggest downloads. number one song for weeks. it broke records. i was flat broke. >> how? >> because we're going to have to explain all of that. it works differently for songwriters. you have to wait for residuals. you have to pray that the song's going to be a hit and a year
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later you might get a check. >> you're seeing this song go round the world, massive, huge international hit, and you're making nothing. >> and i canned buy a sandwich. >> literally. >> literally. >> what do you think brings happiness. >> the simple things. little things in life. >> hold that. >> okay. >> let's come back after the break. i want you to think carefully. i want the bruno mars secret recipe to happiness. ♪ i would die for you, baby, but you won't do the same ♪. it's not the bayer aspirin you know. it's different. first, it's been re-engineered with micro-particles. second, it enters the bloodstream fast, and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. the best part? it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before. bayer advanced aspirin. test how fast it works for you. love it, or get your money back.
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♪ what you don't understand is catch it from me ♪ go ahead ♪ ♪ i jump in front of a train for ya ♪ you know i'd do anything for ya ♪ >> that's grenade. another one of your huge hits. you've been nominated for six grammys. this is one below kanye west. this is crazy. same as adele. do you sit back and go, wow? six grammy nominations. >> it's so cool, man. it's so surreal. especially when you're in the categories with artists like kanye and adele who i really look up to and i'm genuine fans of. >> who do you most admire in the business and why currently? >> currently i love -- i love adele.
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i think what she's doing is amazing for music. it's amazing for the music business. she's selling records when everyone was told records aren't selling anymore. adele's selling records. kanye's selling records. it's quality control. >> when you saw what happened to amy wine haus, what did you think of that? she was to me one of the most gifted singer/songwriters certainly britain has produced. >> i was really -- i was really hurt by that whole store yirks how that went down. i really felt like i was going to have an opportunity toy meet her. that album, i remember, it was around that motown time. i was going through frustrations of explaining. i want to do this music mixed with this music. when her album came out it's like, she did it. she took what she liked and made it her own. >> she had these big problems with addiction, drugs, alcohol, so on.
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very well-documented, very sad. you're in a business that's full of this stuff. the road is littered with the wreckage of problems of excess and all of that kind of thing. you had an incident yourself last year. i don't want to talk about it at length but i want to ask you what you learned from that. you were found with cocaine in las vegas and so on. for you at the time, potentially a big problem for you, but i think you dealt with it in a very mature way. what's your feeling about it looking back on it now? >> i just -- i don't live my life with regrets and i don't dwell on anything. i feel like it happened t. must have happened for a reason. i hope that i'm not here today because of what happened then. i hope i'm here today because of my achievements and because of my music. i want to be known and hopefully respected because of that. and i think it's something that
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i moved past and i'm hoping everyone else that i come across will move past it too. >> did it scare you, this episode? >> sure. >> did you think, whoa, okay? >> yeah, sure. but, like i said, it's behind. it's behind. and the only way for me to move forward is to move forward. >> you've done that and you've done your time. you did the community service and so on. i asked you before the break, what's the secret of happiness? you seem to me to be a guy very comfortable in your own skin and happy with life. >> yeah. >> what do you think? you've had it all. you've had nothing. >> right. >> what do you think is the secret to happiness? >> to get my hair better than rob lowe's. did you hear that? did you hear that, low? >> it was like, job done, seriously. >> yes.
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last year, last year we were on tour and i sat down at the grammys for the first time in my life. i'm sitting next to my manager. they didn't announce it on tv but we got an e-mail. he says, you got nominated for seven grammys. i had to go back to tour that night. i couldn't sit down and enjoy it. that's one thing i wish i never experienced -- i never got to experience, man, i want to call everybody up and tell them. it's things like that. >> is time the real problem when you get as successful as you've become? >> yeah. >> finding any time for yourself. >> and a personal life. time and a personal life. but i think you said it to me before the interview. what's the alternative? it's much better than the alternative. it's much better than where i was, where i can't afford gas to get to a studio. >> you sing about love a lot. >> damn straight. >> how many times have you been in love, bruno? >> never, next question.
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>> bruno. >> i've been in love. >> properly in love where it aches your heart. >> i've been single for a while now. >> just to clarify, you're on the market. >> that's right, piers. >> are you a taken man. >> i am on the market. >> >> i'm a single man. >> you are available? >> yes. >> that is quite pathetic. >> sorry about that. sorry to let you down. >> another break and we'll meet two guys that know you better than anybody. ♪ yes, i would die for you, baby, but you won't do the same ♪ ♪
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leff veep. phil, your producer, ari, the engineer. the brains really behind this. is that how you describe yourselves? >> we wouldn't put it that way. but i like that. that sounds really, really good. >> how long have you guys worked with bruno? >> got to be like four years now. >> at least four years. >> at least four. >> what makes him special? >> oh this is great. >> whether you like his music or not, i'm an unashamed fan, whether you do the reality is you cannot argue with the multitude of instruments he plays, the songs that he writes, the way he performs, the work ethic. what is it -- >> his physique. >> cute little ear lobes. >> be serious for a moment. from musical point of view, how good is this guy? >> he is one of the best. one of the best that i've ever come across, you know what i mean? he has got -- settle down over there, buddy. he has got -- you know, got a solid history in music, you know? he comes from -- like he was telling you, an extremely musical family.
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i think all the stuff that he did as a kid really helps play in the production we do now. >> what i like about him, he has a self-confidence about him which i think you need to be a proper star. you can be a good performer and see this when i judged "america's got talent," it is ones who have basic confidence. >> a lot of turned borness, too. >> all those things. what else do you need to be a successful as bruno? >> his voice is incredibly unique as well. >> got to have a unique voice, stubborn, determined. it is his instrument, tough train your instrument, he is a well-trained instrument. >> do i have to be here -- >> ear muff t >> well-trained instrument, bruno. how important to have guys of this cal libber in the locker looking after you? >> the most important this is the secret to -- this here is the secret to all our success, without each other, i don't know where we'd be.
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