Which Bruno Mars ballad topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2013?

The Bruno Mars ballad that topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2013 was “When I Was Your Man.”

The piano-led song reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in April 2013, becoming Mars’s fifth chart-topping single. It was released as the second single from his second studio album, Unorthodox Jukebox, and followed the album’s first single, “Locked Out of Heaven.”

Mars wrote the song with Philip Lawrence and Ari Levine. Its sparse arrangement centers on piano, lead vocal, and emotionally direct lyrics about regret after a breakup. The stripped-back production helped distinguish it from the more rhythm-driven “Locked Out of Heaven,” while the vocal performance emphasized vulnerability and remorse.

It is easy to confuse the song’s weekly chart achievement with its year-end ranking. “When I Was Your Man” reached No. 1 on the weekly Hot 100 and finished at No. 8 on Billboard’s 2013 year-end Hot 100. It also became only the second song consisting exclusively of piano and vocals to top the chart, following Adele’s “Someone Like You.”