Silk Sonic “Leave the Door Open” wins Grammys for Record and Song of the Year

Leave the Door Open Silk Sonic

Writer(s): Bruno Mars, Brandon Anderson, Dernst Emile II, Christopher Brody Brown (see lyrics here) Released: March 5, 2021 First Charted: March 13, 2021 Peak: 12 US, 110 BA, 6 AC, 7 A40, 118a RB, 20 UK, 9 CN, 10 AU, 22 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 0.6 UK, 3.87 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 843.27 video, 1110.47 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Silk Sonic was a collaboration between Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak. Mars had established himself as a commercial juggernaut with his three multi-platinum albums which reached the top three on the Billboard album chart. He’d also landed eight #1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and another nine top-10’s. He’d also won eleven Grammys including Record of the Year two times (“Uptown Funk” and “24K Magic”) and Song of the Year (“That’s What I Like”). He also won a Grammy for Album of the Year with 24K Magic. Paak hadn’t been as successful, but the singer/songwriter, rapper, and drummer did reach the top five on the Billboard album chart with Ventura, his fourth studio release and a Grammy winner for Best R&B Album. He’d also won two other Grammys. He connected with Mars in 2017 when he was the opening act on Mars’ tour. At the 2022 Grammys, the pair picked up Grammys four all four categories in which they were nominated. That included Record and Song of the Year trophies for “Leave the Door Open.” It also took home the awards for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance. It gave Mars an impressive streak of winning the award for everything he’d been nominated for since 2016 – thirteen in all. GR The “steamy tune” SF incorporated Philadelphia soul, R&B, and pop with smooth jazz. Critics praised both singers’ voices as well as the song’s witty lyrics in which the protagonist tries to convince a woman to come over to his house. Vulture’s Zoe Haylock called it a “bedroom classic.” WK Billboard’s staff named it the song of the year. NME’s Anna Rose said the song reminded her of “60s and 70s easy listening love songs,” WK which isn’t surprising given Paak and Mars both being known as lovers of R&B from the ‘60s and ‘70s. SF Various crticis compared the song to the Chi-Lites, the Delfonics, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, the O’Jays, the Spinners, the Stylistics, and Bobby Womack. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Silk Sonic SF Songfacts GR Grammy.com “Bruno Mars’ Grammys Legacy: How His ‘Clean Sweep’ with Silk Sonic Continued a Remarkable Winning Streak” WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 1/16/2023; last updated 7/28/2023.