Bruno Mars’ ‘I Just Might’ Deconstructed: Still Retro, Still Relevant

What qualities of Bruno Mars’ new single, “I Just Might,” helped it soar to a No. 1 debut on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Jan. 24)?

Here’s a look at the sonic highlights of the song — the first taste of Mars’ album The Romantic, due Feb. 27 — that contributed to its out-of-the-gate chart success.

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Bruno Mars’ ‘I Just Might’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100

Bruno Mars of Silk Sonic performs onstage at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 3rd, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Bruno Mars performs onstage at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 3rd, 2022, in Las Vegas.

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Still Retro, Still Relevant

With the exception of his 2024 ROSÉ collaboration, “APT.,” Mars’ three most recent Hot 100 top 10s prior to “I Just Might” — “Leave the Door Open,” “Smokin Out the Window” (both with Anderson .Paak via their Silk Sonic side project, in 2021) and “Die With a Smile” (with Lady Gaga; 2024) — have been rooted deep in 1970s nostalgia. “I Just Might” continues that lineage through a meticulous blend of classic disco, funk, R&B/soul and pop, brought to life by era-authentic instrumentation including acoustic drums, electric bass, vintage overdriven guitar, handclaps and a full brass section.

Since the beginning of the 2020s, just 3% of Hot 100 top 10 hits have featured this specific combination of ‘70s-inspired genres and influences — and Mars goes deeper than most. The result is a song that’s instantly recognizable to his core fanbase yet distinctive in today’s marketplace, reinforcing that when he revisits a familiar sound, he doesn’t merely recycle it — he sets the bar for how high it can go.

Keeping the Party Going

The song’s carefree, live-it-up party theme is a relative rarity on today’s charts, appearing in less than 10% of Hot 100 top 10 hits since the start of the ‘20s. Yet for Mars, it’s a proven sweet spot — showing up in roughly 42% of his top 10s over the past decade-plus, including such chart-toppers as Mark Ronson’s 2015 smash “Uptown Funk!,” featuring Mars, and 2017’s “That’s What I Like.”

Say It Again … and Again

“I Just Might” is a hook lover’s dream, with every section packed with vocal and instrumental ear candy. But the defining technique is what Hit Songs Deconstructed calls the “say it again” repetition-based hook approach. From the song’s playful “doo, doo, doo” opener to repeated pre-chorus phrases including “break my heart” and “show me now” to the echoed title hook in the chorus and nonsensical “whoo”s in the second post-chorus, repetition drives memorability.

The result is a song that rolls effortlessly off the tongue — catchy, fun and perfectly aligned with its party-first spirit.

David and Yael Penn cofounded Hit Songs Deconstructed. In 2023, Hit Songs Deconstructed and fellow song analysis platform MyPart publicly launched ChartCipher, an AI-powered platform analyzing a deeper scope of hit songs, as defined by Billboard’s charts.


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Carín León Diagnosed With Dengue, Postpones his Concerts at Feria de León in Mexico

Mexican regional superstar Carín León postponed his two performances at the Feria de León in Guanajuato, Mexico, this week after being bitten by a mosquito infected with the dengue virus. The artist’s team confirmed the news on Wednesday night (Jan. 21) via social media.

“Unfortunately, due to health reasons, Carín León’s performances scheduled at the Palenque of the Feria de León for January 22 and 23 will be postponed,” his team explained in the statement posted to Instagram. “The artist was diagnosed with dengue and is following medical advice for his prompt recovery.”

According to the singer’s representatives, the new dates for his performances in that central Mexican city will be Feb. 5 and 6, corresponding to the original dates of Jan. 22 and 23, respectively. Previously purchased tickets will remain valid for the rescheduled dates.

“We appreciate the audience’s understanding; this decision was made prioritizing the artist’s health and recovery, as well as the quality of the show,” his team added in the message.

This year, León is the headlining guest at the Palenque of the Feria de León, promoted by its organizers as “the largest in the country” with a capacity of 7,500. Other major stars of the Mexican regional genre announced for the 2026 edition include Julión Álvarez and Christian Nodal.

The Feria de León is one of the largest state fairs in Mexico. This year, the lineup was headlined by the Foo Fighters. Organizers expect the annual event, which began on Jan. 9 and will run until Feb. 4, to attract around 6.7 million visitors over 27 days of activities.

Read the full statement from León’s team below:


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AI‑Made Music Faces Strong Resistance Among U.S. Consumers, Bain Survey Finds

Roughly two‑thirds of U.S. consumers say they are not particularly interested in listening to music that is partly or entirely created using artificial intelligence, according to a new survey by Bain & Company.

Bain’s Media Consumption Survey 2025 asked several thousand people about their interest in engaging with a variety of forms of entertainment and media, from video games to social media to books. Researchers found that U.S. consumers have the lowest tolerance for AI when it is used to make music, news and magazines and books. Roughly 62% of respondents said they would not or were less likely to engage with AI-generated music, with another 30 percent of respondents saying they were equally likely to engage with AI-generated music.

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“That was one of the strongest endorsements of human-created content across media types,” Bain researchers Matt Keith and Nicole Magoon wrote.

Consumers were even less warm to AI-generated news, magazines and books, with 65% and 71% saying they would not engage or were less likely to engage with AI-generated content in those mediums, respectively.

Nonetheless, most respondents were open to AI being used in limited ways, including to enhance vocals or instruments on a track or improve lyrics.

More than half of the study’s some 3,500 respondents said they were equally interested or more interested in hearing songs that used AI to write lyrics, and 56% of respondents expressed equal or greater interest in songs where AI was used to translate lyrics into another language and replicate the singer’s voice singing the lyrics in that other language.

Around 60% of respondents expressed equal or greater interest in songs that used AI to create instrument sounds or to enhance the sounds of instruments or vocals, and 67% — two-thirds — said they were equally or more interested in songs that used AI to help with the initial idea, development or to improve lyrics.

Researchers Keith and Magoon say these findings reflect an audience that is mostly ready to accept AI as a new additive tool in music so long as it doesn’t replace artists’ authenticity.

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They add that AI presents needed opportunities for the major music companies, creators and companies in the live entertainment space.

Existing creators can use it to “work faster [and] experiment more” to meet the need to release “more music more frequently,” angling for better exposure across streaming platforms’ algorithms and playlists and stand out from the new class of hobbyist creators enabled by AI.

The researchers suggested that labels and live music companies could use AI to improve and extend older artists’ ability to perform live by using AI tools for “instant voice de-aging” and improving sound mixing to match a variety of venues and accoustics.

“The creators and companies that accept [generative AI] and move swiftly to capitalize will have a shot at enduring success,” the authors wrote, adding they suggest the industry soundtrack these next steps to R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).”


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‘KPop Demon Hunters,’ ‘Frozen’ & All the Films to Earn Oscar Nods for Both Best Animated Feature & Best Original Song

When the Oscar nominations were announced bright and early on Thursday (Jan. 22), KPop Demon Hunters became just the 14th film to be nominated for both best animated feature film and best original song.

The nominated song from KPop Demon Hunters is of course “Golden,” the global smash that topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks.

Here is a list of the 14 films that have received Oscar nominations for both best animated feature film and best original song. One film on the list, The Princess and the Frog, spawned two Oscar-nominated songs — “Almost There” and “Down in New Orleans,” both written by Randy Newman. Newman also wrote the songs for four other films on the list — Cars, Toy Story 3, Toy Story 4 and Monsters, Inc.

Lin-Manuel Miranda and the husband-and-wife team of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez each wrote the songs for two films on the list.

Two film franchises are each represented with two films. Both Shrek and Shrek 2 qualify, as do both Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4. (The first Toy Story was released in 1995, the second in 1999, both before the introduction of the animated feature film category in 2002.)

When the animated feature film category was introduced, the nomination went to the person(s) most involved in creating the film. Current rules state: “The designated recipient(s) must be the key creative individual(s) most clearly responsible for the overall achievement. There is a maximum of FOUR designated nominees, one of whom must be the credited director who exercised directorial control, and the other(s) of whom must have a director or producer credit.”


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Here’s a complete list of the films that were nominated for both best animated feature film and best original song. The years shown are the years of the Oscar ceremony.

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‘Sinners’ Receives a Record 16 Oscar Nods: Full List of 2026 Nominees

Sinners received 16 Oscar nominations on Thursday (Jan. 22), setting a new record as the most nominated film in Oscar history. It tops All About Eve, Titanic and La La Land, each of which had 14 nominations.

One Battle After Another was second in terms of nominations this year, with 13, followed by Frankenstein, Marty Supreme and Sentimental Value, with nine each.

Diane Warren made history in the best original song category, becoming the first songwriter to be nominated nine years in a row. She was nominated with “Dear Me” from the aptly titled documentary,  Diane Warren: Relentless. She broke Sammy Cahn’s record of eight consecutive nods (1954-61). She has now received 17 nominations in this category, which puts her third on the all-time leaderboard, behind just Cahn (26) and Johnny Mercer (18).

Warren’s song wasn’t the only song from a documentary to be nominated for best original song this year. “Sweet Dreams of Joy” from Viva Verdi! is also in the running. These are the 10th and 11th songs from a documentary to be nominated in this category.

“Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters, which won best original song at both the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes, is also nominated in that Oscar category. Likewise, Ludwig Göransson’s music for Sinners, which won best original score at both of those earlier shows, is nominated for an Academy Award. It’s Göransson’s third Oscar nod for best original score. He was previously nominated (and won) for both Black Panther and Oppenheimer.

“Golden” is the first song that had topped the Billboard Hot 100 to later receive an Oscar nod since Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” from Trolls in 2017. (“Shallow” from A Star Is Born hit No. 1 only after its Oscar win.) “Golden” has seven credited writers (EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park). The Academy has a rule that it will present no more than four Oscar statuettes in this category, so if “Golden” wins, the seven winners will be awarded one statuette that they must share.

Jonny Greenwood, a founding member of Radiohead, is among the nominees for best original score for One Battle After Another. This is Greenwood’s third nod in this category, following Phantom Thread in 2018 and The Power of the Dog in 2022.

Alexandre Desplat was nominated for best original score for Frankenstein. It’s his 12th nomination in that category, all in the past 20 years. He won for The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Shape of Water.

Two international features — Brazil’s The Secret Agent and Norway’s Sentimental Value — are nominated for best picture. This is the third year in a row that two international features have been nominated for best picture. Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest in 2024; Emilia Pérez and I’m Still Here last year. This is the eighth year in a row that at least one non-English language film has been nominated in the best picture category.

A record four non-English language performances are nominated this year (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Wagner Moura, Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgård). The previous record of three was set in 1976 (Marie-Christine Barrault, Giancarlo Giannini and Liv Ullmann).

With some nominees still to be determined, a record 74 women are currently nominated this year. The previous record of 71 was set in 2023.

For the seventh consecutive year, at least one film nominated for best picture has been directed by a woman. Chloé Zhao’s nomination for Hamnet is the 11th directing nomination for a woman. She is the second woman to receive multiple directing nominations, following Jane Campion.

With their nomination for Sirāt, Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas and Yasmina Praderas become the first all-women sound team (production sound mixing, supervising sound editing and rerecording mixing) to be nominated for a sound award.

The 98th Oscars are set to air live on ABC on Sunday, March 15, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m PT. Conan O’Brien will host for the second year in a row. Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan return as the show’s executive producers for the third consecutive year.  The show will again be held at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.


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Here’s the complete list of nominees for the 98th annual Academy Awards.

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Martin Short Nearly Derailed Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco’s Wedding Reception With Frosting Faux Pas: ‘Everything Was Perfect… Except’

There is something wholesome and delightful about the friendship between Selena Gomez and her Only Murders in the Building co-stars Steve Martin and Martin Short. But to hear Short tell it, that camaraderie was nearly shattered in September when the veteran comedian committed what might be the ultimate wedding faux pas at the nuptials of Gomez and music producer Benny Blanco.

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday night (Jan. 21), Martin, 75, said the couple’s wedding was “perfect, it was beautiful… Everything was perfect, except, the night of the reception. it was a big, big party, imagine a stage, dance floor, musicians.”

At the back of the tent Short was seated at a table with a group of 12 Only Murders cast and crew when he noticed a “small” wedding cake by their section. “I just assumed there was a wedding cake for each section in the back. So, after a few hours, they haven’t cut their wedding cake yet, Steve [Martin] said he’s gonna leave,” Short explained. “I was like, ‘Oh, wait.’ Maybe I’d had a cocktail, I don’t know. I had a fork in my hand. I said, ‘Steve, you can’t leave yet without a piece of wedding cake!’ and I cut the wedding cake one side, cut it the other, and then all the people in our group screamed, ‘Marty!’ It was the wedding cake. I tried to fix it with a fork.”

Kimmel then posted a photo of the prematurely cut cake, including the hack job Short did while trying to do some frosting surgery to cover up his misdeed.

Short said the premature cake cut left Martin, “stunned,” as he turned to fellow guest and former Murders co-star Paul Rudd and wondered, “‘So, do we just leave?’”

The good news is that the couple’s wedding coordinator and chef rushed over and “did surgery” on the cake, joking that they made the dessert a true “Hollywood wedding cake in that it was beautiful, but now it had a little work done.” And while Short and Martin agreed to not keep the cake catastrophe a secret to allow Gomez to enjoy her big night, she found out and gave as good as she gets from the rarely serious duo.

“I kept saying, ‘No, guys, we can’t let Selena know,’” Short said. “And Steve said, ‘Yeah, maybe we tell her in a month or something.’ And then as I was leaving, Selena came by [and said], ‘Hey Marty, I heard you tried to eat my cake.’”

Short had nothing but high praise for the couple, saying it is “such a great thing” to attend a wedding where you “just know that these people are perfect for each other. You know, Selena is like an extra child of mine. I adore her so much. And she found this guy, and he’s the greatest guy, and they have the greatest hang, and they’re wildly in love.”

Watch Short describe his cake mistake on Kimmel below.


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Billboard’s Crystal Ball: What’s Next in the Music Industry for 2026? | Billboard On The Record

What does it really take to cover, analyze and predict the biggest moves in the music industry at Billboard? Dan Rys, executive editor of business, Elizabeth Dilts Marshall, senior finance correspondent and Bill Donahue, senior legal correspondent, sit down with Kristin Robinson on Billboard On The Record to give listeners a peek inside the newsroom that tracks the stories shaping music today. They share their biggest coverage moments of 2025, from Taylor Swift reclaiming her catalog and Shaboozey tying the Hot 100 record to Diddy’s legal battles and leadership changes at Island Records. The team also weighs in on what’s next for the industry, including AI’s role in songwriting, major catalog sales, evolving marketing strategies and predictions for lawsuits, acquisitions and chart-topping hits. Listeners get a behind-the-scenes look at how Billboard decides what matters, what’s trending and how the team interprets the moves that will define music in 2026.

Love what you hear? Follow Billboard On The Record on Instagram, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Youtube @billboard so you never miss an episode.

Billboard On The Record is a podcast in partnership with SickBird Productions. 

Kristin Robinson:

2026 is here y’all and I have a lot of questions about where the music industry is going to go. Will an AI song crack the Hot 100? What record label will dominate this year? And can Spotify and the music industry ever figure out how to get along? We’re here to talk about all of that and more on our first episode back for the new year. Welcome back to On the Record, a music business podcast from Billboard and SickBird Productions. Liz, Dan and Bill, welcome to On the Record. So to kick off, I feel like we need to explain one thing that’s very important, which is what Dan decided to wear today. I’m sure there’s some people who are just listening to this and can’t see it. 

Bill Donahue:

I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Dan Rys:

We did discuss briefly wearing matching T-shirts, but we just kind of couldn’t pull it together in time. So I decided to wear this, which is from my understanding, the oldest known map of the contiguous United States, focusing on the Rohan and Gondor regions.

Kristin Robinson:

Oh, okay, of course. 

Bill Donahue:

I did explain to Dan that all my Lord of the Rings apparel was at the dry cleaner, but just tough timing, really, you know, yeah, when it came down to it. 

Kristin Robinson:

Were you going to come as like Gandalf himself?

Bill Donahue:

Yeah, are you reading my text? I had the whole beard. It was great.

Kristin Robinson:

Okay, well, to get started here today, so this is going to be a conversation all about predictions and questions that we have for 2026, but I thought we’d start by just talking about 2025 a little bit since that just ended, and I’m still thinking about a lot of the stuff that we were working on then, and a lot of that stuff is going to carry on into 2026. Liz, I’ll start with you. Can you tell me about one of the biggest stories that you worked on in 2025? 

Keep watching for more!

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Jack White Mocks Trump’s Rambling One-Year Accomplishment Presser With Hulk Jokes: ‘Trump Smart, Pass Brain Test, Name Giraffe’

There’s nothing funny about Donald Trump’s threats to forcibly acquire Greenland or the terrifying scenes of immigration agents detaining a five-year-old child in Minnesota this week as “bait” to draw members of his family out of their home.

But on Wednesday (Jan. 21), Jack White found time to lighten the mood (a bit) with a lengthy Instagram post in which he mocked the president’s 81-minute rambling press conference on Tuesday (Jan. 20), during which Trump weaved around more than usual as he touted what he considers to be his administration’s first-year achievements.

“Me do accomplishments! Trump smart. Good boy deserve Nobel Peace Prize! Dementia? What is? NO! Trump smart, pass brain test, name giraffe. Me President of Venezuela and Canada. Me want Greenland too for fun,” White wrote in a Hulk-channeling post alongside a picture of Trump holding up a thick sheaf of papers titled, “The White House: President Donald J. Trump ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS OF JANUARY 20, 2026.”

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer took satirical aim at a number of headline-worthy items, from Trumps repeated claims that he’s repeatedly “aced” the MoCA test aimed at assessing mild cognitive impairment from early demetia, his relentless lobbying for the Nobel Peace Prize over his inflated claims of ending 8 wars, as well as the administration’s recent arrest of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and steady drumbeat of threats to take over both Canada and Greenland.

White had more jokes as well.

“Mom said Trump could have been great baseball player but also big building with bars on windows. Building for very sick people. Trump not sick. Trump smart. MAGA. Very smart people made Trump President,” White wrote in Hulk’s stilted syntax, adding in a jab at the bizarre scene last week of Trump accepting Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado’s 2025 Nobel Peace Prize medal in lieu of earning his own honor. “Very smart people keep Trump President. Take nap now. Use fake, I mean real Peace Prizes for pillows. Trump accomplishment. Nighty night.”

A few hours later, White was back at it, pre-butting any calls for him to “shut up and play” and leave the politics to politicians. “Anyone who comments ‘stick to music’ or words to that effect gets blocked,” White warned in a bit that ended with a mock repetition of Trump’s signature social media sign-off. “Anyone who likes said comment gets blocked too. i leave a couple up so everyone knows why they were blocked. This is my house, not town square. ted nugent and kid rock i’m sure are looking for more MAGA supporters so i suggest you head over to their houses. thank you for your attention to this matter!”

White got props from a number of fellow musicians for his missive, including producer Butch Walker (“I love you”), Garbage (fist pound emoji) and Margo Price (“Nailed it”).

The posts were just the latest salvos in White’s recent string of public statements against the Trump administration. Back in August, the former upholsterer and design nerd trashed Trump’s gold-plated White House makeover, calling it “vulgar, gold-leafed and gaudy,” comparing it to a “professional wrestler’s dressing room.” Following a typically snarky response from White House communications director Steven Cheung, who called White a “washed-up, has-been loser,” White doubled-down and dubbed Trump a “danger to not just America but the entire world,” calling the former reality TV star a “low-life fascist” and “orange grifter.”

Then, in December, White slammed Trump as a “disgusting, vile, egomaniac loser, child” for the president’s insulting post marking the killing of beloved director Rob Reiner and his wife producer Michele Singer Reiner. “Neither he nor any one of his followers can defend this vile, horrible insult to a beautiful artist who gave the world so much,” White added of the director of such classic films as Spinal Tap and The Princess Bride. “To use someone’s tragic death to promote your own vanity and fascist authoritarian agenda is a corrupt and narcissistic sin. Shame on you trump and anyone who defends this.”


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Jelly Roll Jokes About Bunnie XO Calling Him Her ‘Hall Pass’ After 300-Pound Weight Loss: ‘This Is Big’

Jelly Roll feels like a new man after losing nearly 300 pounds over the past three years. The “Save Me” singer who once tipped the scales at more than 500 pounds hit the red carpet on Wednesday night (Jan. 21) to celebrate the premiere of Netflix’s Star Search reboot — on which he serves as a judge — and spoke to Extra about how he’s feeling and tout one very exciting benefit of his slimmed-down profile.

“I feel incredible, dude,” Jelly said, adding that wife Bunnie XO “put me on her Instagram allegedly as her hall pass. Said, ‘Hey, alright.’ The new hall pass, dude. This is big.”

He wasn’t kidding. In a post cued to the Marvelettes 1961 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 girl group classic “Please Mr. Postman” podcaster Bunnie is seen staring in stunned, lusty silence at her hubby doing his thing on the show with the on-screen caption “Ummmm I just saw my new hall pass on TV [heart eye emoji].” She doubled-down in the post’s caption, adding, “Don’t tell my husband [looking away emoji].

Jelly also ticked off the other ways his weight loss has changed him both physically and mentally. “Every way… Spiritually, I’ve gotten closer to God. I’ve gotten closer to myself,” he said. “I’m a better father. I’m more present with my children. You should see it, dude. I mean, I’m coaching my son’s basketball team this year… I just feel physically better and I feel like I can physically do it.”

He added that when you weigh 550 pounds “you definitely don’t think about trying to coach a team, you wonder if there’s a bench you can sit on, you know? So, it’s like for God to just even make that big of a difference to have the weigh off… literally the weight, 300 lbs. I’m a whole different human.”

The singer also noted that Bunnie will be appearing on a future Star Search episode and that they plan to attend the 2026 Grammy Awards on Feb. 1 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Jelly is nominated for three Grammys at the 68th annual awards, best contemporary Christian music performance/song for “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” best country duo/group performance for “Amen” and best contemporary country album for his 10th studio album, 2024’s Beautifully Broken.

Star Search airs live on Tuesdays and Wednesdays on Netflix.


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Men at Work’s Colin Hay Blasts Far Right For ‘Unauthorized, Unlicensed’ Use of ‘Down Under’

Men at Work’s “Down Under” is Australia’s unofficial anthem, a classic tune played at sporting events, pubs, and celebrations around the world whenever Aussies gather. It’s not, however, a siren’s call for the far right.

That’s the word according to Colin Hay, the Scotland-born frontman and songwriter with Men at Work, which had a global hit with “Down Under” in the early ‘80s.

Hay has drawn a virtual line in the sand, telling “March For Australia” organizers to find another song to play at their rallies.

“Let me say that I most strenuously disapprove of any unauthorized, unlicensed use of Down Under, for any ‘March For Australia’ events,” he writes. “’Down Under,’ a song I co-wrote, does not belong to those who attempt to sow xenophobia within the fabric of our great land, our great people,” he continues.

“’Down Under’ is ultimately a song of celebration. It’s for pluralism and inclusion; unity, not division. Go write your own song, leave mine alone.”

He signs off his message, “Colin Hay (immigrant).”

Men at Work enjoyed a dream breakthrough with their debut album Business As Usual, and its standout single “Down Under,” which reigned for four weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, and has sold more than two million copies in the United States.

With Business As Usual and “Down Under,” the band had the unusual distinction of simultaneously topping the singles and albums charts in the United States and the United Kingdom.

It’s not the first time Hay has had to fight for his signature song. Hay and his Men at Work co-songwriter Ron Strykert were involved in a bruising court battle, which began in 2009 and centered on the flute riff and whether it was lifted from the children’s campfire song “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree.” To settle the case, a court ordered Men at Work to pay just 5% of royalties in the song.

Hay told Billboard in 2023 that “Down Under” is “very dear to me. When I wrote the song, I had a lot of fear and trepidation about Australia becoming overdeveloped, like you know, Florida or something, and on the other side of the coin, there was this beautiful uniqueness and incredible — a kind of awesomeness — of the country which I thought, ‘we don’t want to lose that’. We have to nurture, it’s a precious thing we have.”

“Down Under” has passed more than one billion streams across all platforms, and enjoyed a second life when it was reworked as a drum ‘n’ bass cut by Australian producer Luude, over Hay’s vocals. The new version crashed the top 10 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, peaking at No. 5 in 2021.

Men at Work was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1994, and Hay received the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music at the 2023 APRA Music Awards.

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