He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical styles, including pop, R&B, funk, soul, reggae, disco, and rock. Mars is accompanied by his band, the Hooligans, who play a variety of instruments, such as electric guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, drums, and horns, and also serve as backup singers and dancers.
In 2014, Mars was featured on Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk", which topped various music charts, spending a total of fourteen and seven weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, respectively. Mars's third studio album, the R&B-focused 24K Magic (2016), received seven Grammy Awards, winning the major categories of Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year. The album also yielded the top-five singles "24K Magic", "That's What I Like" (his seventh Billboard Hot 100 number-one single), and a remix of "Finesse" featuring Cardi B. In 2021, Mars and Anderson .Paak, as Silk Sonic, released the collaborative studio album An Evening with Silk Sonic, which delved into 1970s R&B and soul and was led by the chart-topping single "Leave the Door Open". It received four Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
Mars has sold over 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Eight of his songs have reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and his concert tours are some of the highest-grossing in history. He has received 15 Grammy Awards (including three Record of the Year wins), four Brit Awards, eleven American Music Awards, 13 Soul Train Awards and holds three Guinness World Records, among other accolades. He featured on Music Week's best songwriters (2011) and Billboard's Greatest of All Time Artists (2019) lists and rankings such as the Time 100 and Forbes Celebrity 100. Mars became the first artist to receive six Diamond-certified songs in the United States and has been regarded as a pop icon due to his influential career.