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Mark Ronson is opening up about experiencing imposter syndrome.
In an interview with The Times published on Friday, Sept. 12, the producer detailed the insecurity he felt after the 2016 Grammy Awards, where his hit collaboration with Bruno Mars “Uptown Funk” won for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
“The morning after the Grammys, I was sitting at the pool at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles,” Ronson, 50, recalled.
“Beside me is The New York Times, and on the cover there’s a picture of Bruno, Beyoncé, and me on stage. My first reaction was, ‘I’ve got nothing left. They’re going to find out I’m a fraud,'” he added.
After its release in November 2014, “Uptown Funk” achieved its RIAA diamond certification in October 2016 and it’s currently on Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs list.
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Elsewhere in the interview, Ronson also refused to take credit for the success of “Shallow,” which he co-wrote with Lady Gaga, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt for A Star Is Born.
“Sure, I co-wrote it, but if I’d produced it, I would have f—ed it up,” Ronson said of the song, which went on to win an Oscar. “I would have tried to add some clever flourishes or a modern sound.”
He also opened up about working with Amy Winehouse on Back to Black — which made him a go-to hitmaker — and insisted his presence made no difference.
“It’s all Amy,” he said. “I could have worked my whole life at the rate I did, but if I hadn’t met her, it wouldn’t have meant anything.”
Ten years after the release of “Uptown Funk,” Ronson opened up about the track to PEOPLE — and said he knew it was special when they were creating it.
“‘Uptown Funk’ was a true labor of love. It was something we were very proud of and we worked extremely hard on for seven months,” he said.
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He continued, “We were working on it a time that Bruno was touring his Unorthodox Jukebox album, and I was chasing him around the country with a five-string bass trying to finish this song. When it started to stay No. 1 for a week, two, three weeks, I remember just calling Bruno because he had had a couple No. 1s before. I was like, ‘Is this what it’s like? This is amazing.’ He was like, ‘Man, just enjoy every moment.’ And then to go from that, to playing it at the Super Bowl with Coldplay, I mean — that song, it’s crazy.”
In addition to working with Winehouse, Gaga and Mars, Ronson has worked with Miley Cyrus, Adele, Paul McCartney, Dua Lipa and more.
His upcoming memoir, Night People: How to Be a DJ in ’90s New York City, will be released Sept. 23.
