after an unsuccessful stint with motown, mars signed with atlantic records in 2002. he became recognized as a solo artist after lending his vocals and co-writing the hooks for the songs "nothin on you" by b.o.b, and "billionaire" by travie mccoy. he also helped write the hits "right round" by flo rida featuring kesha, "wavin' flag" by k'naan, and "fuck you" by cee lo green, also known as "forget you". in october 2010, he released his album, "doo-wops &amp; hooligans". the album reached number three on the "billboard" 200 chart. he was nominated for seven grammys at the 53rd grammy awards, winning best male pop vocal performance for "just the way you are". his singles "just the way you are", "nothin' on you", "grenade", "locked out of heaven", "when i was your man", "the lazy song", "it will rain", "24k magic", and "finesse" have all reached the top five of the us "billboard" hot 100, with the first five reaching number one.