Bruno Mars has been named by Billboard as this year’s Artist of the Year. Bruno beat the likes of Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift and Rihanna for the top honor, thanks to his 2012 “Unorthodox Jukebox” which is the 2^nd bestselling album after Timberlake’s “20/20 Experience”. To date, the album has sold about 1.8 million copies.

‘I love to create music. And that’s all I was trying to do with that album,’ said Mars. ‘I’m just happy that there’s some people out there that like it.’

Mars’ top hits this year included “When I Was Your Man”, “Locked Out of Heaven” and a top five hit, “Treasure”. These are the hits that kept him in the top 20 list every week since their release.

The 28-year-old artist could not hide his excitement after Billboard announced the news Friday that the pop crooner will be the year’s topmost artist. “It’s flattering. It’s just an honor,” Mars said in an interview. “I’m proud to be a part of this whole team that I have.”

Mars thinks that the reason fans have resonated with his music is because it is “relatable”. “You know when you eat that food and it’s filling that void you were missing,” he said of his music.

Other notable winners in the list included Justin Timberlake who topped the R&B charts, Florida Georgia Line who ruled Country and Imagine Dragon – they reigned over the Rock charts. Others include Taylor Swift who is this year’s top female artist and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis who tops the group category.

Mars had quite a steller year. His hit “Locked Out of Heaven,” has also been nominated for the Grammy’s prestigious Record and Song of the Year awards.

(main image via YouTube)