"When I Was Your Man" is a song by American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars from his second studio album, Unorthodox Jukebox (2012).

The pop song is an emotional piano ballad with lyrics describing the heartbreak and regret Mars felt from letting his lover get away, and his expressed hope that her new man will give her all the love and attention that he failed to provide.

"When I Was Your Man" received mostly positive reviews from music critics, who generally praised Mars's vocal prowess, calling it a "vulnerable and emotional ballad".

It portrays Mars as a "lonely balladeer" in sunglasses, sitting at a piano with a half-full glass of whiskey atop it.

The song won "Favorite Hit" at the 2013 Premios Juventud and was nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.

While working on the album, Bruno Mars said: "I'm never singing another ballad again," but that came from the gut – it's the most honest, real thing I've ever sung".

[2] Philip Lawrence explained the inspiration of the song: "I think Bruno and I are both huge fans of older music, like Billy Joel and Elton John.

"[3] "When I Was Your Man" was written by Mars, Lawrence, Ari Levine and Andrew Wyatt, while production was handled by the former three production-team, the Smeezingtons.

[6][7] It starts with a rolling piano riff; unto a nearly scat "vocal cadence": "Same bed but it feels just a little bit bigger now / Our song on the radio but it don't sound the same", as he laments the "single state" he created for himself.

[8] In an interview to Rolling Stone, Mars revealed, while reluctant, that he wrote the song for his girlfriend, model Jessica Caban, when he was worried about losing her.

"[9] For Andrew Unterberger of Pop Dust, the song "starts out dangerously close to 'Drops of Jupiter' territory, but luckily, there are no fried chicken or soy latte lyrics to be found here.

"[8] He also noted that "'When I Was Your Man' goes minimal with the musical accompaniment, featuring just Bruno and his piano, sounding halfway between an Alicia Keys ballad and Prince's "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?".

"[10] Melinda Newman of HitFix thought that the song "sounds like a cross between Stevie Wonder and Elton John," also seeing "a touch of Michael Jackson" in his delivery.

[11] Sam Lansky of Idolator agreed, writing that "while evoking Elton John, the track sounds like it was recorded live in a piano bar, with audible background noise, like the spooling of film on a projector.

Sam Lanksy of Idolator gave the song a favorable review, calling it "an emotional ballad that shows off Mars' sweet vocals."

"[8] Melissa Maerz of Entertainment Weekly was positive, writing that "Old-school charm still gets Mars the furthest, and the best thing here is the classic torch song 'When I Was Your Man', which finds him at the piano listing all the ways he wronged an ex.

"[23] The Arizona Republic's Ed Masley viewed "When I Was Your Man" as one of Unorthodox Jukebox best tracks and described it as "stripped-down soul".

[24] Jim Farber of New York Daily News wrote that in the ballad, "he matches his bravura performance to a tune stirring enough to inspire aspiring stars on the 'X Factor/Idol' axis for years to come.

"[25] Melinda Newman of HitFix called it a "beautiful piano ballad," writing that "There's not a lot of embellishment, there are no samples and there is not a wasted note.

"[26] Andrew Chan of Slant Magazine gave a mixed review for the song, writing that "his melody and lyrics end up sounding as slight as they did before— an embarrassment for an artist who's staked so much of his image on sturdy, old-fashioned songcraft.

[37] "When I Was Your Man" was released on iTunes as a promotional single, leading the song to debut at number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

At that time, "Locked Out of Heaven" was at number two, and thus Mars became the first male artist to place two titles as a lead act on the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 simultaneously since "Grenade" and "Just the Way You Are" doubled up for eight consecutive weeks.

[39] On February 27, 2013, the song jumped from number 8 to number 3 on the Hot 100 with "Airplay Gainer" honors for a seventh week in a row, tying it with Rihanna's "Rude Boy" (2010), T-Pain's "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')," featuring Yung Joc (2007), and Beyonce's "Baby Boy," featuring Sean Paul (2003), for the longest streak dating to the award's launch.

Billboard Hot 100, in its 16th week after being discounted to 69 cents on the iTunes music store, making it Mars's slowest-peaking single.

[43] With "When I Was Your Man" topping the Billboard Hot 100, Mars reached the same mark as Diddy, Ludacris, Prince and Lionel Richie.

Among men, Mars tied 50 Cent and trailed Usher, Ludacris and Kanye West, the latter two with six number-ones and the former with seven, since the chart's 1990 start.

[52] The popularity of "When I Was Your Man" resurged in January 2023, after Miley Cyrus released the single "Flowers", which lyrics interpolated the song's chorus.

[53] "When I Was Your Man" peaked at number 2 in the United Kingdom and it was certified four times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

[64] The video portrays the taping of a TV special,[65] in which Mars is playing a lonely balladeer on the ivories while sitting in front of a piano with sunglasses donned and a half-full glass of whiskey atop his instrument, wearing a suit with a carnation boutonnière, while he keeps reminding himself of what he could have done to keep his lover.

[69] Rolling Stone, called the video "powerful" and a found "the final crescendo reaching a breaking point of true sorrow".