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Mark Ronson

Mark Ronson brings the 'Funk' to the Grammys

Patrick Ryan
USA TODAY
Mark Ronson is up for three Grammy Awards Monday, including record of the year for 'Uptown Funk.'

There's no escaping Uptown Funk, nor does Mark Ronson want to.

His brassy, boisterous throwback with Bruno Mars has been ubiquitous since its release in late 2014, spending 14 weeks atop Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart and selling nearly 7 million downloads to date, according to Nielsen Music. All the while playing at just about every wedding, bar mitzvah and party imaginable this past year.

"It's not incredibly unusual that I'm in London walking my dog, and a woman walks past and I can hear it coming out of her earbuds," Ronson, 40, says. "It's a nice feeling. Any time it looks like someone is enjoying the song, it feels good."

Now, the contagious hit is up for two prizes at Monday's Grammy Awards (CBS, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT), including record of the year. Ronson also will vie for best pop vocal album for his fourth solo effort, Uptown Special, which features collaborations with Stevie Wonder, Tame Impala's Kevin Parker and Uptown co-writer Jeff Bhasker.

Ronson is already a three-time Grammy winner for his work with Amy Winehouse (he produced her breakout song Rehab and 2006 album Back to Black), but he still finds his latest nominations "exciting."

"I'd be lying if I said there wouldn't be a little bit of disappointment if we hadn't been nominated, with all the amazing stuff that's happened around the song this year and how people have taken it on as their own," Ronson says. Watching the scores of viral videos that Uptown has spawned, "I don't know if endearing is the right word, but it definitely means something to me."

Back in the studio working on other artists' records after touring abroad last fall, the British DJ/producer hasn't yet started on an Uptown follow-up — but when he does, he won't be trying to manufacture another smash.

"It would be the most foolish thing in the world to ever think that I'm ever going to have anything that even gets halfway to that point again," Ronson says. "It started from the most pure place: just jamming with Bruno and Jeff on instruments. All the hard work and fine-tuning we put into it after, that's probably why it came out as strong as it did. But it's got to have that initial genesis moment of joy, because if you try to chase it any other way, I don't feel like it'd be the same."

Monday's Grammys will be bittersweet for Ronson, who last won in 2008 with Winehouse and remembers her "genuine appreciation" accepting record of the year for Rehab. The British singer, who died in 2011 of alcohol poisoning, has since been memorialized in Amy, a front-runner for best documentary feature at the Academy Awards this month.

Ronson gets emotional when talking about his late friend and collaborator, but praises Asif Kapadia's film for putting Winehouse "back up on the pedestal."

"The first hour, that footage of her when she's creating the record, I love watching it," Ronson says. "It's like being with an old friend again, I like remembering her voice. My wife never got to meet Amy, because we got married after Amy passed. After seeing the movie, she was like, 'I understand now the Amy you always told me about.' Her brilliance and humor really shines through.

"I know there's people that are very important to Amy and were important to her in her life that aren't happy with it, so I'm trying not to go around trumpeting the whole thing," Ronson adds. "It's a tough movie. It's emotional."

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