Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, also known as Silk Sonic, released their debut album An Evening With Silk Sonic, featuring a pop and R&B sound following the success of the duo’s popular song “Leave The Door Open.”

   In 2017, Anderson .Paak was the opening act for Bruno Mars on the European leg of the 24K Magic World Tour. In April, Mars and .Paak worked together at Abbey Road Studios in London with Nile Rodgers and Guy Lawrence for Chic’s album It’s About Time, and worked on music while on tour that appeared on Paak’s album Ventura. The duo was formed in 2017 by Mars and .Paak.

   “[Silk Sonic] locked in and made an album,” Mars said when announcing hat he and .Paak had formed the band.

   The lead single for their upcoming album, “Leave The Door Open,”was released on March 5, along with the intro song, hosted by Bootsy Collins.

   The band made their television debut at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards performing the single, alongside a tribute to Little Richard consisting of “Long Tall Sally” and “Good Golly, Miss Molly”.

   On October 8, Mars’ 36th birthday, the band announced that the album’s release had been pushed ahead to November 12, 2021.

   On November 12, An Evening with Silk Sonic was released. On November 21, “Smokin’ Out the Window” was performed as the opening act of the American Music Awards of 2021, where the duo also won Favorite Song for R&B.

   The lead single, “Leave the Door Open,” was a commercial success, topping the Billboard Hot 100 at number one.

   Upon release the album received acclaim from critics who noted Mars’ and .Paak’s chemistry and songwriting.

   “The duo’s playfulness here verges on hammy at times — more often than on their solo recordings… they push each other into new levels of showmanship without pandering to the audience, “ said Andy Kellman of AllMusic.

   An Evening with Silk Sonic debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 104,000 album units, which consists of 42,000 album sales, 60,000 stream units calcu-lated from the 82.6 million on-demand streams of the album’s tracks.