Mark Ronson
The British-born, New York-bred DJ, producer and guitarist has collaborated with such stars as Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen and Adele. With the phenomenal success of his 2014 hit, "Uptown Funk" (featuring Bruno Mars), Ronson has become one of this century's most popular names in music.
Left: Mark Ronson performs on stage at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire.
Amsterdam
Left: Music producer Mark Ronson, photographed in Amsterdam in 2008.
Ronson was born to Jewish parents in London, where he lived until he was eight. After his parents split, his mother, socialite Ann Dexter, married Mick Jones, lead guitarist of the band Foreigner.
"I moved to New York and I had this funny accent," he told Mason. "So the kids in school tease you. So I ditched my English accent pretty quickly!"
Family Photo
Musician Mick Jones of Foreigner, wife Ann Jones and family attend the Pediatric Cancer Research Benefit on November 5, 1986 at F.A.O. Schwarz in New York City.
Ronson said his siblings were always close. "There's ten of us all together -- brothers and sisters, with some half-, some step-. The most that would ever be living under the same roof at the same time might be six or seven. So there's always, like, fighting and that stuff. But for the most part, we were really close, especially Charlotte, Samantha, and I [who] were the closest in age."
Today Charlotte Ronson is a fashion designer; Samantha is a DJ and singer-songwriter.
Mark and Mick
Left: Mark Ronson with his stepfather, Foreigner's Mick Jones, in an undated photograph.
Ronson started DJing when he was 17. "I got really into hip hop," he told CBS News' Anthony Mason. "I knew I was never gonna be a rapper, and I didn't know anything about producing. So I thought, 'Okay, DJing, that's my way into this thing that I love.' I started to collect vinyl and then I started to listen to all the great New York radio DJs, like Funk Master Flex and Stretch Armstrong and taught myself the routines.
He got his first gig by being "pushy," he said. "But it was in a snowstorm in the middle of New York. I had to bring all my own equipment to some weird bar that served underage kids. I had a lot of my dad's old soul records, like Average White Band and things like that, mixed with the hip hop of the time.
"I just loved playing music for people, and something about getting people on the dance floor but also playing music they weren't used to hearing instantly appealed to me."
Mark Ronson and Anthony Mason
"I played a lot of, like, funk and soul and stuff that people really enjoyed hearing. Puffy and Jay Z and Biggie and D'Angelo and these heroes of mine are coming down to the clubs where I'm DJing at. So Puffy started to book me to do his own gigs. It was pretty amazing time, especially in New York [which] was so exciting musically at that time."
His first recorded success, however, happened in London. In 2003 "Ooh Wee," featuring vocals by Ghostface Killah, Nate Dogg, Trife Diesel and Saigon, was released in the U.K. and became a Top 20 hit. It was the lead single off his album, "Here Comes the Fuzz."
"So suddenly, I was coming [to London] to do more gigs. And it became this thing of rediscovering my English music heritage and meeting people like Lily Allen."
New York City
Left: DJ Mark Ronson spins during the Warner Music Group's post-Grammy party at Ian Schrager's Hudson Hotel February 23, 2003 in New York City.
Ronson told Mason being a DJ colors everything he does. "The sonic of hip hop from the '90s and gangster and that stuff that, when I'm trying to record a drum set, I'm still looking for that raw thing, and I'm still thinking, 'Is this gonna sound great in a club?'
"Even making 'Uptown Funk,' we were thinking, 'Okay, we want a live record. But I want it to sound tough as nails when it comes on in the club.' And so it's still something that informs everything I do as a producer."
Covers
"Here Comes the Fuzz" (2003), Ronson's first album, was heavily influenced by hip hop, and featured such artists as Nappy Roots, Sean Paul, Mos Def and Jack White, as well as the Japanese rocker Aya.
Ronson's followup album, "Version" (2007), was more reminiscent of the sound of Stax and Motown Records. The album featured covers performed by Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Robbie Williams and others, and reached Number 2 on the British charts. Winehouse's single of "Valerie" and Daniel Merriweather's "Stop Me" both charted at Number 2 as well.
"Version"
DJ producer Mark Ronson plays at the launch party for his album, "Version," at Allsopp Wedel gallery on April 10, 2007 in London, England.
BRIT Awards 2008
Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse perform "Valerie" on stage at the BRIT Awards 2008 at Earls Court 1 on February 20, 2008 in London, England.
BRIT Awards 2008
Mark Ronson poses with his award for British Male Solo Artist during the Brit Awards 2008 at Earls Court on February 20, 2008 in London, England.
"Cold Shoulder"
Mark Ronson produced Adele's track, "Cold Shoulder," from her 2008 debut album, "19."
Adele, who had followed Ronson since "Here Comes the Fuzz" and his collaborations with Winehouse and Lily Allen, explained to The Sun newspaper why she asked him to produce the track: "I thought it needed a beat because the album was lacking a real upbeat club tune. And I couldn't think of anyone else but Mark Ronson to do it."
Lollapalooza 2008
Mark Ronson performs at the 2008 Lollapalooza music festival at Grant Park on August 3, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois.
Family
Mark Ronson, Samantha Ronson, Mick Jones and Charlotte Ronson attend the Charlotte Ronson After-Party at Abe & Arthur's on September 11, 2009 in New York, New York.
New York Fashion Week 2011
From left: Harriet Ronson, Laurence Ronson, Mark Ronson and Ann Dexter Jones attend the Charlotte Ronson 2011 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Stage at Lincoln Center on September 11, 2010 in New York City.
New York City
Mark Ronson performs to celebrate the global tour of the Range Rover Evoque at the Winter Gardens Theatre on May 21, 2011 in New York, United States.
Versace for H&M Fashion
Producer Mark Ronson attends the Versace for H&M Fashion event at the H&M on the Hudson on November 8, 2011 in New York City.
London 2012 Olympic Games
DJ Mark Ronson and singer Katy B perform "Anywhere in the World," Coca-Cola's song for the London 2012 Olympic Games, at the Under the Bridge nightclub on May 11, 2012 in London, England.
Milan Fashion Week
Mark Ronson and Solange Knowles attend the amfAR Milano 2012 Dinner during Milan Fashion Week at La Permanente on September 22, 2012 in Milan, Italy.
Josephine de La Baume and Mark Ronson
In 2011 Mark Ronson married French actress Josephine de La Baume. The two are pictured at the world premiere of her film, "Rush," at the Odeon Leicester Square on September 2, 2013 in London, England.
"Uptown Funk"
Bruno Mars was featured in Mark Ronson's 2014 single, "Uptown Funk," from the album, "Uptown Special." The song, a joyous homage to the Minneapolis funk style pioneered by Prince, was a smash, residing at Number 1 on the U.S. charts for 14 consecutive weeks.
"'Uptown Funk' basically, started as a jam in Bruno's studio. We just kinda went over there one night. I was playing some demos, and it was me and Jeff Bhasker and Phil Lawrence, who writes for Bruno. I was like, 'Let's try something out.' So Bruno got on the drums, I got on bass, Jeff was on keys. So we kinda found a little best bits of the groove and started to write lyrics. Everyone's excited and, like, listened to it 20 times in the car on the drive home and then, calling each other, 'Do you still like it?'"
Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars
Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars are pictured in the studio during the production of "Uptown Funk."
"It's that kind of excited feeling you don't get that all the time when you're working on music, even with people that you love and that are talented -- that magic of the initial buzz of when you're writing it. We could just never get it back. We'd go in, and we'd get a couple of lines. And the song [kept] falling apart. We had to, as Bruno says, 'Take it out of the trash a few times.' And I was fighting hard: 'Okay, when can we get back in the studio and finish the song?'
"And it was really when Bruno towards the end came up with the bass line, the hook that opens the song, that the song really gelled together. And then we got the horns after that and all this stuff. We recorded the drums with Bruno five different studios, 20 different times. It was probably the most I've ever worked on a song."
BRIT Awards 2015
Lionel Richie and Lisa Snowdon present Mark Ronson with the Best British Single Award for "Uptown Funk" during the BRIT Awards 2015, at The O2 Arena on February 25, 2015 in London.
Laughing, Ronson told Anthony Mason, "I always look at a successful record, it's like another five-year lease on a career. Like, 'Ah, so you're the guy...'"
But Ronson also said he recognizes that success on the scale of "Uptown Funk" is not necessarily repeatable. "I realize at this point in my career, just because I've had this record, it doesn't mean that I'm gonna be able to go in the studio of anyone and have that kind of thing. It's about the chemistry of people, whether it's Bruno or whoever."
Met Costume Institute Gala
Josephine de La Baume and Mark Ronson attend the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York City.
SXSW
Mark Ronson performs at Pandora Powerhouse at the SXSW Festival on March 14, 2015 in Austin, Texas.
For more info:
markronson.co.uk (Official site)
"Uptown Special" by Mark Sonson (Sony); Available via Amazon, iTunes and Spotify
By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan