Bruno Mars was born Peter Gene Hernandez on the 8th of October, 1985 in Honolulu, Hawaii as one of the six children in a musical family. His mother was a hula dancer and his father a musician. As a young child, he performed as an Elvis Presley impersonator which later he admitted influenced his music.
According to his older sister Jamie, he got his nick-name Bruno while still a child because he was strong-willed and independent. Visit this site to find out more information about Mars’s childhood and family.
1. Career Break Through
Bruno Mars moved to Los Angeles in 2003 where he signed for Motown Records. Even after a year into a contract, the deal didn’t come to fruition and the label dropped Mars. A bit later, Bruno met Phillip Lawrence with whom he wrote and produced songs for many famous artists like Adam Levine, Flo Rida, and Brandy. This turned out to be a great business opportunity for both musicians. Fortunately, this event turned into Bruno’s eureka moment, and he decided to get into the business through writing for other artists.
Mars co-wrote and produced Coca Cola’s FIFA 2010 World Cup song sung by K’Naan. Mars finally broke out as a singer in 2010 after the hit song “Nothin’ on you.” Originally, the song was meant for rapper B.o.B of Atlantic records, but the label changed their mind and asked Mars to sing the song himself. The song got to first place on the Billboard singles, instantly presenting Mars as a world-famous performer. Later the same year Mars released the “Granade” song that reached the US, Canada, and UK Number 1 on the charts. The following year he worked with many famous artists including Wiz Khalifa, Lil’ Wayne, and Snoop Dogg. He also performed as an opening act for One Republic and Maroon 5.
In late 2010 he had a run-in with the law enforcement for possession of cocaine. Mars was performing in Las Vegas when he was apprehended and brought in front of the judge who showed some leniency giving sentencing him to some community service and a $2000 fine. Later, Mars admitted that he was young, foolish and feeling like the king of the world following success in the music industry.
In 2011 Bruno Mars won Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the song “Just the way you are”.
In 2016 Bruno performed at the Superbowl halftime alongside Beyonce as guests to Coldplay. The same year he won another Grammy Award for “Uptown Funk” that was a massive hit across the world. Throughout his career, he earned 11 Grammy’s in total and 3 Brit Awards.
Bruno is largely influenced by Michael Jackson whom he considered to be the biggest pop star ever. He adopted the professionalism and the artistry from the famous singer, and to this day his live performances are praised by fans and critiques alike. The 80s pop culture and disco clubs can be seen as an influence in his every appearance as well as his music and lyrics. Visit here to find all of the Bruno Mars songs list.
Bruno Mars is also a philanthropist establishing the Grammy Camp Scholarship in Hawai’i for the up-and-coming struggling young artists. The singer also donated to the victims of the hurricane in the Philippines and performed at the “Make it right” gala in New York that is dedicated to helping out families to build homes in the poor neighborhoods of the city. Mars donated 1 million dollars to the Flint water crisis, to the victims of hurricane and earthquake in Porto Rico and Mexico, and to the MGM workers that were hit hard with the coronavirus pandemic. He continues his charity work to this day, performing and donating to impoverished communities as well as to the music industry workers.
The race was an issue for Bruno Mars from the beginning. Music producers were baffled as to where to play his music and which communities this kind of music is appealing to, black or white. Mars was always irritated by the profiling saying that he plays the music for all people. Still, it was a problem in the early days as well as later when he was accused of exploiting African-American music.
2. Fun, Funky Facts about Bruno Mars
- Other than singing his heart out, Mars can also play the guitar, keyboard, drums, and bass.
- One of his songs, “The Lazy Song”, is the most viewed on YouTube with almost 400 million views.
- Bruno Mars is of both Filipino and Puerto Rican descent.
- Bruno was one of the youngest Elvis impersonators when he was younger.
- He has received 12 nominations for Grammy Awards throughout his career. The single “Just The Way You Are” earned him the title of Best Pop Male Vocal Performance.
- In three years, five of his hit singles got to the Billboard Hot 100
3. Most Popular Songs
– Just the way you are: 2010
– Locked out of heaven: 2012
– Uptown Funk 2015
– That’s what I like: 2017
4. Current News
Even though Bruno hasn’t been seen on the music scene for a while now, he hasn’t left.
Bruno Mars is currently working on a new album as well as preparing to produce a Disney Musical. It is noteworthy that the musical will feature some of his songs. Even though not much is known about the musical, fans are looking forward to it.
Forbes reported that Bruno Mars earned over $200 million during his active years performing. He was constantly haunted by other artists across the world claiming that he stole parts of their songs. For some of them, Bruno needed to give up some of his royalties and put their names on the record. Namely, in 2015 “Uptown Funk” was marked as a copy of the “Oops upside your head” from The Gap Band, and Mars had to give up some of his earnings.
