Mars was born Peter Gene Hernandez and raised in the
Waikiki
neighborhood of
Honolulu, Hawaii, by parents Pete Hernandez, of
Puerto Rican descent and Bernadette "Bernie" of
Filipino descent.
[5][6][7][8]
His mother emigrated to Hawaii from the
Philippines
as a child and his father moved to the island from
Brooklyn,
New York.
[9]
Mars' parents met while performing in a show, where his mother was a
hula dancer
and his father played percussion.
[9]
At the age of two, he was nicknamed "Bruno" by his father, because of
his resemblance to chubby professional wrestler
Bruno Sammartino.
[10]
Mars was one of six children and came from a musical family who
exposed him to a diverse mix of
reggae,
rock,
hip hop, and
R&B.
[11][12]
In addition to being a dancer, his mother was a singer and his father
used his musical ability to perform Little Richard rock n roll music.
[3]
Mars' uncle was an Elvis impersonator. By the age of three his uncle
had Mars up on the stage performing. He also performed songs by artists
such as Michael Jackson,
The Isley Brothers, and
The Temptations.
[7]
At age four, Mars began performing five days a week with his family's
band, The Love Notes, in which he became known on the island for his
impersonation of Presley.
[13]
In 1990, Mars was featured in
MidWeek
as "Little Elvis", going on to have a cameo in the film
Honeymoon in Vegas in 1992.
[7][14]
He later reflected on the influence Presley had on his music: "I watch
the best. I'm a big fan of Elvis. I'm a big fan of 1950s Elvis when he
would go on stage and scare people because he was a force and girls
would go nuts! You can say the same thing for
Prince or
The
Police. It's just guys who know that people are here to see a show,
so I watch those guys and I love studying them because I'm a fan."
[15]
In 2010, he also acknowledged his Hawaiian roots and musical family as
an influence, explaining, "Growing up in Hawaii made me the man I am. I
used to do a lot of shows in Hawaii with my father's band. Everybody in
my family sings, everyone plays instruments. My uncle's an incredible
guitar player, my dad's an incredible percussionist, my brother's a
great drummer, he actually plays in our band. I've just been surrounded
by it."
[16]
In 2003, shortly after graduating from
President Theodore
Roosevelt High School at the age of seventeen, Mars moved to Los
Angeles, California, to pursue a musical career.
[7][14]
He adopted his stage name from the nickname his father gave him, adding
"Mars" at the end because "I felt like I didn't have [any] pizzazz, and
a lot of girls say I’m out of this world, so I was like I guess I'm
from
Mars."
[17]
Shortly after moving to Los Angeles, Mars signed to
Motown Records
in 2004, in a deal that "went nowhere".
[18]
However, Mars' experience with Motown proved to be beneficial to his
career when he met songwriter and producer Philip Lawrence, who was also
signed to the label. Mars, Lawrence, and engineer Ari Levine began
writing songs together, and formed the production team
The Smeezingtons.
[18]
In 2006, Lawrence introduced Mars to his future manager at
Atlantic Records, Aaron Bay-Schuck.
[19]
After hearing him play a couple of songs on the guitar, Bay-Schuck
wanted to sign him immediately, but it took about three years for
Atlantic records to finally sign Mars to the label.
[19]
In the meantime, Bay-Schuck hired Mars and the Smeezingtons to write
and produce songs for the label's artists.
[19]
According to Bay-Schuck in an interview with
HitQuarters,
Mars had stated that although his ultimate goal was to be a solo
artist, he was willing to write and produce for other artists, both to
help improve his songwriting and help him discover the type of artist he
ultimately wanted to be.
[19]
Bay-Schuck credits this as a period of "self-discovery" that
contributed significantly to Mars' later success.
[19]
2009–present:
Commercial success and Doo-Wops & Hooligans
Bruno Mars performing in
Houston, Texas in November 2010.
Before becoming a successful solo artist, Hernandez was an
acknowledged music producer, writing songs for
Alexandra Burke,
Travie
McCoy,
Adam Levine,
Brandy,
Sean
Kingston, and
Flo Rida.
[11][20]
He also co-wrote the
Sugababes' hit song "
Get Sexy"
and provided backing vocals on their album
Sweet 7.
[21][22]
His first musical appearance as a singer was in
Far East Movement's second studio album
Animal,
featured on the track "3D".
[23]
He was also featured on pastor and hip hop artist
Jaeson
Ma's debut single "Love" in August 2009.
[24][25]
He reached prominence as a solo artist after being featured on and
co-writing
B.o.B's
"
Nothin' on You" and Travie McCoy's "
Billionaire"; both songs peaked within
the top ten of many charts worldwide.
[26][27][28][29]
He said of them, "I think those songs weren't meant to be full-sung
songs. If I'd sung all of "Nothin' on You", it might've sounded like
some
'90s R&B." Following this success,
Mars released his debut
extended
play (EP), titled
It's Better If You Don't
Understand, on May 11, 2010.
[30]
The EP peaked at the 99th position on the
Billboard
200 and produced one single, "The Other Side", featuring singers
Cee
Lo Green and B.o.B.
[31][32]
Mars collaborated with Green once more in August 2010 by co-writing his
single "
Fuck You!". He performed a
medley of "Nothin' on You" and "
Airplanes" with B.o.B and
Hayley Williams at the
2010 MTV Video Music Awards on
September 12, 2010.
[33]
Mars' debut album,
Doo-Wops & Hooligans, was
released digitally on October 4, and saw its physical release on October
5, 2010.
[34][35]
The lead single, "
Just the Way You Are",
was released on July 19, 2010,
[36]
and has reached the top of the
Billboard Hot 100 as well as several other charts
worldwide.
[37][38]
The music video was released on September 8, 2010.
[39]
The second single, "
Grenade", was released September 28, 2010, and has also seen
successful international chart performance.
[40][41]
In the United States,
Doo-Wops & Hooligans debuted at number
three on the
Billboard 200 for the week of
October 13, 2010, selling 55,000 copies.
[2]
The album also received generally positive reviews from critics.
Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt praised Mars for
his "instant-access melodies" and "sly snatches of dance-floor swagger",
but noted weaknesses in songs deviant from his conventional pop and
soul genres.
[42]
He opened for
Maroon 5 on the fall leg of the
Hands All Over Tour starting October
6, 2010 and co-headlined with McCoy on a European tour starting October
18, 2010.
[35]
On September 19, 2010, Mars was arrested in
Las Vegas
for possession of
cocaine.
[43]
When talking to a police officer, Mars reportedly stated that what he
did was "foolish" and that "he has never used drugs before".
[44][45]
Mars pled guilty to felony drug possession, and in return for his plea,
he was told that the charges would be erased from his criminal record
as long as he stayed out of trouble for a year, paid a $2,000 fine, did
200 hours of community service and completed a drug counseling course.
[46]
On September 16, 2011,
Bad Meets Evil released their single, "
Lighters", which featured Mars in the song. The song was met
with mixed reviews from critics and many criticized Mars for doing this
type of song.
[47]
On September 22, 2011, it was announced on Mars' website that his new
song "
It Will Rain" will appear on
The Twilight Saga: Breaking
Dawn - Part 1 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack which was released
on November 8th.
[48]
On October 30, 2011, Mars gave an exclusive performance of "
Runaway
Baby" on the results show of
The X Factor UK, the same day that Mars received
six nominations for a
Grammy
Award;
Album of the Year and
Best Pop Vocal Album
for
Doo-Wops & Hooligans,
Record of the Year,
Song of the Year and
Best Pop Solo
Performance for "Grenade", and
Producer
of the Year, Non-Classical at the
54th Grammy Awards.
Musical style
Mars performing on November 24, 2010. Mars plays several instruments
including piano, guitar, bass and
congas.
[49]
Mars' music has been noted for displaying a wide variety of styles
and influences, including pop,
[50]
rock,
[50]
reggae,
[50]
R&B,
[51]
soul,
[42]
and
hip hop.
[52]
His co-producer Philip Lawrence says, "What people don't know is
there's a darker underbelly to Bruno Mars." Mars himself says, "I blame
that on me singing to girls back in high school."
[53]
Jon Caramanica of
The New York Times called him "one of the most
versatile and accessible singers in pop, with a light, soul-influenced
voice that’s an easy fit in a range of styles, a universal donor."
[4]
Mars was initially influenced by
R&B artists such as
Keith
Sweat,
Jodeci
and
R.
Kelly, as well as 1950s
rock 'n' roll and
Motown.
[54]
In high school, he began listening to classic rock groups such as
The
Police,
Led Zeppelin, and the
Beatles.
[54]
All of these genres of music have influenced Mars' musical style; he
observed that "It’s not easy to [create] songs with that mixture of rock
and soul and hip-hop, and there’s only a handful of them."
[54]
Mars also stated that he is a fan of
Alicia
Keys,
Jessie J,
Jack White and
The
Saturdays.
[55]
In addition, Mars claims that his work with other artists influenced
his musical style, saying that "'Nothin' on You' had a
Motown
vibe, 'Billionaire' was a
reggae acoustic guitar-driven song, though one of my
favorites is the Cee-Lo [Green] song
['F*ck You']. I don't think
anyone else could've sung that song. And there's 'Just the Way You Are.'
If you know my story, you know I love all different genres of music."
[56]
He cites
doo-wop
as a major influence on his music, referring to the genre as "just
straightforward love songs – so charming and simple and romantic."
[56]
In addition, Mars states that growing up in Hawaii influenced his
music, giving the songs a reggae sound. He explains that "In Hawaii some
of the biggest radio stations are reggae. The local bands are heavily
influenced by
Bob Marley. That music brings people together.
It's not urban music or pop music. It's just songs. That's what makes it
cross over so well. The song comes first."
[9]
Lyrically, many of Mars' songs have been described as "feel-good",
carefree, and optimistic,
[57]
however, darker subjects are addressed in songs such as "Grenade",
"Liquor Store Blues", and "Talking to the Moon", which detail failed
relationships and self-destructive behavior.
Bruno
Mars |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/ee/BrunoMarsInBeverlyHills.jpg/250px-BrunoMarsInBeverlyHills.jpg)
Bruno Mars attends the 2011 Pre-GRAMMY Gala Beverly
Hills, California February 12, 2011 |
Background information |
Birth name |
Peter Gene Hernandez |
Born |
October 8, 1985 (1985-10-08) (age 26)[1]
Honolulu,
Hawaii |
Genres |
Pop, soul,
reggae fusion, contemporary R&B |
Occupations |
Singer-songwriter, record producer, model, dancer |
Instruments |
Vocals, drums, guitar, keyboard, bass, piano, harmonica |
Years active |
2005–present |
Labels |
Atlantic, Elektra |
Associated acts |
The Smeezingtons, Cee
Lo Green, B.o.B, Travie
McCoy, Far East Movement, Eminem, Bad Meets Evil, Snoop
Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Lil
Wayne |