Bruno Mars: Biography

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Bruno Mars.Image via Wikimedia Commons

Who Is Bruno Mars?

Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and dancer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his three-octave tenor vocal range, live performances, retro showmanship, and musical versatility. He is accompanied by his band, the Hooligans. Raised in Honolulu, Mars gained recognition in Hawaii as a child for his impersonation of Elvis Presley, before moving to Los Angeles in 2003 to pursue a musical career.

Mars established his name in the music industry as a songwriter and co-founder of the production team the Smeezingtons. He rose to fame as a recording artist after featuring on the US number-one single "Nothin' on You" (2009) by B.o.B. Mars's first three studio albums—Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010), Unorthodox Jukebox (2012), and 24K Magic (2016)—found critical and commercial success, with the lattermost winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. During the 2010s, Mars achieved further success with the chart-topping singles: "Just the Way You Are", "Grenade", "Locked Out of Heaven", "When I Was Your Man", and "That's What I Like". His 2014 collaboration with Mark Ronson, "Uptown Funk", became Billboard's best-performing song of the 2010s.

In 2021, Mars released An Evening with Silk Sonic alongside Anderson .Paak, as the musical superduo Silk Sonic. The album featured the US number-one single "Leave the Door Open". In 2024, he released two record-breaking number-one duets, "Die with a Smile" (with Lady Gaga) and "APT." (with Rosé). Mars also released his first solo album in ten years, The Romantic (2026), which was led by his tenth US number-one single, "I Just Might".

Mars has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He has ten number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and the most weeks atop the Billboard Global 200 chart. Mars is the only artist to surpass 150 million monthly listeners on Spotify and the first to score six diamond-certified songs in the US. His 24K Magic World Tour (2017–2018) ranks among the highest-grossing tours in history. Mars's accolades include 16 Grammy Awards, 17 American Music Awards, 9 Billboard Music Awards, 5 Brit Awards, 7 MTV Video Music Awards and 14 Soul Train Awards. Time named him among the 100 most influential people in the world in 2011.

Early Life: Where Is Bruno Mars From?

Life and career

1985–2003: Early life and musical beginnings

Peter Gene Hernandez was born on October 8, 1985, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Peter Hernandez and Bernadette San Pedro Bayot. He was raised in the Waikīkī neighborhood of Honolulu. His father, originally from Brooklyn, New York, is of Puerto Rican and Ashkenazi Jewish descent, with ancestral roots in Hungary and Ukraine. His mother emigrated from the Philippines to Hawaii and was of Filipino ancestry. Hernandez's parents met while performing in a show—his mother as a hula dancer and his father as a percussionist. At the age of two, he was nicknamed "Bruno" by his father, who thought he resembled professional wrestler Bruno Sammartino.

Mars is one of six children and came from a musical family who exposed him to a diverse mix of musical genres, including rock and roll, reggae, hip-hop, and rhythm and blues. His mother was a singer and a dancer and his father performed Little Richard's music, which inspired him as a young child. His uncle, an Elvis impersonator, encouraged the three-year-old Mars to perform songs by Presley and Michael Jackson. Mars began performing five days a week with his family's band (the Love Notes) at age four, including at the Sheraton Waikiki, and became known in Hawaii for his onstage impersonation of Elvis Presley. At one point, he urinated on himself during a performance of Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love" when he was five; his parents thought they might be making a mistake, but he never wavered. Mars appeared in the Hawaiian tabloid shopper MidWeek as "Little Elvis" in 1990, and performed in the halftime show of the 1990 Aloha Bowl.

Bruno Mars's Career and Major Works

He had a cameo role in the 1992 film Honeymoon in Vegas, and was interviewed by Pauly Shore on MTV. When Mars was six years old, he appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show. He performed two shows a night throughout grade school with his family's band, covering Frankie Lymon and Little Anthony songs. The young Mars had a small drum set, guitar, piano and percussion instruments, and learned to play them. His parents divorced when he was 12 (ending the Love Notes), and his father's varied businesses failed. Mars, his brother and father lived in the "slums of Hawaii" in a car, on rooftops, and in a closed bird zoo (Paradise Park) where his father had worked. Mars changed schools and was bullied, but later became popular.

His Elvis impersonations had a major impact on his musical evolution and performing technique. Mars began playing guitar, inspired by American rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix. In 2010, he acknowledged his Hawaii-raised roots and musical family as an influence: "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 ... I've just been surrounded by it." At President Theodore Roosevelt High School in Honolulu, Mars sang in a group (the School Boys) who opened for his father's new band with songs by the Isley Brothers and the Temptations. He became well known in local Hawaii entertainment in high school, opening for a large magic show and impersonating Michael Jackson for $75 per performance.

After his sister in Los Angeles played a demo of Mars for Mike Lynn (head of A&R at Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment label), Lynn summoned Mars to Los Angeles. In 2003, shortly after graduating from high school, Mars pursued a musical career. He lived on Mansfield Avenue, and was surprised by its poverty and squalor. Mars adopted his stage name from his father's childhood nickname, adding "Mars" at the end: "I felt like I didn't have no pizzazz, and a lot of girls say I'm out of this world, so I was like I guess I'm from Mars." His stage name was also an effort to "avoid being stereotyped", since the music industry tried to pigeonhole him as another Latin artist and tried to convince him to sing in Spanish.

2004–2008: Career beginnings

Bruno Mars's Personal Life and Relationships

Mars said about moving to Los Angeles to pursue a musical career:

I'd always been a working musician in Hawaii and never had problems paying rent. And then it's like, "Now I'm in L.A. and my phone's getting shut off". That's when reality hit. I started DJing. I told this person I could DJ because they said they could pay me $75 cash under the table. I didn't know how to DJ. I lost that job pretty quick.

Mars signed a contract with Motown Records in 2004, but the deal "went nowhere" and he had a fruitless conversation with will.i.am's management. However, the singer's experience with Motown proved beneficial. After Mars was dropped by the label, less than a year later, he remained in Los Angeles and landed a 2005 music-publishing deal with record producers Steve Lindsey and Cameron Strang at Westside Independent. According to Strang, "Bruno came to the conclusion that the best way to further his career was writing and producing hit songs."

Lindsey showed Mars and fellow songwriters Brody Brown and Jeff Bhasker (whom Mars met through Mike Lynn) the ins and outs of writing pop music and acted as a mentor, helping them hone their craft. Bhasker explained that Lindsey would "mentor us, and kind of give us lectures as to what a hit pop song is, because you can have talent and music ability, but understanding what makes a hit pop song is a whole other discipline." According to Lindsey, he "held Mars back for five years while they learned an extensive catalog of hit music." Brown agreed in another interview. Mars played cover songs around Los Angeles in Sex Panther, a band with Bhasker and Eric Hernandez (Mars's brother, who became the drummer of the Hooligans).

Where Is Bruno Mars Now? Recent Years

When Philip Lawrence was told he should meet Mars, he was reluctant to do so since he did not have money for bus fare. Keith Harris, drummer for the Black Eyed Peas, told Lawrence: "Whatever it costs you to get out here, I'll reimburse you." Lawrence replied, "Just give me five dollars back for the bus." The pair began collaborating on songs for Mars, but received a number of rejections from record labels. Lawrence introduced Mars to Aaron Bay-Schuck, his future A&R manager at Atlantic Records, in 2006. After hearing him play a couple of songs on guitar, Bay-Schuck wanted to sign him immediately. It took about three years for Atlantic Records to sign Mars, however, because the label felt it was too early and he needed to develop as an artist.

2008–2010: Production work and It's Better If You Don't Understand

Mars and Lawrence received a call in 2008 from Brandon Creed, who was seeking songs for a reunited Menudo. Creed liked their song "Lost", which was written for Mars, and bought it for $20,000. The sale enabled them to continue working, and Mars and Lawrence decided that they would write and produce songs for other artists. Eventually, Creed became Mars's manager for nine years.

Mars was a music producer before becoming a successful solo artist, writing songs for Alexandra Burke, Adam Levine, Brandy, Sean Kingston, and K'naan. He said that the first "big hit" he and Lawrence wrote was the 2009 single, "Right Round", by Flo Rida: "That was our first taste of what could really happen with a hit we hundred-percented". Mars co-wrote the Sugababes's "Get Sexy" (2009) and provided backing vocals on their album, Sweet 7 (2010). He sang on the track "3D" on Far East Movement's second studio album, Animal (2009). Mars appeared on American pastor and hip hop artist Jaeson Ma's debut single, "Love", and American rapper Travie McCoy's "One at a Time" (a charity single for MTV's Staying Alive foundation) that year. He was recognized as a solo artist after appearing on American rapper B.o.B's "Nothin' on You" (2009) and McCoy's "Billionaire" (2010); both songs peaked in the top ten of several music charts, with the former topping the United States Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart.

Bruno Mars's Legacy and Impact

Mars said about the singles, "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." He released his debut extended play (EP), It's Better If You Don't Understand, on May 11, 2010. It peaked at number 99 on the US Billboard 200, and a music video was released for "The Other Side" with singer CeeLo Green and B.o.B. Mars and the Smeezingtons composed Green's successful 2010 single, "Fuck You".

2010–2012: Doo-Wops and Hooligans

Mars released "Just the Way You Are" on July 20, 2010, as the lead single of his debut studio album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, produced primarily by the Smeezingtons. It topped the charts of several countries, including Australia, Canada and the U.S. The album, released on October 5, 2010, debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and topped the charts in the UK, the Netherlands and Canada. Doo-Wops & Hooligans has sold 15.5 million copies worldwide. It spawned two other singles: "Grenade" (which topped the Billboard Hot 100, New Zealand, UK, and other charts) and "The Lazy Song", which topped the UK and Danish charts.

Other singles include "Talking to the Moon", which was released in Brazil and topped Billboard Brasil's Hot Pop Songs and Hot 100 Airplay charts. "Marry You" was released internationally and "Count On Me" was the album's final single in Australia. Mars released "It Will Rain" on The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 film soundtrack (2011). The single reached number three in the U.S. and number two in New Zealand. He appeared on "Mirror" with rapper Lil Wayne, "Lighters" with the hip-hop duo Bad Meets Evil and "Young, Wild & Free" with rappers Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg. The latter two songs reached the top ten in the US and other countries.

Mars began to promote his debut album as the opening act for Maroon 5 and OneRepublic on the fall leg of the former's Palm Trees & Power Lines Tour. On October 18, 2010, he began a co-headlining European concert tour with McCoy which lasted until early November. The Doo-Wops & Hooligans Tour, which Mars headlined, ran from November 2010 to January 2012. During this time, the co-headlining Hooligans in Wondaland Tour with Mars and Janelle Monáe played North American dates in May and June 2011. Mars turned down offers to open for arena tours, opting instead to play at smaller venues such as theaters and ballrooms; this was less lucrative, but expanded his fan base.

At the 2011 Grammy Awards, Mars won his first Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Just the Way You Are" and received other six nominations: Best Rap Song, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Record of the Year for "Nothin' on You"; the latter category and Song of the Year for "Fuck You" by CeeLo Green,...

Bruno Mars's career continues to be documented by reputable media; the facts above are drawn from Wikipedia's biography and public records.

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