His real name is Peter Gene Hernandez. He was nicknamed "Bruno" by his father at the age of 2 because he was a chubby kid and there was a famous chubby wrestler at the time named Bruno Sammartino. At the start of his career he added "Mars" to his stage name because "a lot of girls say I'm out of this world, so I was like I guess I'm from Mars."
His first brush with show business was at the age of 4. He gives more details in an interview with National Public Radio: "Dad started bringing me up onstage every night till finally they worked a little segment out for me. My mom made me an Elvis outfit, and I'd go up there and do my thing." His impersonation of Elvis also won him the role of Little Elvis in the movie Honeymoon In Vegas (1992). As a young boy, he continued to make performances impersonating Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson.
Growing up in Hawaii in a family of musicians marked his music with traces of traditional Hawaii music, reggae, pop, rock, R&B, soul, doo-wop and hip-hop.
Before launching a solo career, Bruno Mars was part of a writing and production team called The Smeezingtons, with Phillip Lawrence and Ari Levine. They wrote and produced songs for other artists, including Brandy's "
Long Distance," Flo Rida's "
Right Round," and Cee-Lo Green's "
Forget You." He also sang and co-wrote the hooks for "
Nothin' On You" by B.o.B and "
Billionaire" by Travie McCoy.
He named his debut album
Doo-Wops & Hooligans because it has songs that both women and men are going to relate to: doo-wops are for the girls, and hooligans are for the guys. His favorite song on the album is "
Grenade."
Bruno is just 5 feet 5 inches tall. His relatively low stature was noticeable when he received a VMA (Male Video of The Year for "
Locked Out of Heaven") from
Taylor Swift, who at just under 6 feet, appeared to tower over him. Height, of course, has no impact on talent - Bono is about 5 feet 6 inches.
Bruno Mars was arrested in 2010 at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas after a bathroom attendant caught him using cocaine in a men's room stall. He pleaded guilty, paid a $2,000 fine, and did 200 hours community service. He's kept a clean record since.
His second album,
Unorthodox Jukebox, solidified his superstar status when it was released in 2012, but he went four years before releasing another album (
24K Magic). His 2014 Mark Ronson collaboration "
Uptown Funk" helped keep him in the pubic eye; he headlined the Super Bowl halftime show that year and made a guest appearance the following year.
He's a meticulous songwriter, constantly refining the tracks. He says the challenge is coming up with something original. "I'm competing with billions of other songs," he told Rolling Stone. "It's like winning the lottery - you just gotta get lucky."
Mars is a serial collaborator, teaming up with artists across a range of genres with tremendous success. Examples include:
"
Nothin' On You" with B.o.B (2009)
"
Mirror" with Lil Wayne (2011)
"
Finesse" with Cardi B (2016)
"
Die With A Smile" with Lady Gaga (2024)
"
APT." with Rosé (2024)
He also paired with Anderson .Paak in the duo Silk Sonic. They had a huge hit with "
Leave The Door Open" in 2021.
Bruno's heritage is a stew that includes Puerto Rican and Ashkenazi Jewish roots from his father and Filipino and Spanish roots from his mother. As the comedian Roy Wood Jr. put it, "He literally looks like every race at the same time."
Dude can dance, which comes in handy for music videos and live shows. Growing up, he studied the moves of James Brown, Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley to come up with a smooth style that looks effortless. You can see him get his groove on in the videos for "
24K Magic" and "Uptown Funk."
Mars is one of the most-streamed artists in history, with his new songs and his back catalog consistently putting up staggering numbers across platforms. He emerged in 2010 just when streaming was becoming the preferred method of listening to music.
