Bruno Mars

Bruno Mars is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, musician and dancer from Honolulu, United States. Born Peter Gene Hernandez in 1985, he grows up in Honolulu and moves to Los Angeles in 2003 to pursue a music career. His work spans funk, pop, R&B, rock and soul, and he is also associated with pop, R&B and slow jam styles.

Career

Mars becomes known for his stage performances and retro showmanship. He performs with his band, the Hooligans, who play instruments including electric guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, drums and horns, and also act as backing singers and dancers. In 2009 he co-founds the production team the Smeezingtons, which works on successful singles for him and other artists.

He rises to prominence in 2010 through guest vocals on B.o.B’s “Nothin’ on You” and Travie McCoy’s “Billionaire”. In the same year he releases his debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, which combines pop, reggae pop and R&B and includes the number-one singles “Just the Way You Are”, “Grenade” and “The Lazy Song”.

His second album, Unorthodox Jukebox (2012), draws on disco, funk, rock, reggae and soul and becomes his first album to reach number one on the Billboard 200. It produces two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, “Locked Out of Heaven” and “When I Was Your Man”.

In 2014 he features on Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk”, which reaches number one in several charts and spends fourteen weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and seven weeks at number one in the UK Singles Chart.

His third studio album, 24K Magic (2016), has a stronger R&B focus and wins seven Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. The album also produces the top-five singles “24K Magic”, “That’s What I Like” and a remix of “Finesse” featuring Cardi B.

In 2021 he records An Evening with Silk Sonic with Anderson .Paak as Silk Sonic. The album includes “Leave the Door Open”, which reaches number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Collaborations, labels and recognition

Mars is associated with The Hooligans, Silk Sonic, The Smeezingtons and Shampoo Press & Curl. His label is Mars Force Music. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide and has eight Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles since his career begins in 2010. He becomes the first artist to receive five diamond-certified songs in the United States.

He receives 11 Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, nine American Music Awards, 10 Soul Train Awards and three Guinness World Records. He appears in Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2011 and in Forbes lists including “30 Under 30” in 2013 and Celebrity 100 in 2014, 2018 and 2019. He is also named by Music Week and Billboard among the best songwriters of 2011 and 2013.