Bruno Mars

From Honolulu to Uptown Funk

Peter Gene Hernandez was born on October 8, 1985 in Honolulu. He took the name Bruno from a childhood nickname his father gave him at two because he resembled the wrestler Bruno Sammartino. He performed as Little Elvis as a child and appeared in the 1990 Aloha Bowl halftime show. He moved to Los Angeles in 2003, signed to Motown in 2004 and was dropped in under a year, and in 2005 got a publishing deal; Atlantic took about three years to sign him. He sold the song "Lost" to Menudo's producers for $20,000 in 2008, and in 2009 appeared on B.o.B.'s "Nothin' on You", number 1 on the Hot 100 and in the UK.

His EP It's Better If You Don't Understand came out on May 11, 2010 and his debut Doo-Wops and Hooligans in October 2010, which brought a first Grammy in 2011. Unorthodox Jukebox followed in December 2012, and he headlined the Super Bowl XLVIII halftime show in February 2014. With Anderson .Paak he formed Silk Sonic, and his backing band is The Hooligans. 24K Magic (November 18, 2016) won Album of the Year in 2018. He co-wrote songs on Adele's 25 and was part of the production team The Smeezingtons with Philip Lawrence and Ari Levine.