Bruno Mars is in the courtyard — white T-shirt, Versace cap over curls, white slip-on sneakers, no socks — smoking his umpteenth cigarette of the day and trying with every bone in his roughly five-foot-five body to will his third album to completion. I want to be finished by the middle of next month. I do have a deadline. The last time Mars dropped an album was December — four years ago, an eternity for a pop star. This process is just such a weird process. Sitting in this freezing-ass-cold box trying to come up with songs. His insecurity has him second-guessing everything.

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Who Is Bruno Mars?
We and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes. By using our website and our services, you agree to our use of cookies as described in our Cookie Policy. An all-around entertainer, Mars also plays multiple instruments, produces, and choreographs. His path to mainstream success was lengthy. Born Peter Hernandez in in Honolulu, Hawaii, Mars kicked off his career at the age of four by fronting his uncle's band, becoming Oahu's youngest Elvis impersonator in the process. After graduating high school in , he took his uncle's advice and moved to California to pursue a music career. He eventually met songwriter Phillip Lawrence, who convinced Mars to try his hand at writing songs for other artists. The two dubbed themselves the Smeezingtons and co-wrote Brandy 's "Long Distance. By , Mars seemed to be everywhere: singing alongside B. That record, the genre-jumping effort Unorthodox Jukebox, was released later in the year and featured the chart-topping single "Locked Out of Heaven," along with production from Mark Ronson , Diplo , and others.
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Peter Gene Hernandez born October 8, , known professionally as Bruno Mars , is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and dancer. Mars is accompanied by his band, the Hooligans, who play a variety of instruments, such as electric guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, drums, and horns, and also serve as backup singers and dancers. After being dropped by Motown Records , Mars signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records in In the same year, he co-founded the production team The Smeezingtons , responsible for various successful singles for Mars himself and other artists. Mars rose to fame in with the release of the successful singles " Nothin' on You " by B. B and " Billionaire " by Travie McCoy , both of which featured his vocals on the hooks. He has released seven number-one singles on the Billboard Hot since his career launched in , attaining his first five faster than any male artist since Elvis Presley. As a songwriter, he was included in Music Week and Billboard magazine as one of the best songwriters of and , respectively.
Singer-songwriter Bruno Mars began to find success in the early s by writing songs for popular artists, including K'Naan's "Wavin' Flag. His father, Pete, was a Latin percussionist from Brooklyn, and his mother, Bernadette "Bernie" , was a singer. Mars received his nickname, "Bruno," while he was still a baby. In Waikiki Beach, Mars's family performed a Las Vegas-style revue that included Motown hits, doo-wop melodies and celebrity impersonations. Growing up around entertainers, Mars began picking up musical instruments from early childhood. It was just always there," he later recalled. He continued to perform with his family throughout his childhood, and as he approached adolescence he added Michael Jackson to his impersonation repertoire.