The Artist Roadmap Series: How Bruno Mars Went from Zero to Hero
Peter Gene Hernandez was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on October 8, 1985. His father nicknamed him “Bruno” when he was 2 because of his resemblance to pro wrestler Bruno Sammartino.
Mars is one of six children in a musical family, an environment which exposed him to a variety of genres including reggae, rock, hip hop, and R&B.
From the age of 4, Mars performed five days a week with his family’s band, The Love Notes, and became known as “Little Elvis” throughout Hawaii for his Elvis Presley impersonation. When he was 5 years old, he performed in the halftime show of the 1990 Aloha Bowl.
When he attended high school in Honolulu, he performed in a group called The School Boys. Mars moved to Los Angeles to pursue a musical career after graduating from high school at 17 years old.
This was due to Mars’s sister playing a demo track for the head of A&R (Artists & Repertoire) at Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment. They responded positively and requested him to come to Los Angeles.
In 2004, Mars signed a record contract with Motown Records but was dropped by the label less than a year after getting signed.
Fortunately, he landed a music publishing deal with record producer Steve Lindsey and Cameron Strang at Westside Independent in 2005.
Lindsey served as a songwriting mentor, teaching Mars and fellow songwriters how to understand and write pop music. At the same time, Mars performed cover songs in a band, Sex Panther, around Los Angeles. Mars met songwriter Philip Lawrence and the pair collaborated, writing songs for Mars.
Record labels rejected their recordings but in 2006, Lawrence introduced Mars to Aaron Bay-Schuck, an A&R manager at Atlantic Records. Bay-Schuck wanted to sign Mars but Atlantic Records felt it was too early. It took 3 years for Atlantic records to finally sign him because they thought he still needed to develop as an artist. So he set out by himself to define his sound…
Before becoming a solo artist, Mars was an acknowledged songwriter and producer. On July 19, 2010, he released the lead single “Just the Way You Are” from his debut studio album Doo-Wops & Hooligans. The second single of the album, “Grenade” reached number one on the US Hot 100, in Canada, the UK, and on international charts. The album sold 55,000 copies in the US during its first week, debuting at number 3 on the Billboard 200.
Since his first album, Mars has released two more studio albums, Unorthodox Jukebox (2012) and 24K Magic (2016), and performed at the Super Bowl 48 and the Super Bowl 50 halftime shows. The 2016 Super Bowl 50 halftime show was one of the most-watched in Super Bowl history.
Bruno Mars has won 11 Grammy Awards, 3 Brit Awards, and 4 Guinness World Records. According to the International Federation of Phonographic Industry (IFPI), “Just the Way You Are” and “Grenade” are two of the most successful digital singles of all time, with combined sales of 22.7 million. In 2018, Forbes announced that he was America’s highest-paid musician of 2017, earning an estimated $100 million.
His music career started at just 4 years old, and despite his obvious talent, he was only able to get signed with a label and release his first studio album at the age of 25. His story is standard for the industry. Our Artist Roadmap Series reviews the journeys of those who have also succeeded: Britney Spears, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga.
