Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Bruno Mars (born Peter Gene Hernandez) is one of the most popular artists in the music industry. He is known for the hit singles “Just the Way You Are” and “That’s What I Like”. Before he got the prominence as a singer, he broke into the music industry as a pop songwriter for several artists.
Read: Bruno Mars Biography
He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on October 8, 1985 and got his nickname “Bruno” from the parents. Grew up in a musical family, Bruno had developed interest in music since he was a child. He played some musical instruments, including piano, drum, and guitar. He also spent his childhood performing in the family musical art. When Bruno attended the Roosevelt High School, he formed a school band with his friends, the School Boys and started performing on stage. After graduating in 2003, Bruno moved to Los Angeles to pursue his musical career. It was not easy for him to enter the music industry and spent his time a lot on songwriting. In 2004, he signed to Motown Records but unfortunately there were no recordings from that. He then met the producer and songwriter Phillip Lawrence who introduced him to Atlantic Records. Two years later Bruno signed a deal to that label and made his breakthrough.
Along with Lawrence and sound engineer Ari Levine, he worked under the name the Smeezingtons to write and produce vintage-vibe songs for other artists, including Flo Rida’s “Right Round” (2009) and the FIFA World Cup 2010’s theme song “Wavin’ Flag” by K’Naan. He finally made his debut as a singer with “Nothin’ on You” with the rapper B.o.B. in 2010. Soon, the single debuted at the first position on the Billboard charts. He also released the single “Billionaire” (feat. Travie McCoy) and dropped his first studio album Doo-Woops & Hooligans with the major hit “Just the Way You Are”. This single successfully reached at the number one on the Billboard singles chart. Meanwhile, the album earned him his first Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (for the single “Just the Way You Are”) and made Bruno rose to global prominence. Another songs from the album, “It Will Rain”, “The Lazy Song”, and “Grenade” also gained success by topping the music charts.
He returned with the second set Unorthodox Jukebox in 2012 which received positive feedbacks and was commercially successful. The lead track “Locked Out of Heaven” stayed for six consecutive weeks at the number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and made Bruno take home the MTV Award for Best Music Video. Bruno released two other hits, the chart-topper “When I Was Your Man” and the single “Treasure” that won the MTV Award in the category of Best Choreography in 2013. For his amazing work, Bruno was honored with a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album.
Bruno Mars continued to score another achievements with his next album, 24 Magic that was released in 2016. The album included an array of catchy tracks, such as “That’s What I Like”, “Versace on the Floor”, and many more. In 2018, the talented musician took home Grammy Awards for six categories, including Song of The Year and Album of the Year.