he's a superstar who may have the name
of another planet but in reality Bruno
Mars is remarkably down-to-earth
Mars's journey to fame has been marked
with highs and lows while his laid-back
demeanor doesn't hint at his troubles
Mars has had more than his fair share of
hardships think you know everything
there is to know about this icon think
again he lost his mother Bruno Mars
comes from a tight-knit family he and
his mother Bernadette San Pedro Bay aute
were especially close and her death in
2013 from a brain aneurysm devastated
him in 2017 Mars opened up to latina
magazine about his loss he said the
woman who taught you to love showed you
what a woman is supposed to be when that
goes away a little more than half your
heart goes away with it
he added that he would trade music to
have her back he grew up poor at one
time his family was so poor that they
crowded into a small home with no
bathroom
despite this Maher says his childhood
was the best in an interview with 60
minutes he said at all right each other
Mars added that there were days when his
family didn't have electricity but they
stayed positive and figured it out he
says that he takes on that same
mentality when it comes to music he
wrote his first song at the age of four
Mars wrote his very first song when he
was just four years old and dedicated it
to his mother in an interview with
Inquirer lifestyle before her death she
explained that Mars sang before he
talked she also said how she bought him
a piano at two years old and he picked
it up in no time
she explained he went on to the piano
and just started playing to us not just
banging on it but he played actual Tunes
he was tiny Elvis not only did the
pint-sized Bruno write his first song
when he was just four years old he was
also the youngest Elvis impersonator at
the time which he started doing at just
two years old as part of his parents
band he was such a great tiny Elvis that
he performed at the 1990 Aloha Bowl and
played little Elvis in 1992 s honeymoon
in Vegas and
loved him he was featured in the 1990
documentary Viva Elvis and appeared on
multiple television segments like with
Pauly Shore on MTV and according to
Rolling Stone he appeared on the Arsenio
Hall Show by the time he was just six
soap Y Elvis he said the kid was born to
be a star
a musical family if Martha's stage
presence and smooth singing voice seemed
effortless there's a good reason for it
music is in his blood and the
singer-songwriter grew up performing his
dad was a Latin percussionist and his
mom was a hula dancer that charm brought
together Mars's parents who collaborated
for years in a cover band called the
love notes that's the very band that
Mars joined as an Elvis impersonator by
the time he was 2 and through which he
became something of a local celebrity
today Mars keeps the family tradition
alive his older brother Erik Hernandez
plays the drums in Mars's band and let's
not forget about Mars his sister's tiara
Tahiti and Presley Hernandez and Jamie
Kalani by aute they're part of a group
called Delilah's and landed a reality
show in 2013 fighting racial
stereotyping the son of a proto Rican
Jewish father and a Filipino mother Mars
has had to work hard to fight off
stereotypes born Peter Hernandez Mars
told GQ that in the early years of his
career people would say things like your
last name's Hernandez maybe you should
do this Latin music the Spanish music
Enrique is so hot right now while Mars
didn't want to be forced into a genre of
music on the basis of his race he
explained to latina magazine that
there's absolutely no truth to the rumor
that he adopted a stage name to hide his
Puerto Rican heritage the reason behind
his name change Mars says because it
quote sounds bigger than life he gets
frustrated when people try to put him
and his music in a box he says my music
is for anybody who wants to listen to it
named after a famous wrestler
even as a young Elvis impersonator Mars
wasn't going by his birth name of Peter
gene Hernandez so where did the name
Bruno come from Mars explains in an
interview with rap-up Bruno is after
Bruno Sammartino
who was this big fat wrestler I guess I
was this chunky little baby so my dad
used to call me that as a nickname he
was once arrested for cocaine possession
while Mars has largely managed to avoid
scandal he was arrested for a cocaine
possession in 2010 as part of his plea
deal he was required to serve 200 hours
of community service
Mars later told GQ that the arrest was a
reality check for him he believes it was
a lesson that everything he's worked on
for his whole life could be taken away
in a second maybe it's that very lesson
that is so far otherwise kept Mars out
of the news for anything other than his
successes he's incredibly generous
during the torturous typhoon Yolanda
Mars decided to do what he could to give
back to his mother's native Philippines
the Philippine Star reported that while
Mars was in Manila for his moonshine
jungle tour he presented the abs-cbn
ling cod kappa mela foundation with a
donation of $100,000 and in the wake of
the Flint water crisis Mars was also
quick to lend a helping hand to Michigan
donating 1 million dollars to help
recovery efforts in a statement released
by Mars via Rolling Stone he said
ongoing challenges remain years later
for Flint residents and it's important
that we don't forget our brothers and
sisters affected by this disaster as
people especially as Americans we need
to stand together to make sure something
like this never happens in any community
ever again
he wants his music to speak for itself
Bruno Mars is still a young man so we
can expect to see even more hits from
him in the future
the singer rarely does interviews
preferring to let his music speak for
itself he told the sane low of radio
station beats one that he wants to be
known for his work according to complex
he told lo I hope that my music does the
talking I just want to do music I don't
want to be known for any scandals for
controversy I want to be the guy that
brings joy to your life through his
music that's it and I want to go home
there on some Netflix and live a life
who could argue with that
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