1985-present
Latest News: Bruno Mars Wins Grammy for “Die With a Smile”
Bruno Mars added another Grammy to his growing collection. The singer's hit song, “Die With a Smile,” featuring Lady Gaga, won Best Pop Duo Performance at the 67th awards ceremony on Sunday. Released in August 2024, the duet quickly became a radio hit and spent three weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart later that year.
“Gaga, I’m so honored to be a part of this song with you,” Mars said during his acceptance speech. “I’m so honored to have a small part in your giant musical legacy and I really, truly believe that God gave us this song to sing together.”
The duo's song was also nominated for Song of the Year.
Mars last competed at the Grammys in 2022, winning four trophies with Anderson .Paak for their Silk Sonic single “Leave the Door Open,” including the top categories of Record and Song of the Year. Now, the 39-year-old has 16 Grammys under his belt.
Who Is Bruno Mars?
Bruno Mars is a Grammy-winning pop and R&B singer known for the hits “Locked Out of Heaven,” “Uptown Funk,” “That's What I Like,” and “Die With a Smile,” featuring Lady Gaga. After starting his career as a songwriter for popular artists in the early 2000s, the Mars finally gained recognition as a singer in 2010 with his debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, which spawned the Grammy-winning single “Just the Way You Are.” Mars has collected a total of 15 Grammy Awards for his music and has secured nine No. 1 hits. In addition to his successful career as a solo artist, the singer is one half of the R&B duo Silk Sonic with musician Anderson .Paak.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Peter Gene Hernandez
BORN: October 8, 1985
BIRTHPLACE: Honolulu, Hawaii
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Libra
Early Life
Bruno Mars, whose real name is Peter Gene Hernandez, was born on October 8, 1985, in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father, Pete, was a Latin percussionist, and his mother, Bernadette, was a singer. As a toddler, Mars was nicknamed “Bruno” by his father, who thought he resembled professional wrester Bruno Sammartino. 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 at an early age, teaching himself to play piano, guitar, and drums.
At the age of 4, he joined the family musical act as an Elvis impersonator and quickly become one of the stars of the show, along with his five siblings: Jaime, Tiara, Tahiti, Presley, and Eric. He continued to perform with his family throughout his childhood, and as he approached adolescence, he added Michael Jackson to his impersonation repertoire. Mars attended Roosevelt High School, where he and several friends formed a band, the School Boys, performing classic oldies hits alongside his family's act at the Ilikai Hotel in Honolulu. Mars credits his fearless stage presence to his unusual childhood. “Performing from such a young age just got me so comfortable on stage,” he told Hawaii's MidWeek in April 2010. “Growing up performing—that was normal for me. Everyone in my family sings, plays instruments. It's what we do.”
Music Career
After graduating high school, Mars moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music. While he was initially signed by Motown Records in 2004, they dropped him from the label a year later, with nothing to show for it. Over the next few years in L.A., Mars struggled to make a breakthrough in the music industry. Having grown accustomed to performing frequently while growing up in Honolulu, he grew frustrated with waiting for his career to move forward. It was during this period that Mars first turned to songwriting. “I only started writing songs when I moved up to L.A. because when I was in Hawaii, I never really needed to,” he told MidWeek. “It's not like what you see in movies, where you walk into a record company and you're given all these great songs to sing. You have to write the song the world is going to want to hear and play it over and over again.”
Mars was then introduced to songwriter Phillip Lawrence, who agreed to help him compose material, but the pair were repeatedly rejected by major record labels. That's when he and Lawrence decided to write songs for other artists. “I decided to push the artist thing aside and get into the business this way,” Mars explained. In 2008, they reluctantly sold their first song, “Lost,” to Menudo before writing Flo Rida's 2009 smash hit “Right 'Round.” That same year, Mars signed to Atlantic Records and co-wrote K'Naan's “Wavin' Flag,” Coca-Cola's theme song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
2010 proved to be a banner year for Mars as both a songwriter and a singer. He co-wrote CeeLo Green's “F---- You” and Travis McCoy's “Billionaire,” which he was also provided vocals for. Both songs later earned Mars Grammy nominations. He was also featured as a singer in his own right on rapper B.o.B.'s hit “Nothin' on You.” The track was an enormous hit, transforming him from a behind-the-scenes composer to a pop performer. The single quickly jumped atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart, landing the singer his first No. 1 song.
Several months later, in October 2010, Mars released his debut studio album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans. The album's lead single “Just the Way You Are” quickly proved to be another hit for the artist and later won him his first Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance in 2011. Mars went on to pick up several Grammy nods for his debut effort, including for Album of the Year. While he went home empty-handed, Mars gave a career-building performance at the 2012 telecast with his 1960s-influenced song “Runaway Baby” and James Brown-inspired dance moves, which had everyone grooving in their seats. Following the release of his 2012 album Unorthodox Jukebox, Mars took home another Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album. In total, the singer has earned 15 Grammys in his 15 years as a pop and R&B singer.
In December 2013, Mars began his first residency at The Chelsea in Las Vegas, and two months later, in February 2014, he performed at the Super Bowl halftime show. This honor put him in the same league as such past performers as Madonna and Justin Timberlake. Mars returned to the Super Bowl stage in 2016, performing at the halftime show with Beyoncé Knowles and Coldplay. The performance is among the most-watched Super Bowl half time shows of all time. Later that year, the singer embarked on another Las Vegas residency at MGM Park, which has grossed around $114 million in eight years. While the residency was initially set to conclude in December 2024, Mars announced he would be extending his stay in January 2025, adding several concert dates in May and June.
Silk Sonic
In February 2021, Mars and rapper Anderson .Paak announced they were releasing a collab album together under the name Silk Sonic. The duo played the lead single “Leave the Door Open” off their debut album An Evening with Silk Sonic at the Grammys that year. The following year, Silk Sonic's “Leave the Door Open” won all four awards it was nominated for at the Grammys. In 2023, Mars withdrew the duo's album from Grammy consideration, despite being a top contender for the top album categories.
Hit Songs
Mars has scored several hits since he first came on the scene. The singer has had a total of 34 songs land on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including nine No. 1 hits and 20 songs in the Top 10. Mars earned his first chart-topper with B.o.B.'s “Nothin' on You” in 2010, before securing two more later that year. Both “Grenade” and the Grammy-winning “Just the Way You Are” spent four weeks at No. 1, while “The Lazy Song” cracked the Top 10. He landed another hit in 2011 with “It Will Rain,” which was featured on the soundtrack for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1. Mars found success again in 2012 when the Grammy-nominated singles “Locked Out of Heaven” and “When I Was Your Man” debuted atop the chart.
In 2014, Mark Ronson's “Uptown Funk,” featuring Mars, spent an impressive 14 weeks at No. 1 before winning two Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo Performance. He scored yet another No. 1 hit with “That's What I Like” in 2016, which earned him three more Grammys. Years later, in 2021, the Silk Sonic chart-topper “Leave The Door Open” won Mars and Anderson .Paak four Grammys for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best R&B Song, and Best R&B Performance. In 2024, he released the No. 1 single “Die With a Smile,” featuring Lady Gaga, earning him two 2025 Grammy nominations. Some of Mars's other hits include “Billionaire,” “Treasure,” “24K Magic,” “Finesse,” featuring Cardi B, Silk Sonic's “Smokin Out The Window,” and “APT.” featuring Rosé.
Albums
Mars's first studio album Doowops & Hooligans was released to much fanfare in December 2010. It debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart and is now multi-platinum certified, like most of his other records. Since then, the singer has released two more solo albums and one Silk Sonic record. Mars won Best Pop Vocal Album at the Grammys for his 2012 album Unorthodox Jukebox and later claimed Album of the Year for his 2016 record 24K Magic. His most recent work, An Evening With Silk Sonic, came out in November 2021.
Relationship With Jessica Caban
Mars started dating model and actress Jessica Caban in 2011. The two met at a restaurant in New York City and began dating soon after. The following year, Caban moved into Mars's Los Angles home with their Rottweiler, Geronimo. While the couple has kept a relatively low profile, Caban sparked breakup rumors in 2024 when she deleted photos of Mars from her Instagram account. In January 2025, she seemingly confirmed that the two had split. Responding to an Instagram comment that asserted their relationship had ended, she wrote, “I will always celebrate and be happy for all of his achievements. Cheering from afar.” Mars has not spoken publicly about their relationship status.
Net Worth
As of September 2024, Mars has an estimated net worth of $175 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. In addition to music sales, the singer has generated wealth from his Las Vegas residencies, grossing around $114 million in eight years.
Quotes
- Everything's good right now. It's really paying off because now my songs are on the radio. It took me a while to finally get it, but when I got it, I think I got it right. And I'm very proud of how my songs are representing me as an artist.
- You pick up some fans and a handful of haters along the way.
- I grew up watching ‘American Idol,’ so knowing they're performing the song on such a big platform is great. But I'm coming out singing the songs that I have written and produced and worked so hard for, so it's kind of hard for me to think about being on a show like that, where it's basically just singing other people's songs.
- You really have to come into it with the whole package, as a salesman. You've got to say, ‘This is who I am, this is my music, get in or get out.’ You have to really bring something to the table.
- The world has never seen another Bruno Mars. Please let that be the headline.
- As proud as I am of ‘Doo-Wops,’ I feel like, ‘Oh, man. People haven't seen nothing. They don't even know what I'm about to do,’ and that's what I can't wait to show the world.
- Don't be a slut. Remember your dream. Do your music and keep it special.
- I'm not gonna preach that I'm a role model. I'm a f---ing musician!
- Performing from such a young age just got me so comfortable on stage.
- I've always had a drum set, a piano, a guitar ... and never got trained to play. It was just always there. That's just how I learned, just being surrounded by it my whole life.
- It's not like what you see in movies, where you walk into a record company and you're given all these great songs to sing. You have to write the song the world is going to want to hear and play it over and over again. I learned that the hard way here in L.A.
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