Bruno Mars

Peter Hernandez (born October 8, 1985 in Waikiki, Hawaii), better known by his stage name Bruno Mars, is a Filipino-Puerto Rican American singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist signed to Atlantic Records. He is most well known for singing and co-writing the hooks for the #1 hit Nothin' On You by B.o.B, and Billionaire by Travie McCoy; he also co-wrote the international hits Right Round by Flo Rida and Wavin' Flag by K'naan. After the success of these songs Mars released his debut EP, It’s Better If You Don’t Understand, in May 2010. He now plans to release his debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, on October 5th. The lead single, Just the Way You Are, was released on July 19, 2010 and has so far peaked in the top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Bruno Mars was born and raised in Hawaii by parents Pete and Bernadette “Bernie" San Pedro Bayot Hernandez, of Filipino and Puerto Rican descent. Hernandez was one of six children, along with brother Eric and sisters Jaime, Tiara, Tahiti and Presley. He came from a musical family giving him a diverse music style mix of Reggae, Rock, Hip Hop, and R&B. From a young age, he was impersonating and performing songs by influential artists such as Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley. In 1990, at the tender age of 4, Hernandez was featured in MidWeek magazine as "Little Elvis". He attended President Theodore Roosevelt High School, graduating in 2003 at age 17 and shortly after moved to L.A. to pursue a musical career. He was signed to Motown Records in 2005 and formed the production trio The Smeezingtons along with Phil Lawrence and Ari Levine. He formed the stage name after Bruno Sammartino, a wrestler who his father likened him to as a child. He has since written songs for K’naan and Adam Levine.