Peter Gene Hernandez

Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars (/ˈmɑːrz/), is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and choreographer. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, by a family of musicians, Mars began making music at a young age and performed in various musical venues in his hometown throughout his childhood. He graduated from high school and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a musical career. After being dropped by Motown Records, Mars signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records in 2009.
In 2009, he co-founded the production team The Smeezingtons, responsible for the singles "Nothin' on You" by B.o.B and "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy. He featured on the hooks for both singles, becoming
He is the son of Peter Hernandez and Bernadette San Pedro Bayot (1957–2013).[2]
His father is of half Puerto Rican and half Ashkenazi Jewish descent, and is originally from Brooklyn, New York.[3][4][5] His mother emigrated from the Philippines to Hawaii as a child, and was of Filipino, and some Spanish, ancestry.[4][6] His parents met while performing in a show in which his mother was a hula dancer and his father played percussion.[5] At the age of two, he was nicknamed "Bruno" by his father, because of his resemblance to professional wrestler Bruno Sammartino.[7][8][9]
Mars is one of six children and came from a musical family which exposed him to a diverse mix of genres including: reggae, rock, hip hop, and R&B.[10][11] His mother was both a singer and a dancer, and his father performed Little Richard rock and roll music.[12] Mars' uncle was an Elvis impersonator, and also encouraged three-year-old Mars to perform on stage. Mars performed songs by artists such as Michael Jackson, The Isley Brothers, and The Temptations.[8] At age four, Mars began performing five days a week with his family's band, The Love Notes, and became known on the island for his impersonation of Presley.[13] In 1990, Mars was featured in MidWeek as "Little Elvis", and later appeared in a cameo role in the film Honeymoon in Vegas (1992),[8][14] and performed in the
And then it's like, 'Now I'm in L.A. and my phone's getting shut off.' That's when reality hit. I started DJ-ing. It was something silly. I told this person I could DJ because they said they could pay me $75 cash under the table. I didn't know how to DJ. I lost that job pretty quick."
—Mars, speaking about his experiences of moving to Los Angeles to pursue a musical career.[21]
Shortly after moving to Los Angeles, Mars signed with Motown Records in 2004, in a deal that "went nowhere", and had a conversation with Will.i.am's management which turned out to be fruitless.[22][23] However, Mars' experience with Motown proved to be beneficial to his career when he met songwriter and producer Philip Lawrence, who was also signed to the label.[22]
After Mars was dropped by the label less than a year of being