Age, Biography, and Wiki
Bruno Mars was born on October 8, 1985, making him 39 years old as of 2025. He rose to fame with his debut album "Doo-Wops & Hooligans" in 2010, featuring hits like "Just the Way You Are" and "Grenade." Mars' music often blends pop, rock, funk, and R&B styles, earning him a broad fan base globally. More details about his life and career can be found on his Wikipedia page.
| Occupation | Funk Singer |
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| Date of Birth | 8 October 1985 |
| Age | 39 Years |
| Birth Place | Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Libra |
| Country | U.S |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Bruno Mars stands at approximately 5 feet 5 inches (165 cm) tall. Specific weight and other measurements are not publicly detailed, but he is known for his energetic stage presence and charismatic appearance.
Mars was a music producer before becoming a successful solo artist, writing songs for Alexandra Burke, Adam Levine, Brandy, Sean Kingston, and K'naan. He said that the first "big hit" he and Lawrence wrote was the 2009 single, "Right Round", by Flo Rida: "That was our first taste of what could really happen with a hit we hundred-percented". Mars co-wrote the Sugababes's "Get Sexy" (2009) and provided backing vocals on their album, Sweet 7 (2010). He sang on the track "3D" on Far East Movement's second studio album, Animal (2009). Mars appeared on American pastor and hip hop artist Jaeson Ma's debut single, "Love", and American rapper Travie McCoy's "One at a Time" (a charity single for MTV's Staying Alive foundation) that year. He was recognized as a solo artist after appearing on American rapper B.o.B's "Nothin' on You" (2009) and McCoy's "Billionaire" (2010); both songs peaked in the top ten of several music charts, with the former topping the United States Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart.
Other singles include "Talking to the Moon", which was released in Brazil and topped Billboard Brasil's Hot Pop Songs and Hot 100 Airplay charts. "Marry You" was released internationally and "Count On Me" was the album's final single in Australia. Mars released "It Will Rain" on The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 film soundtrack (2011). The single reached number three in the U.S. and number two in New Zealand. He appeared on "Lighters" with the hip-hop duo Bad Meets Evil, "Mirror" with rapper Lil Wayne, and "Young, Wild & Free" with rappers Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg. The songs reached the top 20 of several countries and two top tens in the US.
In March 2012, Mars signed a worldwide publishing deal with BMG Chrysalis US. In a September 2012 interview for Billboard magazine, he affirmed his next album would be more varied musically: "I want to have the freedom and luxury to walk into a studio and say, 'Today I want to do a hip-hop, R&B, soul or rock record. Unorthodox Jukebox was released on December 11, 2012 in the US. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 before topping the chart. It also topped the charts in Australia, Canada and the UK. It has sold over six million copies worldwide.
24K Magic, released on November 18, 2016, debuted at number two in Canada, France, New Zealand, and the US. It sold over five million copies globally. Its singles "24K Magic", "That's What I Like" and a remix of "Finesse" with rapper Cardi B, reached the top four of the US and the top-three in Canada. "That's What I Like" topped the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number four in New Zealand, while "Finesse" reached number two in New Zealand. "24K Magic" peaked at number one in France and New Zealand. Other singles include "Versace on the Floor" and "Chunky" (released in Australia). All singles appeared on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs; "That's What I Like" and "Finesse" topped the chart.
Mars' musical style initially gravitated towards R&B, and he was influenced by Keith Sweat, Jodeci, and R. Kelly. He noticed Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, New Edition, Bobby Brown, Boyz II Men, Teddy Riley and Babyface as a child, and listened to 1950s rock 'n' roll, doo-wop and Motown. Mars listened to Led Zeppelin and the Beatles in high school, and to singers with high voices such as Stevie Wonder and Freddie Mercury. Bob Marley and local bands in Hawaii gave Mars his reggae roots. Hip-hop acts like Jay-Z, the Roots and Cody Chesnutt were favorites, influencing his songwriting. Each musical genre has influenced the singer's style: "It's not easy to [create] songs with that mixture of rock and soul and hip-hop, and there's only a handful of them."
Mars' music has been noted for a variety of styles, musical genres, and influences, including pop, R&B, funk, soul, reggae, and rock. His debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, is primarily a pop, reggae pop and R&B record. Many of Mars' songs on the album have "feel-good", carefree, optimistic sentiments. Darker subjects in his songs, however, address failed relationships, pain and loneliness. Mars' subsequent release, Unorthodox Jukebox (like his debut album) is influenced by disco, funk, rock, reggae and soul, and balladry. His second album differs from the first lyrically, addressing traditional notions of romance, male chauvinism and sexuality; the explicit content in "Gorilla" sparked controversy in Australia. Mars's third album, 24K Magic, was influenced by R&B, funk, pop and new jack swing. Lyrically, the album involves money and sex. An Evening with Silk Sonic is the debut studio album by Silk Sonic, composed of Mars and Anderson .Paak. The album is rooted in R&B, soul, funk, hip hop and pop music. It explores themes of seduction, romance, reconciliation and materialism.
Mars' concerts feature The Hooligans, including a guitarist, bassist, drummer, keyboardist and horn section, who are also dancers and background singers. Critics noted the difference the backup band and arrangements made to the live versions of the songs compared with the album versions. The shows contained all-band dancing arrangements, including footwork inspired by James Brown and the splits. The shows, influenced by disco, have a soul-revue-inspired set; long, mellow, soft interludes echoing the smooth contemporary R&B style popular during the 1990s are also included. The set lists blend several genres of music, including pop, doo-wop, funk, R&B, soul, and reggae. Mars' shows usually feature pyrotechnics, strobe and laser lighting, and he plays drums and guitar. In 2021, Pollstar named Mars the hip-hop/R&B touring artist of the 2010s.
Mars, who choreographed the video for "Treasure", received the Best Choreography award at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. Mars and Duddy's work was recognized at several awards shows, including two nominations for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction (for "Uptown Funk" and "24K Magic"). Mars' collaborations with Dechard earned them a nomination for Video Director of the Year at the 2019 BET Hip Hop Awards. In 2017, "That's What I Like" (directed by Mars and Jonathan Lia) led them to a nomination at the BET Awards 2017 for Video Director of the Year. The following year, Mars and Ben Winston's direction of Bruno Mars: 24K Magic Live at the Apollo (2017) earned them a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction. Mars and Dechard directed the video for "Leave the Door Open" in 2021, for which they received the BET Award for Video Director of the Year award. The video also received the 2021 MTV Video Music Award for Best Editing.
Mars' partnership with Fender on the "Bruno Mars Stratocaster", a limited-edition Fender Stratocaster in a color called "Mars Mocha Heirloom", was announced on November 7, 2023. The guitar, inspired by Mars's "retro style and showmanship", includes a "'69 neck profile modeled on Mars's own '69 Strat", "custom-voiced Fender Mars pickups" and "a leopard print strap, which pays homage to two of Mars's favorite guitar players, Jimi Hendrix and Prince". Mars said, "I don't think of myself as a guitar player. Every song is like a puzzle you have to solve, and a good guitar can bring something out of you that can help take you to the finish line."
| Height | 5 feet 5 inches |
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Dating & Relationship Status
Bruno Mars has been in a long-term relationship with model Jessica Caban. The couple has been together since 2011, though they have not publicly disclosed any plans for marriage or children.
He grew up in the Waikiki neighborhood of Honolulu. His father has Puerto Rican and Jewish heritage and is from Brooklyn, New York. Mars has said that his Jewish ancestors were from Hungary and Ukraine. His mother emigrated from the Philippines to Hawaii, and had Filipino and Spanish ancestry. Mars' parents met while performing in a show in which his mother was a hula dancer and his father was a percussionist. At age two, he was nicknamed "Bruno" by his father because of his resemblance to professional wrestler Bruno Sammartino.
Mars is one of six children and came from a musical family who exposed him to a diverse mix of musical genres, including rock and roll, reggae, hip hop, and rhythm and blues. His mother was a singer and a dancer and his father performed Little Richard's music, which inspired him as a young child. His uncle, an Elvis impersonator, encouraged the three-year-old Mars to perform songs by Presley and Michael Jackson. Mars began performing five days a week with his family's band (the Love Notes) at age four, and became known in Hawaii for his onstage impersonation of Elvis Presley. He urinated on himself during a performance of Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love" when he was five; his parents thought they might be making a mistake, but he never wavered. Mars appeared in the Hawaiian tabloid shopper MidWeek as "Little Elvis" in 1990, and performed in the halftime show of the 1990 Aloha Bowl.
He had a cameo role in the 1992 film Honeymoon in Vegas, and was interviewed by Pauly Shore on MTV. When Mars was six years old, he appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show. He performed two shows a night throughout grade school with his family's band, covering Frankie Lymon and Little Anthony songs. The young Mars had a small drum set, guitar, piano and percussion instruments, and learned to play them. His parents divorced when he was 12 (ending the Love Notes), and his father's varied businesses failed. Mars, his brother and father lived in the "slums of Hawaii" in a car, on rooftops, and in a closed bird zoo (Paradise Park) where his father had worked. Mars changed schools and was bullied, but later became popular.
His Elvis impersonations had a major impact on his musical evolution and performing technique. Mars began playing guitar, inspired by American rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix. In 2010, he acknowledged his Hawaiian roots and musical family as an influence: "Growing up in Hawaii made me the man I am. I used to do a lot of shows in Hawaii with my father's band. Everybody in my family sings, everyone plays instruments ... I've just been surrounded by it." At President Theodore Roosevelt High School in Honolulu, Mars sang in a group (the School Boys) who opened for his father's new band with songs by the Isley Brothers and the Temptations. He became well-known in Hawaiian entertainment in high school, opening for a large magic show and impersonating Michael Jackson for $75 per performance.
After his sister in Los Angeles played a demo for Mike Lynn (head of A&R at Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment label), Lynn summoned Mars to Los Angeles. In 2003, shortly after graduating from high school, Mars pursued a musical career. He lived on Mansfield Avenue, and was surprised by its poverty and squalor. Mars adopted his stage name from his father's childhood nickname, adding "Mars" at the end: "I felt like I didn't have no pizzazz, and a lot of girls say I'm out of this world, so I was like I guess I'm from Mars." His stage name was also an effort to "avoid being stereotyped", since the music industry tried to pigeonhole him as another Latin artist and tried to convince him to sing in Spanish.
Mars was raised on his father's 1950s doo-wop collection ("simple four-chord songs that got straight to the point") and on Little Richard, Frankie Lymon, Little Anthony, and Jerry Lee Lewis. As a child he impersonated Elvis Presley, affecting Mars' musical evolution: "I'm a big fan of 1950s Elvis when he would go on stage and scare people because he was a force and girls would go nuts! You can say the same thing for Prince or The Police. It's just guys who know that people are here to see a show, so I watch those guys and I love studying them because I'm a fan." Mars also impersonated Michael Jackson (another inspiration), and hip-hop songs by The Neptunes and Timbaland which were played on the radio influenced him.
Mars appeared in two commercials for Bench in 2011. He and model Joan Smalls were photographed in 1950s-influenced suits in Puerto Rico as part of the clothing line "La Isla Bonita" for Vogue. Mars invested in Chromatik, which makes digital versions of sheet music for the web and the iPad, the following year: "I love that Chromatik will bring better music education into schools. [...] And I'm happy to be a part of it." In 2013, Mars tweeted a picture of himself smoking an electronic cigarette. A press release reported his investment in the NJOY electronic-cigarette company "to quit smoking for his mother"; the singer "believe[d] in the product and the company's mission." Chromatik and NJOY have been acquired by TakeLessons and Marlboro, respectively.
In 2014, it was announced that Mars had partnered with the Hawai'i Community Foundation and the Grammy Foundation to establish a Grammy Camp Scholarship Fund for qualified needs-based applicants from Hawaii. On September 27, 2017, he expanded his camp scholarship to applicants from throughout the United States. Mars established the partnership in honor of his mother.
Mars' brother Eric Hernandez is the drummer for his backup band, The Hooligans. Their sisters Tiara, Tahiti and Presley and their cousin, Jamie, make up the all-girl Lylas. When she was young, Jamie moved in with the siblings due to parental issues. Mars began dating model Jessica Caban in 2011. They remained a couple as of 2024, living in a mansion in the Hollywood Hills with a Rottweiler named Geronimo.
On May 31, 2013, Mars was returning to Los Angeles from overseas when he learned at the airport that his mother was gravely ill; he immediately got on a plane to Hawaii. His mother died at Queens Medical Center in Honolulu the following day at age 55 from complications of a brain aneurysm. On June 7, 2013, the singer wrote about the loss of his mother on Twitter: "So thankful for all the love during the most difficult time in my life. I'll be back on my feet again soon. That's what mom wants, she told me."
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Bruno Mars' net worth is estimated at approximately $175 million. This wealth is primarily due to his successful music career, including album sales and tours. Notably, Mars has sold over 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. His lucrative tours, such as the "24K Magic World Tour," which grossed over $300 million, have significantly contributed to his net worth.
"I'd always been a working musician in Hawaii and never had problems paying rent. 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 DJing. 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 signed a contract with Motown Records in 2004, but the deal "went nowhere" and he had a fruitless conversation with will.i.am's management. However, the singer's experience with Motown proved beneficial. After Mars was dropped by the label, less than a year later, he remained in Los Angeles and landed a 2005 music-publishing deal with record producers Steve Lindsey and Cameron Strang at Westside Independent. According to Strang, "Bruno came to the conclusion that the best way to further his career was writing and producing hit songs."
Billboard estimated Mars' 2013 earnings at $18,839,681, making him the year's twelfth-highest-paid musician. Forbes began reporting his earnings in 2014, calculating that the $60 million earned between June 2013 and June 2014 for his music and tour placed him thirteenth on the magazine's Celebrity 100 list. Mars was sixth on the magazine's World's Highest Paid Celebrities list in 2017, earning an estimated $39 million from June 2016 through June 2017. Forbes announced that Mars was America's highest-paid musician in 2017, with an estimated total of $100 million; this placed him eleventh on the Celebrity 100 list and were his highest yearly earnings to date. He was 54th on the 2019 Forbes Celebrity 100 list, with estimated earnings of $51.5 million between June 1, 2018, and June 1, 2019.
Career, Business, and Investments
Bruno Mars' career has been marked by numerous successful albums and tours:
- Music Career: His albums "Doo-Wops & Hooligans," "Unorthodox Jukebox," and "24K Magic" have been particularly successful, with "24K Magic" earning him six Grammy Awards.
- Tours: The "24K Magic World Tour" grossed over $300 million, and his Las Vegas residency has been highly profitable, grossing around $124.5 million between 2016 and 2024.
- Business Ventures: Mars has invested in various business ventures, including a pop-up beach bar, which contributes to his entrepreneurial income.
Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his three-octave tenor vocal range, live performances, retro showmanship and musical versatility. He is accompanied by his band, the Hooligans. Raised in Honolulu, Mars gained recognition in Hawaii as a child for his impersonation of Elvis Presley, before moving to Los Angeles in 2003 to pursue a musical career.
In 2014, SelvaRey Rum began catering events and parties by Mars. He was introduced to the brand by co-founder Seth Gold the following year, and invested an undisclosed amount. In 2020, Mars redesigned the rum's taste, branding and packaging in a 1970s style. The brand is co-owned by Mars, Seth and Marc Gold, and Robert Herzig. The Hooligans, .Paak, D'Mile, Fauntleroy, and Moniz became co-owners.
A 2018 Billboard article said that no male artist in pop music during the 2010s had had a longer success streak than Mars, and Slate considered him "the most consistent male pop star of the 2010s". In 2021, WBLS said that Mars "has been a dominant force in popular culture for more than a decade". Two years later, The Times ranked Mars thirteenth of the 20 best 21st-century vocalists. The New York Times and Toronto Star described "Uptown Funk" as one of the century's most recognizable pop songs. About Mars' Puerto Rican roots and ethnic labels, Remezcla said that he was "the first proud Latino artist to make it" to the "top of international pop culture" while not following the music industry's "cynical labels game" and being pigeonholed. His music and showmanship have inspired AJ Mitchell, Thomas Rhett, Dua Lipa, Benny Dayal, Rauw Alejandro, KiDi, Lee Brice, Shawn Mendes, Selena Gomez, and Meghan Trainor.
"Uptown Funk" by Ronson and Mars has been cited for copyright infringement. In 2015, similarities to "Oops Up Side Your Head" (1979) by the Gap Band led them, keyboardist Rudolph Taylor and producer Lonnie Simmons to be added as co-writers of "Uptown Funk" and receive publishing royalties. Serbian singer Viktorija said that year that "Uptown Funk" infringed on one of her tracks, but decided not to sue Mars and Ronson. Electro-funk band Collage sued Ronson and Mars in 2016 for copying their 1983 single, "Young Girls"; the Sequence, a rap group, said that it infringed their 1979 single "Funk You Up" and sued a year later. In 2017, Lastrada Entertainment filed a lawsuit due to similarities with "More Bounce to the Ounce" (1980) by Zapp. The company sought damages and a jury trial to prevent Ronson from profiting from "Uptown Funk". The Collage and Zapp lawsuits were dropped the following year, and any financial settlement is unknown. "Treasure" was re-registered, with writing credits including Thibaut Berland and Christopher Khan, due to similarities to Breakbot's "Baby I'm Yours".
Social Network
Bruno Mars is active on social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter, where he engages with his fans and shares updates about his music and upcoming projects. His large following on these platforms helps maintain his visibility and influence in the entertainment industry.
Mars established his name in the music industry as a songwriter and co-founder of the production team the Smeezingtons. He rose to fame as a recording artist after featuring on the US number-one single "Nothin' on You" (2009) by B.o.B. Mars' first three studio albums – Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010), Unorthodox Jukebox (2012) and 24K Magic (2016) – found critical and commercial success, with the lattermost winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The albums spawned multiple international hit singles, including "Just the Way You Are", "Grenade", "The Lazy Song", "Locked Out of Heaven", "When I Was Your Man", "Treasure", "24K Magic", "That's What I Like" and "Finesse". He also featured on Mark Ronson's 2014 single "Uptown Funk", which became Billboard's best-performing song of the 2010s.
Mars said about the singles, "I think those songs weren't meant to be full-sung songs. If I'd sung all of 'Nothin' on You', it might've sounded like some '90s R&B." He released his debut extended play (EP), It's Better If You Don't Understand, on May 11, 2010. It peaked at number 99 on the US Billboard 200, and a music video was released for "The Other Side" with singer CeeLo Green and B.o.B. Mars and the Smeezingtons composed Green's successful 2010 single, "Fuck You".
In 2016, Mars began the concert residency Bruno Mars at Park MGM. His headlining tour, 24K Magic World Tour (2017–18), grossed more than $300 million. On November 2017, CBS aired the TV special Bruno Mars: 24K Magic Live at the Apollo. Mars received seven 2017 American Music Awards, including Artist of the Year, two for "That's What I Like" and another two for 24K Magic. He received the Album/Mixtape of the Year award and four others at the 2017 Soul Train Music Awards. At the 2018 Grammy Awards, Mars won all the categories he was nominated: Album of the Year and Best R&B Album for 24K Magic, Record of the Year for the title track and Song of The Year, Best R&B Performance, and Best R&B Song for "That's What I Like". 24K Magic received a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.
A partnership was announced in February 2020 between Mars and Disney for a "music-themed theatrical narrative" in which the singer would star in and produce the film. A month later, it was confirmed that Mars was working on his next album with Babyface. During the COVID-19 lockdown, he wrote music every day for his upcoming album. That year, Mars sold part of his song catalog to Warner Chappell Music and kept a small share; his co-publishing contract with BMG was also part of the deal. In 2021, Mars was reportedly paid $3.2 million to perform at the Cape Cod wedding of the Motorola CEO's son.
Mars has a three-octave tenor vocal range. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times called him one of the most "versatile and accessible singers in pop, with a light, soul-influenced voice that's an easy fit in a range of styles, a universal donor", and Tim Sendra of AllMusic described the singer's vocals on Doo-Wops & Hooligans as "the kind of smooth instrument that slips into your ear like honey." Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone called Mars a "nimble, soulful vocalist" on Unorthodox Jukebox. Jim Farber of the New York Daily News likened his voice to "the purity, cream and range of mid-period Michael Jackson" in a review of a concert promoting Unorthodox Jukebox. On 24K Magic, Consequence of Sound's Karen Gwen said that Mars showed his "pips" and pushed his vocals to the limit. She described his voice as a "clear, unapologetic tenor" and a modern-day "blessing". Jon Caramanica of The New York Times said that 24K Magic demonstrated the singer's vocal ability, from tenderness to "the more forceful side of his voice".
Mars says his work with other artists influenced his music style: "Nothin' on You had a Motown vibe, Billionaire was a reggae acoustic guitar-driven song, though one of my favorites is the CeeLo Green song. I don't think anyone else could've sung that song. And there's Just the Way You Are. If you know my story, you know I love all different genres of music." Growing up in Hawaii has influenced his style, giving the songs a reggae sound: "In Hawaii some of the biggest radio stations are reggae. That music brings people together. It's not urban music or pop music. It's just songs. That's what makes it cross over so well. The song comes first."
Mars is known for his retro showmanship, which is acclaimed by tour critics and reviewers. Deanna Ramsay of The Jakarta Post described Mars as a "truly global star". The Boston Herald's Jim Sullivan compared Mars' showmanship to that of Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley. Kevin Johnson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch called Mars a "consummate performer." The Boston Globe Sarah Rodman said Mars shows an "indefatigable ecstatic approach to performing" and "classic showmanship." Jim Farber of the Daily News said Mars's Super Bowl XLVIII halftime show "[brought] old-school showmanship to [a] dynamic performance." Mars played videotapes of Elvis, James Brown and Jackson when he was younger. Now, before shows, he watches Brown's T.A.M.I. Show, Jimi Hendrix's Live at Woodstock or Prince performing "Purple Rain" (1984).
During the Doo-Wops & Hooligans Tour, Ara Jansan of The West Australian called the show "one of the most creative and exciting displays of musical artistry" she had seen in a long time and noted the concert attracted a wide-age-range audience. On the Hooligans in Wondaland Tour, the Oregonian's Robert Ham noted, that Mars grabbed the audience's attention during the entire concert and had considerable guitar skills. During the Moonshine Jungle Tour, Jason Lipshutz of Billboard described the singer's performance as "entertaining ...and he does a better job at it than almost anyone working in music right now". Rolling Stone ranked Mars 35th on its list of 50 Best Live Acts Right Now in 2013: "Anyone from the age of 5 to 95 can walk out of a Bruno Mars concert feeling like the show was designed just for them. Mars walks the old-school walk...he also nails the hits, leads a super-energetic nine-piece soul band, and rips a mean drum solo". NFL executives Sarah Moll and Tracy Perlman said, "If you go to his concerts, it's 11-year-old girls to 65-year-old women" after seeing the Moonshine Jungle tour several times during the summer of 2013. The 24K Magic World Tour was praised by critics for its showmanship, guitar skills and stage production. The tour received two Pollstar awards, two Billboard Music Awards, and a TEC Award. 24K Magic World Tour awards
Mars appeared in an August 2024 commercial for the Japanese discount-store chain Don Quijote. He, dancers Miyu, Haruka, Miyuri and miku, and store mascot Donpen danced around the Mega Don Quijote store in Shibuya while picking up articles from its People Brand (Jōnetsu kakaku). Mars wrote the jingle and shared the commercial on his Instagram. The collaboration included limited-edition goods released in September.
In 2013, Mars told Rolling Stone that record executives "had trouble categorizing him" and were unsure which radio stations would play his songs or to which audience (Black or White) he would appeal. That May, he said that "Nothin' on You" was rejected by a "music industry decision-maker" because of his race. The experience made him feel like a "mutant", and he said that was his lowest point: "Even with that song in my back pocket to seal the deal, things like that are coming out of people's mouths. It made me feel like I wasn't even in the room."
In 2018, Mars was accused of cultural appropriation on social media for using his racial ambiguity to profit from black music and was criticized for mimicking the sound of past artists. Black celebrities, including Stevie Wonder, Charlie Wilson, 9th Wonder, Marjua Estevez, and Stereo Williams, dismissed the accusations. Mars has often spoken about his influences and has credited several Black artists, including Babyface, Teddy Riley, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. During a 2021 interview on The Breakfast Club, Mars responded to the criticism: "The only reason why I'm here is because of James Brown, is because of Prince, Michael [Jackson] ... that's it. This music comes from love and if you can't hear that, then I don't know what to tell you."
Education
Bruno Mars attended Roosevelt High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, but did not pursue higher education. Instead, he focused on developing his music career from a young age.
In conclusion, Bruno Mars' success in the music industry, combined with his business ventures and lucrative tours, has solidified his position as one of the wealthiest and most influential musicians of his generation.
Although music partner Philip Lawrence said that Mars has a darker side, most of his music is romantic: "I blame that on me singing to girls back in high school". Brody Brown, who has worked with Mars, said that the singer is in charge of the melody and lyrics of his tracks: "I'll just do the music, but Bruno does both. I chime in on some things with words, but the majority of the content is written by Bruno and Phil (Lawrence)."
He donated 24,000 meals in 2018 to the Salvation Army Hawaiian & Pacific Islands Division's 48th annual Thanksgiving Dinner. In 2020, Mars donated $1 million to the MGM Resorts Foundation to assist MGM employees in financial difficulty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That year, Mars and other artists donated autographed microphones to music-gear marketplace Reverb.com for sale "with all proceeds going to ten youth music education programs" affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. He created a protest sign with an Angela Davis quote for the Show Me the Signs auction to help families of black women killed by police.
Until the end of 2021, Mars donated all profits from SelvaRey Rum to Honolulu Community College's Music & Entertainment Learning Experience. That year he was part of the Keep Memory Alive Power of Love event, whose proceeds support services, care, and resources to patients with neurocognitive diseases and their caregivers. In 2022, Mars, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Shawn Mendes, and Rosalía were named co-chairs for the Grammy Museum's Campaign for Music Education to raise three to five million dollars for its educational programs. It gave people younger than 18 and college students free admission to the Los Angeles Grammy Museum and access to "music education programs". In 2024, Mars performed a charity concert sponsored by Budweiser Brasil at the Tokio Marine Hall in São Paulo to help victims of the 2024 Rio Grande do Sul floods.