Bruno Mars: The person who rocked the world music industry

Having stage experience since the age of four, Bruno Mars quickly achieved success as both a producer and a singer, becoming one of the important artists of the 21st century.

In the past six years, there has been one person who has always swept all award categories every time he has been nominated for a Grammy. It’s none other than Bruno Mars.

In 2016, the singer and Mark Ronson rocked the world music industry with the hit Uptown Funk – winning two golden trumpets including Record of the Year . Six years later, Bruno Mars joined hands with Anderson .Paak to create the group Silk Sonic, continuing to destroy the 2022 Grammys with the song Leave the Door Open .

The song won four awards in the nominated categories including Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Outstanding R&B Song and Outstanding R&B Performance. The achievement brought the total number of golden trumpets Bruno Mars owned to 15, helping him re-establish Paul Simon’s record, becoming a three-time Record Award winner in Grammy history.

Music is passion

Born in 1985 in Hawaii, Bruno Mars grew up in a family with a musical tradition. His father is a musician, his mother is a singer. His uncle holds the position of lead singer in the band The Love Notes founded with his brother.

When he was just four years old, Mars was sent on stage by his parents to perform with the band, the main task being to impersonate Elvis Presley. Ten years later, he continued to attract attention when he transformed into Michael Jackson, which was reported in the local newspaper. At that time, the star taught himself to play piano, guitar, bass and percussion. He considers Presley and Jackson to be his idols and main inspirations in music.

Bruno Mars impersonated Elvis Presley and performed on stage from a young age.

His father gave him the nickname Bruno because of his plump body, which reminded him of legendary wrestler Bruno Sammartino. In 2003, with his uncle’s encouragement, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a professional singing career. Producers want the singer to pursue Latin music and sing in Spanish to conquer the audience.

In response, the star added Mars to his stage name with two purposes: He wanted to sound like a person from another planet, and also warned record labels not to turn him into the second Enrique Iglesias.

A year later, Bruno Mars quickly signed a contract with Motown – the cradle of A-list stars like Marvin Gaye or Michael Jackson – when he was only 19 years old. He did not release personal products, but had the opportunity to meet and get to know musician Philip Lawrence. The collaborative duo of sound engineer Ari Levine forms the Smeezingtons – a group specializing in composing and producing music.

In the late 2000s, Smeezingtons was a name associated with the success of a series of R&B artists. Some hits created by the group include Long Distance (2008) by Brandy, Right Round (2009) by Flo Rida or Wavin Flag (2009) – the 2010 World Cup theme song performed by Somalia KNaan.

Bruno Mars (center) and two members of the Smeezingtons production team.

Smeezingtons also contributed to Bruno Mars’s first two albums. In 2015, the group collaborated with Adele to produce 25 – which won Album of the Year at the 2017 Grammys. It was also the last product labeled Smeezingtons. After the group disbanded, Mars and Lawrence collaborated with Christopher Brody Brown to create a new production group called Shampoo Press & Curl.

Success as a singer

Bruno Mars is a multi-talented artist who does not limit himself to any position. In addition to producing music, he also directed his own MV, created dance moves and played many musical instruments.

Success also came to Bruno Mars very quickly when focusing on his solo career. His debut studio album Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010) sold millions of copies and was honored by the Recording Academy in major categories such as Album of the Year and Outstanding Pop Vocal Album.

The series of singles Grenade, The Lazy Song, Marry You were all international hits, topping music charts in many countries. In particular, the song Just the Way You Are brought the star his first Grammy Award in his career in the category of Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

Bruno Mars is a person of mixed blood, inheriting Puerto Rican – Ashkenazi Jewish descent from his father and Filipino – Spanish descent from his mother. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that his music is also colorful, not limited to any framework.

Doo-Wops & Hooligans ‘ appeal comes from its irreverent, archetype-breaking spirit. The songs recount life from an optimistic, loving perspective. Through a series of compositions, Bruno Mars confided about pain, loss, loneliness and failed relationships. However, he turns all negative emotions into joyful, bustling R&B tunes that anyone can dance to.

The singer quickly won her first Grammy Golden Trumpet with the song Just the Way You Are.

The singer quickly won her first Grammy Golden Trumpet with the song Just the Way You Are .

Talking about the album name , the star said he wanted to create a record that could appeal to all audiences. “Doo-Wops” refers to girls, and “hooligans” refers to boys. To date, the album has stayed for more than 560 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart, always mentioned in the list of the most successful debut albums of the 21st century.

It took Beyoncé 32 years to sing on the Super Bowl stage for the first time. Lady Gaga and Katy Perry both turned 31 years old and Bruno Mars was invited to perform when he was only 28 years old.

To be exact, Bruno Mars is the youngest artist to ever sing at the Super Bowl since Justin Timberlake (23 years old). But the Cry Me a River singer was only one of six guests in 2004, and Mars was the real star in 2014.

With the Red Hot Chili Peppers assisting, the performance broke Beyoncé’s record with more than 115 million television views. Later, only Lady Gaga surpassed Bruno Mars when reaching a close number of 117.5 million views.

The singer used the performance to pay tribute to her mother – who recently passed away from a brain aneurysm. The loss completely changed his perspective on life. Responding to Latina magazine , the star shared that she was willing to do anything, even “trade music to get her back”.

Grammy’s darling

Since his first victory at the 2011 Grammy, Bruno Mars has continuously appeared on the Academy’s nomination list for four consecutive years. He did not win any awards until his second studio album Unorthodox Jukebox (2012) was named in the Outstanding Pop Vocal Album category.

That was just the warm-up step for Bruno Mars’ marathon run at the biggest music awards show on the planet. In 2006, he returned with Uptown Funk – the song set many records on online platforms, topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 14 weeks.

Bruno Mars (left) collaborated with producer Mark Ronson (right) on the hit Uptown Funk.

It is no coincidence that many people call Bruno Mars the “darling” of the Academy. Within 10 years, he won 11/27 Grammy nominations. This is a dream number for any artist.

Bruno Mars’s most glorious victory was at the 2018 Grammys with his third studio album 24K Magic (2016). The project won seven categories including Album of the Year and Outstanding R&B Album . The title track won Record of the Year, while the single That’s What I Like won Song of the Year .

Compared to his debut album, Bruno Mars has many changes in style. The compositions take listeners back to the 1980s and 1990s when R&B music was on the rise. The music mixes R&B, Soul, Hip hop and Funk to create vibrant, energetic melodies.

The title 24K Magic partly shows that the singer also has a sense of humor. 24k pure gold became a metaphor for the rich life he was enjoying. It is like an invitation for the audience to enter a flashy party of playboys, forgetting all their troubles.

When released, 24K Magic achieved great commercial and artistic success. Many prestigious magazines placed the album on their yearly summary list, rating it as the best product in Bruno Mars’ career.

Relationship with Silk Sonic

In 2017, Bruno Mars had the opportunity to meet and get to know rapper Anderson .Paak. At that time, the star was organizing the 24K Magic World Tour in Europe, and .Paak participated as the opening singer.

Born in 1986, .Paak is completely behind in reputation and achievements compared to his colleagues. But like Bruno Mars, he was exposed to music from a young age and can take on many different positions from singing, rapping, playing drums, producing and writing music.

.Paak’s talent was also soon recognized by people in the profession. Beyoncé calls herself his fan, and Dr. Dre invited the rapper to contribute in Compton (2015) – marking the famous producer’s return after 16 years of not releasing an album.

Silk Sonic is a collaborative project between Bruno Mars and rapper Anderson .Paak (left).

Quickly sympathizing with .Paak, Bruno Mars made friends and offered to collaborate on making music. As the name suggests, Silk Sonic captivates the audience with its velvety melodies.

The single Leave the Door Open is a handshake between classic and modernity. The mix is boldly nostalgic, harmoniously combining Soul music of the 1970s and R&B of the 2000s. The lyrics praise love. The singer reminds his other half to always “leave the door open” and welcome her at any time.

Upon its release, the song topped many charts around the world, including the Billboard Hot 100. This is also the opening single for the group’s debut album An Evening with Silk Sonic released in November 2021.

Nominated in four categories, the song beat all competitors at the 2022 Grammys. As Anderson .Paak said at the awards ceremony, the song helped Silk Sonic clean sweep the awards ceremony with two out of four nominations. appoint the “Big Four”.

The group’s victory was largely thanks to Bruno Mars. His sweet voice blends with Anderson .Paak, creating a relaxing, pleasant feeling, and is an unforgettable highlight of the work.

Besides his talent, Bruno Mars has many times been involved in scandals. The star was arrested for cocaine possession in 2010 when his career was at a brilliant stage. Last year, he was also accused by netizens of appropriating black culture in products and performances. Some sources even speculated that the singer spent money to buy a Grammy award.

However, Bruno Mars has always been a careless person since he first started his career. He bluntly ignored all the noise to focus on artistic activities. Bruno Mars’s answer is the enthusiastic and quality music products he sends to the audience.

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