Bruno Mars

"Becoming famous was never what I wanted to do. There are a lot of things that come with fame- it's what people in the limelight have to do." Being born into a musical family with a Latin percussionist as a father and a mother as a singer, Pete Hernandez, a.k.a., Bruno Mars, has musician blood running through his veins. Bruno Mars, born on October 8, 1985 as Pete Gene Hernandez.  He is a 13 time Grammy award nominee and has had many accomplishments in the last 11 years.  Bruno Mars has several qualities that make him a hero, but there happen to be three main qualities that make him different from the rest.  Bruno is very inspiring, extremely generous and so determined, that anything Mr. Mars sets his mind to, he is sure to accomplish.

Bruno Mars has a very inspirational side to him for many reasons. Starting from his early high school years, Bruno has been inspiring people with his music. He and a couple of his friends formed a band called, The School Boys. They performed classics with Bruno's family. Bruno always had people coming up to him asking him to write a song for them and telling him how much he has changed their lives. Within the lyrics that Bruno writes, he conveys messages or life lessons. His songs are not all about relationships. They have meanings that inspire people to do what they have always wanted. Being as inspirational as he has been, Bruno has created a fan base that looks up to him as a mentor and they are able to apply his music into their everyday lives.

Being a generous person means you are showing a readiness to give more of something than is strictly necessary or expected. Bruno Mars has performed several charity and benefit concerts that have given up to $27,000 dollars to charities that he feels are necessary. Bruno has donated several times to Candie's Foundation, DoSomething.org, Musicians on Call, The Red Cross, and lastly what he calls, The Rainforest Foundation. Donating several thousands of dollars a year to any charity that is important to him is "Just what I feel I need to do to help the less fortunate."  He donated a total of $1.2 million dollars to The Red Cross foundation for disaster relief.  Mr. Mars had a tragic experience when he lost his brother at age five. Bruno thought he could connect to his younger brother by donating his career money to foundations that help find needed cures for illnesses. Bruno puts on about 15-20 charity concerts a year and all the money raised is given out of his generosity.

Determination is the firmness of purpose or resoluteness. Bruno Mars has had determination from early on when he was turned down by several record labels. Bruno was turned down by three different studios in Los Angeles. He thought that if he could write songs that other celebrities would sing then he could make his own way to stardom. He was introduced to Phillip Lawrence, songwriter, and learned all he needed to from him. When Bruno wrote his first chart topper "Right Round" for Flo Rida, that is when he was starting to become known. When he sang with B.O.B. on the track, "Nothin' on You", he hit No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart. Bruno's ego didn't get in the way of his singer/songwriter career. He continued to top the charts with 45 million singles sold within the first week of his album release, Doo-Woops & Hooligans. Bruno had thoughts about letting his career go when he was turned down initially but now he looks back and is grateful that he didn't.

Being inspirational, generous, and determined is on the everyday schedule for Bruno Mars. It isn't a second thought for him to inspire people or donate money to charity. It just comes naturally for him. Bruno's determination kicked in when his life and career did not go as planned and he pushed himself to achieve success. Being the successful artist that he has become allows him to do what he does best, sing. Having support from his friends and fans is what keeps him going, "but in the end of the day family is number one on my priority list". "Music is not math. It's science. You keep mixing the stuff up until it blows up on you, or it becomes this incredible potion." -Bruno Mars