📍Waikīkī, Honolulu, HI 96815, USA
1985 – 2003“Bruno Mars was born Peter Gene Hernandez in Honolulu in October 1985, one of six children in a family of musicians. His father, Peter, a Puerto Rican and Jewish percussionist from Brooklyn, led a doo-wop and rock 'n' roll revue called the Love Notes, and his mother, Bernadette, a singer and hula dancer from the Philippines, performed in it. His father nicknamed him Bruno as a chubby toddler, after the wrestler Bruno Sammartino. Their life revolved around the hotels and showrooms of Waikiki, where the family played nightly to tourists. His uncle was an Elvis impersonator, and at three Bruno began joining the show. By four he was performing every night as Little Elvis, complete with sideburns and a jumpsuit his mother made, and he became a local celebrity, appearing in the newspaper and on television, and in 1992 in the film Honeymoon in Vegas. His father taught him the music of the 1950s, from Little Richard to the Isley Brothers. When his parents split up and the show ended, times became hard; for a while he and his father lived in very basic conditions, but music remained the family's anchor, and he learned to play guitar, piano, bass and drums. At Roosevelt High School in Honolulu he formed a band called the School Boys and impersonated Michael Jackson. In 2003, at seventeen, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue music, and after years of struggle became a hit songwriter, producer and performer. He has often credited those nights in Waikiki with teaching him how to entertain a crowd.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today