Article nr.16 (Bruno Mars)

Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), better known by his stage name Bruno Mars, is an American singer-songwriter and music producer. Raised in Honolulu, Hawaii by a family of musicians, Mars began making music at a young age. After performing in various musical venues in his hometown throughout his childhood, he decided to pursue a musical career and moved to Los Angeles after graduating from high school. Mars began producing songs for other artists, joining production team The Smeezingtons.

Mars' music is noted for displaying a wide variety of styles and influences, and contains elements of many different musical genres. He has worked with an assortment of artists from different genres; Mars acknowledges the influences that his collaborations have had on his own music. As a child, he was highly influenced by artists such as Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson and would often impersonate these artists from a young age. Mars also incorporates reggae and Motown inspired sounds into his work. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times referred to Mars as "one of the most versatile and accessible singers in pop.".Mars' music has been noted for displaying a wide variety of styles and influences, including pop, rock,reggae,R&B,soul,and hip hop.Although Mars has been referenced as "soft" because of his penchant for using a falsetto voice, his co-producer Philip Lawrence says, "What people don't know is there's a darker underbelly to Bruno Mars." Mars himself says, "I blame that on me singing to girls back in high school." 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."Mars was initially influenced by R&B artists such as Keith Sweat, Jodeci and R. Kelly, as well as 1950s rock n roll and Motown.In high school, he began listening to classic rock groups such as The Police, Led Zeppelin, and the Beatles.All of these genres of music have influenced Mars' musical style; he observed that "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 also stated that he is a fan of Alica Keys, Jessie J, Jack White and The Saturdays.