Bruno Mars Soul Train Music Award Winner From Hawaii

Living in Hawaii, I am often amazed at the number of talented people that made their start here. You can check out some of my other hubs to see more of them. One of the most recent international stars had his beginning in Honolulu, Hawaii. He recently returned to Maui for a performance during the holidays. He even wore an aloha shirt.

Bruno comes from a multi-cultural family (Filipino and Puerto Rican) and his name originally was Peter Gene Hernandez. His stage name, Bruno Mars, began when he was a chubby little baby and his father started calling him Bruno after a famous chubby wrestler called Bruno Sammartino. He claims the girls tells him he is "out of this world", hence the name Mars .

He is a very talented song writer and singer who has recently been nominated for seven grammys and stay tuned for the results.

Both of his parents were in show business, his mother as a dancer, and his father played percussion.

Mars started young impersonating great singers like Michael Jackson, The Temptations, The Isley Brothers and Elvis Presley. He did a lot of gigs with his father's band and acknowledges Hawaii and his family for being a big influence on his success. Some of his songs reflect the reggae sound so popular in Hawaii.

Mars is known for his light, soulful voice which lends itself to many genres of songs.

I have a feeling he is just getting started, so stay tuned for more soon...