Bruno Mars

From his humble origins as a pre-teen Elvis impersonator, Bruno Mars grew to become a major mainstream star in the 2010s, fusing retro-soul with modern pop and R&B, and gaining fame for his exuberant live shows. Raised in Honolulu with Puerto Rican roots, Mars (then Peter Hernandez) was named Oahu's youngest Elvis impersonator before adding Michael Jackson to his repertoire. Moving to Los Angeles as a teen, he realized a dream by getting signed to Motown, though little came of it. After a freelance period in Los Angeles, which included selling a song to the reunited Menudo, Mars saw his first real success as a writer/producer for other artists. Working with partners Philip Lawrence and Ari Levine as the Sneezingtons, Mars had a writing/producing hand in a string of major hits including B.o.B.'s "Nothin' On You" (which he also sang on), Sugababes' "Get Sexy," Flo Rida's "Right Round" and Cee-Lo Green's "F--k You." Mars' own solo debut, the four-song EP It's Better if You Don't Understand was a relative commercial flop (despite Cee-Lo and B.o.B. guest shots) when released in spring 2010; however three of its tracks were part of his first full-length, Doo-Wops and Hooligans, which began his solo career in earnest. The first four singles-"Just the Way You Are," "Grenade," "The Lazy Song" and It Will Rain"-all went Top Five and displayed his range, from the piano romance of the first single (a spiritual cousin to the Billy Joel song of the same name) to the darker Princely groove of the second. His longtime touring group the Hooligans made its debut that year. Mars embraced stardom for all it was worth, even getting arrested for cocaine possession in Las Vegas (though he did the required community service and swore he never really used the stuff).

And three events over the next few years would push Mars' star even higher. The first was the December 2012 release of his second album, Unorthodox Jukebox, which again showed his knack for writing hit-ready material in numerous genres; half of its ten tracks became best-selling singles. Next came the release of "Uptown Funk," a single that Mars sang with British producer Mark Ronson (though Mars wasn't one of the song's eleven credited writers). Released in late 2014, it was Number One for 14 weeks and became one of the best-selling singles of all time. Finally there was the Super Bowl halftime show in 2016, where a lively Mars cameo effectively stole the show from nominal stars Coldplay. Mars' overall clean image led to him getting dissed by certain streetwise artists, notably Tyler the Creator and Kanye West (both of whom apologized afterward). Yet his success continued with the 2016 release of 24K Magic, which spun off another raft of hit singles (including "That's What I Like," "Versace on the Floor," and the title track). It went double platinum and spun off a successful world tour. In 2018 he was reported to be working in the studio with two of his old-school R&B influences, the funk group Chic and Gap Band singer Charlie Wilson.