Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars’s birth name is Peter Gene Hernandez. He was born into a family of musicians in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is a multiracial American singer, songwriter, choreographer, actor, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He has received five Grammy awards and in 2011 was named one of Time’s most influential people in the world. His mother emigrated from the Philippines to Hawaii as a child and was of Filipino and Spanish ancestry. His father is of half Puerto Rican and half Ashkenazi Jewish decent. His mother passed away from a brain aneurysm in 2013. Mars spoke about the loss of his mother in an interview with Latina magazine, He stated “My life has changed. She’s more than my music. If I could trade music to have her back, I would. I always hear her say. Keep going and keep doing it.” Mars was also asked about being multiracial “There are a lot of people who have mixed background that are in ‘this gray zone, so you can pass for whatever the hell you want.’ But it’s not like that at all. It’s actually the exact opposite. What we are trying to do is educate people to know what that feels like so they’ll never make someone feel like that ever again. Which is a hard thing to do. Because no one can see what we see and no one can grow up with what we grew up with.”
Makensie Shay McDaniel
Project RACE Teens Co-President
Photo Credit: Iheartradio.com