Bruno Mars — Little Elvis

Did you catch the Super Bowl halftime show featuring Bruno Mars? You probably noticed his hairdo was strongly reminiscent of the early Elvis look. But, there’s an even bigger connection. Bruno Mars started out as an Elvis Tribute Artist at the tender age of four.

Bruno Mars was born Peter Gene Hernandez on October 8, 1985, in Honolulu. His mother was a singer and dancer, and his father performed Little Richard music. Mars’ uncle was an Elvis impersonator, and encouraged three-year-old Bruno to perform on stage as well.

Mars also performed songs by artists such as Michael Jackson, The Isley Brothers, and The Temptations. At age four, Mars began performing five days a week with his family’s band, The Love Notes, and became well known on the island for his impersonation of Elvis.

In 1990, Mars was featured in MidWeek, a weekly tabloid shopper and advertisement periodical in Honolulu, and it dubbed him “Little Elvis.”

The previous three pictures came from a 1990 UK documentary called Viva Elvis, hosted by Jonathan Ross.

Bruno Mars’ fame as Little Elvis led to him having a performance cameo in the 1992 film Honeymoon in Vegas, starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Nicholas Cage (who ten years later would marry Lisa Marie Presley).

All of the above facts come from Wikipedia, so hopefully it’s all accurate. Wikipedia also says the time Bruno Mars spent impersonating Elvis had a major impact on his musical evolution and performing technique.

I think we can all agree that Bruno Mars’ time spent doing Elvis also really paid off.

Maybe he’ll put on a jumpsuit someday and do his Elvis thing again.

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