Fans of Bruno Mars were in for a surprise when they found out that the name we all know him by isn’t his birth name. The acclaimed performer, famed for hits such as Grenade, The Lazy Song, and Treasure, has opened up about his stage persona being distinct from his legal identity.
At 39 years old, the singer decided to reveal the story behind his stage name and what his real name is. Speaking on The Graham Norton Show, he shared how the name Bruno Mars came to be, explaining its intimate connections with personal anecdotes from his past.
Norton prodded Mars about this lesser-known fact saying: “Bruno Mars, and this will surprise you that I’ve done this much research, I hear it’s not your real name.” Mars responded: “It’s not my real name.”
The audience of The Graham Norton Show was audibly shocked to then learn about the origin of this moniker and the reasons why Mars embraced it. “You caught me,” Mars humorously remarked while divulging how ‘Bruno Mars’ came into existence.
Born Peter Gene Hernandez, he eventually adopted Bruno Mars as his professional alias. He recounted an heartwarming tale of how his first name links back to his childhood: “I was a chubby baby and there was a wrestler in my dad’s day named Bruno Sammartino, and he was a stocky guy and I used to walk around like a little bulldog my dad said, so he’d always call me Bruno Sammartino.”
Yet this information only clarifies the ‘Bruno’ part; as for ‘Mars’, that surname emerged from light-hearted banter during studio time.
He chuckled about the origin of his stage name, saying it came from “saying I’m out of this world.”
In a chat with Rap-Up, Mars shared the true inspiration behind adopting the surname Mars for his stage persona. He explained: “I felt like I didn’t have no pizzazz, and a lot of girls say I’m out of this world, so I was like I guess I’m from Mars.”
The artist, who shot to stardom with featured spots on tracks by B.o.B and Travie McCoy, soared to the top with his R&B debut album Doo-Wops & Hooligans.
Bruno Sammartino, the wrestler from whom Mars took his first name, was a WWE icon. His career spanned from 1959 to 1988, and he passed away at 82 years old in 2018.
Sammartino holds the record as WWE’s longest-reigning World Heavyweight Champion, with an unmatched title run of 2,803 days. Originally from Italy, Sammartino started off as a bodybuilder before transitioning to wrestling, earning nicknames such as ‘the Strongest Man in the World’ and ‘the Living Legend’.