Hello people of the internet!!! On today’s ‘Monday Memos’, we are going to do an ‘Artist Spotlight’ on the AMAZING performer Bruno Mars. Ready? Let’s get started! Over the years, there have been many artists who start out from the bars in Los Angeles and enter the music industry with talent and charisma, who instantly steal our hearts and souls. However, every once in a while, an entertainer emerges who is so phenomenally special, that they rise above the others, and leave us in awe of their musical abilities, Bruno Mars is one of these entertainers. Bruno Mars (whose real name is Peter Hernandez) was born on October 8th, 1985 in Honolulu, HI. At the tender age of two, he began performing throughout Hawaii, and by four he was performing shows five nights a week. Bruno has stated that his father moved to Hawaii from Brooklyn and began a group called ‘The Love Notes’, who sang 1950’s doo-wop and did impressions of Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley. As a young boy, Bruno began performing with this group, and did an Elvis impression. After he completed high school, Bruno moved to Los Angeles, CA in order to continue his musical pursuits.
Upon moving to Los Angeles, Bruno worked with many undiscovered artists, such as Ne-Yo (who later wrote a hit song for the artist Mario, and has since become a huge star as well). Bruno has stated that he learned the importance of songwriting by watching how Ne-Yo wrote music. Bruno realized at that moment that he wanted to learn how to properly write songs, in order to (as he has stated to ’Vibe Magazine’), “…be respected for the songs that I write.” Bruno worked on his writing skills, and at the age of 18, he received a recording contract with the legendary ‘Motown Records’. Unfortunately, Bruno was later released from his contract due to creative differences, and he moved back to LA and continued to pursue his musical ambitions. He soon began working with songwriters/producers Phillip Lawrence and Ari Levine, and the trio soon became a highly sought after team called ‘The Smeezingtons’. Bruno soon began writing songs for popular artists, and in 2006, he met with Aaron Bay-Schuck (who at the time had just left his A&R position at Epic Records). Aaron (who later became Bruno’s manager); soon took a job at Atlantic Records, and wanted to sign Bruno immediately. However, Atlantic Records thought that Bruno was not ready yet, so Aaron kept The Smeezingtons on as songwriters and producers for the label. In 2009, Bruno was finally signed by Atlantic Records as a solo artist, and immediately began writing hits for artists such as Travie McCoy, Flo Rida, and B.O.B (Bruno lent his vocals to Travie McCoy’s song ‘Billionaire’, and B.O.B.’s song ‘Nothin on You’, which was his first real exposure as a solo artist).
In May of 2010 Bruno released his E.P ‘It’s Better If You Don’t Understand’, which peaked at #99 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. In August of the same year, Bruno co-wrote Cee Lo Green’s hit track ‘Forget You’, which was a huge hit for both artist (although Bruno did not sing on the track). Bruno’s debut full length album ‘Doo-Wops & Hooligans’ was released in October of 2010, peaked at #3 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart (and also peaked extremely high in numerous other countries, causing the record to be a vast improvement from his EP). Doo-Wops & Hooligans received a total of seven Grammy nominations in 2011 & 2012, and won in 2011 for ‘Best Pop Vocal Performance for the single ‘Just the Way You Are’. In 2012, Bruno released his second album ‘Unorthodox Jukebox’, which peaked at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, and garnered Bruno five Grammy nominations in 2013. Bruno’s music has earned him international fame, and has been used in numerous commercials, as well as covered on the popular U.S musical-comedy ‘Glee’. Bruno is scheduled to perform at the halftime show of the 2014 U.S. Super Bowl, and honestly is most likely going to put on an amazing show.
As you can see, Bruno has had a very long road to achieve his fame and acclaim as a vocalist/songwriter/producer. Although he his past three years have been phenomenal, I think that 2014 is definitely going to be Bruno’s golden year. I anticipate him doing very well at the Grammys, and possibly even releasing another album by the end of this year, or in early 2015 (and we all know when he does release another album, it’s going to be musical perfection). Honestly, the Super Bowl Halftime Show is arguably the biggest event for an artist to perform at, thus Bruno’s invitation to perform there, proves that he is now recognized as one of the top musicians, currently in the industry. I anticipate that Bruno will only become more famous and will one day become a musical icon, just like the artists that he idolized as a young boy in Hawaii.
*All photos and information used in this blog belong to YouTube, Bruno Mars, Atlantic Records, Motown Records, Barry Gordy, Cee Lo Green, Travie McCoy, B.O.B., Philip Lawerence, Ari Levine, Aaron Bay-Schuck, Flo Rida, Arista Records, Elektra Records, BMG Rights Management, Fueled By Ramen, Warner Music Group, Grand Hustle Records, Rebel Rock, Boston.com, Ne-Yo, Vibe.com, hitquarters.com, wallpapergrab.com, and all other original owners. I do not own anything in this blog. All opinions expressed in this blog are my own. I wrote this blog for entertainment purposes and no copyright infringement is intended
Hello people of the internet!!! On last night’s (November 24, 2013) AMAs, A LOT of stuff happened. Ok, ready? Let’s get started!
Host:
This year’s AMAs were hosted by Latin rap superstar Pitbull, who certainly seemed to be appreciative of his hosting gig. Pitbull said that it was a miracle that he was hosting the award show, and that he was living the American dream. Although Pitbull’s opening monologue was short, he did make a pop culture reference when he asked several female dancers to come on stage to twerk for the crowd. He also explained that twerking was not a new concept, and stated various names that twerking has been giving, previous to Miley Cyrus adopting the dance.
Winners:
With the tremendous success of his latest 2 part album ‘The 20/20 Experience’, it’s obvious why Justin tops pop this year.
Once again Rihanna proves why she is an unstoppable force in the music industry, by adding yet another award to her long list of achievements.
The golden girl strikes again (and no I was not referring to her hair color) ! The first award that Taylor won last night was so appropriate and well deserved.
This team has had an iron claw on radio since their song ‘Thrift Shop’ made thrift stores cool (now you know you want to go to a thrift store and just start rapping…yes you do, don’t deny it!). They have had similar success with their numerous other tracks such as ‘Same Love’ and ‘Can’t Hold Us’, so it’s obvious why they would take this award home.
One thing that keeps this band on top is their constant habit to always evolve musically. Even though they had us hooked when their hit song ‘It’s Time’ first hit the airways, Imagine Dragon has continued to push their musical capabilities with their equally infectious tracks ‘Radioactive’ and ‘Demons’.
For the past few decades Marc Anthony has been an icon in Latin and mainstream music, so it’s not surprising that fans still love him.
C’mon was it ever a question that this super group would win! Since their U.S. debut in 2011 with the smash ‘What Makes You Beautiful’, this boy band has had an iron grip on the hearts of U.S fans. This was One Direction’s first AMA, and as if that wasn’t special enough, they were the only British group of the night to win an American Music Award.
This powerhouse vocalist has been compared to many iconic female vocalists, and if this year is any indication, she will have a very long and successful career. At only 20 years old, Ariana has had a role on a successful Broadway musical, has been on two highly successful TV shows, and has had a number 1 album. So this is a girl you should definitely keep your eye on, and if you haven’t, pick up her debut album ‘Yours Truly’.
At the ripe old age of 25, super star Rihanna won the 1st ever Icon Award last night. With many accolades which include: six Grammy Awards, 12 number one singles, and the honor of being Billboard’s highest selling digital artist of the 2000s, it is obvious to see why Rihanna is a musical icon. The award was made extra special because Rihanna’s mother presented the award to her (Ok, everyone say AWWWWWWW!), so last night was a good night to be Rihanna, good job girl!
Since 1993, when a fresh faced young boy named Justin Timberlake appeared on ‘The Mickey Mouse Club’, he has had full control of the hearts of fans. From his time as a member of the highly successful boy band N’ Sync, to his even more successful solo career, Justin’s iron grip on the music industry has only tightened with age. And I have to say that it was so funny when Justin won, he walked over to Taylor Swift and started mouthing “Oh my god, oh my god” (yes, my words exactly Justin).
Ok, for 1 minute we’re going to pretend that this was a surprise…ok minute over now back to the blog. Well, Taylor had such a successful night last night, adding 4 more awards to her large collections (Have you ever wondered how many award shelves she must have?).
This cross-over track has controlled mainstream and country radio for the last year, and has turned country duo Florida Georgia Line into a household name. With all of this considered, it makes perfect sense that this song won the AMAs first ever ‘Single of the Year’ award.
Yes Justin Timberlake won again! (It was a good night to be Justin Timberlake! GO Justin GO Justin! ok my fangirl moment is over).
This has been a huge year for electronic dance music, and Avicii’s mega hit ‘Wake Me Up’, featuring vocalist Aloe Blacc, has certainly put him in the fore front of the minds of music lovers.
The country superstar has been burning up the charts, as well as celebrating a very successful year with a lot of awards. It seems that fans just can’t get enough of this rising king of country.
Now when you say the words ‘favorite’, ‘pop’, ‘group’, you gotta think of One Direction. These guys have gone from reality show contestants to full-fledged pop superstars, and with the release of yet another #1 album, it’s obvious that there is no stopping these talented guys (good job Simon Cowell, we are forever in debt to you!).
This group has had quite the year, from releasing a successful album, to performing with the legendary Stevie Nicks; this group is truly making their mark on music history.
Just when you think that Taylor can’t do anything else to surprise us, she does something amazing like this. Good job Taylor, after all your success with ‘Red’ you deserve this award (c’mon you know she does…don’t be mean)
The following awards were not presented during the actual award show:
This award shows that Taylor’s music has now gone beyond genre restrictions, and that her fans now span an extremely large demographic.
From their hit 2002 album ‘Songs about Jane’, this rock band has had the hearts and ears of fans worldwide. With front man Adam Levine’s participation on the hit NBC show ‘The Voice’, this band has only gotten more and more popular.
This super star has been taking his fans “to church” ever since his award winning 2003 debut album ‘Happy’. Matthew has also written tracks for numerous Christian and mainstream acts (such as Rascal Flatts, Billy Ray Cyrus, and country music legend Vince Gill).
Ok on the count of three everyone say YESSSSS. Ready? One, two, oh I can’t wait YESSSSS! You know you’ve been spending the past year quoting every line form this movie, and singing every song. So of course it would make sense that this movie is so successful I mean it brought us Fat Amy right?! You may now jump in the air and fangirl…ok time’s up.
Performances:
There were so many amazing performances this year so let’s get started!
So all in all, the AMAs were full of exciting moments and amazing musical numbers. The show definitely did not disappoint, and made me excited for next year.