Following the release of Bruno Mars’ debut album, ‘Doo-Wops & Hooligans’, in 2010, appreciation for his track ‘Count on Me’ quickly began to mount. Now often considered to be one of the best songs about friendship, many of Mars’ fans have questioned who the Grammy-award-winning artist is friends with himself.
Bruno Mars is a popular musician with a far-reaching network of friends that include stars such as Ed Sheeran, Cardi B, and Rihanna. In addition to his A-lister pals, Mars is also very close to a number of other friends and family members from his time growing up in Honolulu, Hawaii.
When it comes to Mars’ personal life and the company he keeps, the story of the man behind the music is just as captivating as the music itself.
Ed Sheeran
When it comes to Mars’ high-profile connections, Ed Sheeran is certainly one of the singer’s closest friends. Reflecting on how he became friends with Mars, Sheeran said: “I met Bruno in 2010. I opened up for at [the] iTunes Festival in 2011… And then, we just hung out. I went and guested with him a couple of times on tour. We’ve had nights out together.”
Speaking about their decade-long friendship, and the eventual collaboration they did on the track ‘Blow’, Ed Sheeran said: “He’s just a talented writer, and he’s so musically talented… He played every instrument on [‘Blow’]. Played the drums, played the bass, played the guitar. He’s like, different level in the studio.”
The friendship between the two has been a labor of love at times and has endured its fair share of bust-ups, but many disputes have occurred solely on a professional level, with the two teasing one another about their respective success.
Sheeran said: “The amount of arguments… I think at the time, he had two diamond singles…and I had one. And he was just like, ‘But I’ve got two diamond singles!’ And there’d be kind of like back and forth like that.”
Back in 2015, Mars and Sheeran also had what has been described as the “cutest feud” on Twitter after Sheeran waded in on the tension between Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift. Although Sheeran was actually commenting on a topical and valid dialogue, Mars jumped in and transformed the tension into an obscure back-and-forth between the two artists.
The “bromance” between Mars and Sheeran possibly reached fever-pitch in 2018 when Mars hired his British pal to sing him happy birthday. The Honolulu-born singer tweeted: “You know you’ve made it when you can hire Ed Sheeran to sing you Happy Birthday! #ExtraForever! #HappyBrunoMarsDay!”
Cardi B
The enduring friendship between Mars and Cardi B is much more mercurial and “mysterious” than the artist’s high-profile friendship with Sheeran. The dawn of their friendship is believed to have been sparked by one of Mars’ tweets where he said he was listening to Cardi B at a time when his own music completely eclipsed the burgeoning rapper’s own work.
Although their music really couldn’t be more different, many suggest that their bond during collaborative projects works because of their differences. Vulture’s Frank Guan once said:
“It’s hard to imagine any common ground between eternal, selfless sunshine and the iciest, most prideful contempt… Yet Cardi’s motions and vocals end up fitting the ‘Finesse’ remix video perfectly; by switching gears and foregrounding the playful, even goofy demeanor typical of her social-media presence, she seamlessly merges into the early-’90s aesthetic lovingly re-created by Mars.”
It has also been said that the two artists generally have a lot of fun together and hugely respect one another as performers.
The Family
Away from his showbiz friends and the glitz and glamor of the big-time, Mars is a very family-orientated person who actually grew up in poverty.
During his formative years in Honolulu, Mars – whose name is Peter Gene Hernandez – quickly developed a passion for singing and wrote his first song before he was even five-years-old. He dedicated the song to his mother.
The artist’s closeness with his mother, Bernadette Hernandez, has been a constant theme throughout his entire career, which is why, when she suddenly passed away, Mars was understandably devastated.
Opening up about her death, Mars said: “The woman who taught you to love, showed you what a woman is supposed to be, when that goes away, a little more than half your heart goes away with it… 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.’”
Following the death of his mother, Mars received a number of high-profile messages of condolences from celebrity friends such as Rihanna, Randy Jackson, and Amber Patrice Jackson.
Amid all the wealth, extravagance, and exuberance, it can sometimes be easy to forget that even the biggest celebs are only human like the rest of us, and when a crisis occurs, it’s important to have the support of friends and contemporaries.