Mars’ “Little Elvis” earned him a cameo in the 1992 flick “Honeymoon in Vegas.” As a teen he performed as a Michael Jackson impersonator then formed two covers bands.
Mars moved on from singing legends’ songs to writing and producing hit tunes for some of today’s brightest stars.
The 25-year-old and his writing/production team The Smeezingtons are behind Flo Rida’s “Right Round,” K’Naan’s “Wavin’ Flag” and Cee-Lo Green’s “Fuck You.“
Mars’ vocals are also featured on B.o.B‘s “Nothin’ On You” and Travie McCoy’s “Billionaire.” Demos of the tunes helped Mars snag a record deal with Elektra.
Mars’ debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, was released in October and features the No. 1 hit “Just the Way You Are.”
“His voice is amazing,” Paradigm’s Matt Galle told Pollstar. “The first time I heard him I thought he was a star. I was just blown away.”
After supporting McCoy in Europe and opening for Maroon 5 on a few dates this fall, Mars kicked off a U.S. headline tour in mid-November.
Galle noted that every show was sold out and venues were “bumped up in capacity as far as we [could] go.”
Mars plans on adding more U.S. dates in 2011 as well as touring Japan, Asia and Australia.
Doo-Wops & Hooligans debuted at No. 3 on Soundscan’s current albums chart.
Bruno Mars is up for seven 2011 Grammy awards.