APRIL 25 "PERSISTENCE"
HE kicked off his career at the age of four by
fronting his uncle’s band, becoming Oahu 's
youngest Elvis impersonator in the process. Ten years later, he was
impersonating the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, as part of the Legends in
Concert show. After graduating high school in 2003, he took his uncle's advice
and moved to California
to pursue a music career. After months of frustration, he met songwriter
Phillip Lawrence, who convinced HIM to try his hand at writing songs for other
artists.
The two dubbed themselves the Smeezingtons and
co-wrote “Long Distance,” which was recorded in 2008 by R&B singer Brandy.
More offers arrived after that, and HE and Lawrence scored their first number
one hit in 2009, when they co-authored Flo Rida's international smash
"Right Round."
After working a string of behind-the-scenes
jobs -- including writing songs for Brandy, singing backup for the Sugababes,
and impersonating Elvis -- HE put his name on top of the charts in 2009 by
co-writing Flo Rida's hit song "Right Round." One year later, he
collaborated with rapper B.o.B on “Nothin’ on You,” and co-wrote Travis McCoy's
"Billionaire," both of which became Top Ten hits. HE used that
momentum to launch a solo career, quickly becoming the first male vocalist in
two decades to crack the Top Ten with his first four singles.
By 2010, HE seemed to be everywhere. He also
began issuing his own material, starting with the May 2010 release of his first
EP, It's Better If You Don't Understand. Doo-Wops & Hooligans, Mars'
full-length debut, appeared later that year and quickly produced a number one
single, "Just the Way You Are." In 2012, Mars both hosted and
performed as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live, debuting tracks from his
upcoming album.
That album, the genre-jumping effort Unorthodox
Jukebox, was released that same year, and featured the lead-off single
"Locked Out of Heaven," along with production from Mark Ronson,
Diplo, and others. "Locked Out of Heaven" topped the pop charts, and
the album reached number two in the U.S. All that success made Mars a
natural for one of the world's most prestigious gigs, the halftime show for
Super Bowl XLVIII in February 2014.
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