The 20 moments that defined Bruno Mars

The man born Peter Gene Hernandez was always meant for the stage. As a child, he became famous in his native Hawaii because of his Elvis impersonation. Bruno Mars's take on the King was so good that he had a cameo in the 1992 movie "Honeymoon in Vegas" and was even invited to perform at the halftime show of the 1990 Aloha Bowl.

Bruno Mars moved to Los Angeles as a 17-year-old to pursue his musical career. In 2004, he got a huge break — legendary label Motown offered him a contract. The excitement would be short-lived, however, as he was dropped a year later. 

After being dropped by Motown, Bruno Mars signed a music publishing deal with Westside Independent. The next phase of his career was spent learning how to craft the perfect pop song. His efforts were somewhat fruitful. Along with Philip Lawrence, a frequent collaborator, the two wrote "Lost," which was eventually sold to a newly regrouped Menudo. The sale of that song floated Mars financially enough that he could focus on his own music.

In 2009, Bruno Mars signed with Atlantic Records. He initially worked as a producer before being a feature on other artists' songs. Mars shined so brightly on those features — particularly B.o.B's "Nothin' on You" and Travie McCoy's "Billionaire" — that he was already a known name when he went solo. 

After years of working on other people's albums, Bruno Mars finally put out his own, releasing "It's Better If You Don't Understand" in 2010. The EP cracked the Billboard 200 (it reached 99), and its hit single was "The Other Side," which featured CeeLo Green and B.o.B. Bruno was most definitely not done with the limelight.

It didn't take long for Bruno Mars to dominate the charts. In 2010, he released "Just the Way You Are," his first single off of his upcoming album, "Doo-Wops & Hooligans." "Just the Way You Are" was a smash hit. Not only did it reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it also spent 20 weeks as No. 1 in the Adult Contemporary charts. Bruno Mars had finally arrived. 

Bruno Mars finally dropped his much anticipated debut full-length album on Oct. 5, 2010. In addition to "Just the Way You Are," the record also had "Grenade," "The Lazy Song" and "Marry You" — all songs that had good runs on the Billboard charts. The latter of these even became a song used in a lot of viral proposal videos. 

Bruno Mars's first piece of hardware came at the 2011 Grammys, where he took home the "Best Male Pop Vocal Performance" award for "Nothin' On You." Amazingly, he lost out on every award the following year, when "Doo-Wops & Hooligans" was nominated for "Album of the Year" and "Best Pop Vocal Album" but lost out to Adele.

Bruno Mars's second album, "Unorthodox Jukebox," came out Dec. 11, 2012, and it only helped propel the singer into further stardom. It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard before eventually taking over the top stop three months later. 

"When I Was Your Man" became the fifth Bruno Mars single to top the Billboard Hot 100 when it was released Jan. 15, 2013. The only artist to achieve that feat faster was Bruno Mars's childhood idol, Elvis Presley.

On Feb. 2, 2014, Bruno Mars performed during halftime of Super Bowl XLVIII (the Seattle Seahawks would soundly destroy the Denver Broncos), making him the first musician under 30 (he was 28 at the time) to ever have that honor.

After losing out in just about every category to Adele the last time he was nominated, Bruno Mars finally earned his second trophy at the 56th Grammy Awards. He was nominated four times and won once, taking home the "Best Pop Vocal Album" award for "Unorthodox Jukebox." This would not be his last win.

On Oct. 20, 2012, Bruno Mars hosted and served as the musical guest for "Saturday Night Live." It wasn't his first or last appearance on the show. He had previously been the musical guest in 2010 and was also invited a third time (once again as musical guest) last October.

Bruno Mars is more than just a musician — although he's a very good one. Not only did he perform sketch comedy when he hosted " Saturday Night Live" in 2012, but he also lent his voice to Roberto in "Rio 2," the animated film. 

For as famous as he is, a lot of people will always think of "Uptown Funk" when they think of Bruno Mars. It's hard to blame them. The song, co-written and performed with Mark Ronson (it also appears on Ronson's own album), is one of the catchiest tunes of the last 10 years, and it dominated the charts when it was released in November 2014. 

Bruno Mars performed at the Super Bowl for a second time on Feb. 7, 2016. Coldplay was the headliner, but the band's thunder was stolen by Bruno Mars (he sang "Uptown Funk" because of course) and Beyonce (she performed "Formation"). 

Bruno Mars didn't stop making television appearances after the Super Bowl. In May 2014, he appeared as a musical guest during the second season of the much-beloved show, "Jane the Virgin."

"Uptown Funk" wasn't just a commercial success. It was critically beloved — so much so, in fact, that the song won "Best Pop Duo/Group Performance" and "Record of the Year" at the 2016 Grammys, effectively doubling Bruno Mars's total Grammys to four. He would win one as a producer the following year for his contribution to Adele's "25," which won "Album of the Year" in 2017.

The success of "Uptown Funk" also earned Bruno Mars a very special distinction: According to the 2017 Guinness World Records, he became the "First Male Artist to achieve three 10-million-selling-singles." The other two songs in question are "Just the Way You Are" and "Grenade."

In October 2016, Bruno Mars released "24K Magic," the latest single from his third upcoming album of the same name. Like his previous two full-length records, "24K Magic" was a big hit. Bruno Mars was everywhere — as previously mentioned, he was a musical guest on "Saturday Night Live," profiled on "60 Minutes" and even did a televised special from the iconic Apollo Theater in New York, "Bruno Mars: 24k Magic Live at the Apollo."