Bruno Mars’ Super Bowl Halftime Show Attracts a Record 115.3 Million Viewers

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Move over Madonna! Bruno Mars is the king of Super Bowl entertainers…

The 28-year-old part-Puerto Rican singer-songwriter’s halftime show, featuring the Red Hot Chili Peppers, attracted the largest audience in the history of the Super Bowl, attracting 115.3 million viewers, Fox announced Monday, citing Nielsen data.

That figure surpasses the previous record of 114 million set by Madonna two years ago and the 110.8 million who tuned in to watch Beyonce last year.

During his high-octane perforamance, which was a much-tweeted-about affair, Mars sang “Give it Away” with the Peppers, proved he’s got the moves like James Brown and closed with his hit ballad “Just the Way You Are” at halfway mark of a blowout win by the Seattle Seahawks over the Denver Broncos, 43-8. The game had an average viewing audience of 111.5 million viewers, the largest in history.

The final number was significantly higher than than 98.88 million viewers reported in the overnight ratings from Nielsen that measure the top 56 markets. It initially appeared Super Bowl XLVIII would be the fifth most-watched in history.

Mars Gives Electrifying Performance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Bruno Mars has officially cemented his status as a music superstar after taking one of the world’s biggest stages by storm…

The 28-year-old part-Puerto Rican singer-songwriter and his band The Hooligans rocked the stage during the halftime show at the 2014 Super Bowl XLVIII on Sunday, February 2, with special guest the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Dressed in a gold lame jacket, black skinny tie and white button-down shirt, the pompadoured Grammy-winning singer offered viewers the perfect blend of old school showmanship with rock star flash to give an oh-so-memorable performance at MetLife Stadium.

Following an introduction that featured a children’s choir singing a snippet of Travie McCoy’s “Billionaire,” which Mars co-wrote and appears on as a guest vocalist, the singer born Peter Gene Hernandez made his first appearance behind the drums for an impressive drum solo.

Mars, joined by his Hooligans, then moved to the mic to sing and bust a move to his smash hits “Locked Out of Heaven,” “Treasure” and “Runaway Baby,” which featured a snippet of the Isley Brothers’ “Shout!”

Mars then performed a smoldering rendition of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Give It Away” with the legendary rock band by his side. Despite the frigid temperatures, Anthony Kiedis and Flea managed to rock out shirtless.

After a brief montage of soldiers sending a little love home to the States, Mars ended his stellar halftime show with the tender piano ballad “Just the Way You Are,” which was punctuated by fireworks.

Mars Performs First-Ever Show at The Cosmopolitan’s The Chelsea

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Bruno Mars has christened a new venue in Las Vegas in what could be a warm-up for his upcoming Super Bowl halftime show…

The 28-year-old part-Puerto Rican singer performed for an intimate crowd of 3,000 people at resort casino and hotel The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas’s new theater The Chelsea on December 30 — Mars’ first of eight shows at the space throughout 2014.

An energetic Mars riffed on an electric guitar, dressed casually in a black blazer and graphic tee and accompanied by his band members The Hooligans outfitted in suits and suspenders.

Once the youngest Elvis Presley impersonator when he was 4 years old, Mars delivered more than his hits. He earned a few laughs as well.

“I have so much hairspray in this shit right now, you have no idea!” he joked.

Later, he said to widespread protest, “When I was a kid, I wanted to be a man so bad, I just wanted to rip my shirt off onstage. But I’m too short and I’m too fat!”

Along with performing his hit tracks like “Just the Way You Are,” “Locked Out of Heaven” and “Treasure,” Mars performed covers of songs like Barrett Strong‘s “Money (That’s What I Want)” and Travis McCoy’s “Billionaire,” as well as Aloe Blacc‘s “I Need a Dollar,” Bobby Brown‘s “Every Little Step” and Janet Jackson‘s “That’s the Way Love Goes,” among others.

Mars returns to the newly christened stage for New Year’s Eve, Feb. 15-16, May 23-24 and Aug. 22-23.

Set List:
Money Make Her Smile Treasure Money (That’s What I Want)
Billionaire
I Need a Dollar  / Show Me  / Our First Time
Pony
Ignition  / Marry You  / If I Knew
It Will Rain  / Runaway Baby  / Your Love
Poison
This Is How We Do It
Every Little Step
Let’s Talk About Sex
Candy Rain
That’s the Way Love Goes /  Waterfalls  /When I Was Your Man  / Billie Jean
Dirty Diana /  Just the Way You Are

Encore:
Locked Out of Heaven

Mars: This Year’s Top Latino Grammy Nominee

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

It comes as little surprise that Bruno Mars is this year’s Latino Grammy darling…

Following the release of his critically acclaimed sophomore album Unorthodox Jukebox, the 28-year-old part-Puerto Rican Grammy-winning singer has received four Grammy nominations for the 56th annual awards, the most of any Latino artists this year.

Mars, a 19-time nominee who earned a Grammy in 2011 for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his first career smash hit “Just The Way You Are,” is nominated in two major categories. He’s up for Record of the Year and Song of the Year for his No. 1 song “Locked Out of Heaven.”

In addition, Mars’ latest studio effort is nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album and his ballad “When I Was Your Man” is up for Best Pop Solo Performance.

But Mars isn’t the only Latino artist to receive multiple nods this year…

Miguel, who won the award for Best R&B Song during the 2013 Grammys, is nominated for two awards.

The 28-year-old half-Mexican American R&B singer is up for Best R&B Performance for his duet with Kendrick Lamar, “How Many Drinks?,” as well as Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for his collaboration with J. Cole, “Power Trip.”

Paquito D’Rivera, meantime, is nominated for two awards.

The Cuban Grammy-winning alto saxophonist, clarinetist and soprano saxophonist is nominated for Best Improvised Jazz Solo for the track “Song for Maura,” as well as Best Latin Jazz Album for the album of the same name.

Other Latino nominees include Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Intocable, Frankie J and Carlos Vives.

The nominations were announced during the Grammy Awards’ special on CBS on Friday night.

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the organization that awards the Grammys, used to announce the nominations through an ordinary news conference. But for the last six years, it has tried to stir excitement with a primetime TV special with the rapper and actor LL Cool J as host. Performers on Friday’s show included Lorde, Robin Thicke and, by satellite, Taylor Swift from Sydney, Australia, and Katy Perry from Toronto.

The 65th Grammy Awards, dubbed music’s biggest night, will be held on Sunday, January 26, 2014.

Here’s a look at this year’s Latino nominees:

Record of the Year
GET LUCKY  Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams
RADIOACTIVE  Imagine Dragons
ROYALS Lorde
LOCKED OUT OF HEAVEN Bruno Mars
BLURRED LINES  Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. & Pharrell

Song Of The Year
JUST GIVE ME A REASON  Jeff Bhasker, Pink & Nate Ruess, songwriters (Pink Featuring Nate Ruess)
LOCKED OUT OF HEAVEN  Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine & Bruno Mars, songwriters (Bruno Mars)
ROAR  Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee, Katy Perry & Henry Walter, songwriters (Katy Perry)
ROYALS  Joel Little & Ella Yelich O’Connor, songwriters (Lorde)
SAME LOVE  Ben Haggerty, Mary Lambert & Ryan Lewis,  songwriters (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Mary Lambert)

Best Pop Solo Performance
BRAVE Sara Bareilles
ROYALS Lorde
WHEN I WAS YOUR MAN Bruno Mars
ROAR Katy Perry
MIRRORS  Justin Timberlake

Best Pop Vocal Album
PARADISE Lana Del Rey
PURE HEROINE Lorde
UNORTHODOX JUKEBOX Bruno Mars
BLURRED LINES Robin Thicke
THE 20/20 EXPERIENCE – THE COMPLETE EXPERIENCE  Justin Timberlake 

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
VIVA DUETS  Tony Bennett & Various Artists [Featured artists include Chayanne, Thalia, Christina Aguilera, Franco De Vita, Gloria Estefan, Juan Luis Guerra, Ricardo Arjona, Romeo Santos, Vicentico and Dani Martín)
TO BE LOVED Michael Bublé
THE STANDARDS Gloria Estefan
CEE LO’S MAGIC MOMENT Cee Lo Green
NOW  Dionne Warwick

Best R&B Performance
LOVE AND WAR  Tamar Braxton
BEST OF ME Anthony Hamilton
NAKAMARRA  Hiatus Kaiyote Featuring Q-Tip
HOW MANY DRINKS?  Miguel Featuring Kendrick Lamar
SOMETHING  Snarky Puppy With Lalah Hathaway

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
POWER TRIP  J. Cole Featuring Miguel
PART II (ON THE RUN) Jay Z Featuring Beyoncé
HOLY GRAIL Jay Z Featuring Justin Timberlake
NOW OR NEVER  Kendrick Lamar Featuring Mary J.
REMEMBER YOU  Wiz Khalifa Featuring The Weeknd

Best Improvised Jazz Solo
DON’T RUN  Terence Blanchard, soloist
SONG FOR MAURA Paquito D’Rivera, soloist
SONG WITHOUT WORDS #4: DUET Fred Hersch, soloist
STADIUM JAZZ Donny McCaslin, soloist
ORBITS Wayne Shorter, soloist

Best Latin Jazz Album
LA NOCHE MÁS LARGA Buika
SONG FOR MAURA  Paquito D’Rivera And Trio Corrente
YO  Roberto Fonseca
EGGŪN Omar Sosa
LATIN JAZZ-JAZZ LATIN Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet

Best Latin Pop Album
FAITH, HOPE Y AMOR Frankie J
VIAJERO FRECUENTE Ricardo Montaner
VIDA Draco Rosa
SYNTEK Aleks Syntek
12 HISTORIAS Tommy Torres

Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album
L OBJETO ANTES LLAMADO DISCO Café Tacvba  
OJO POR OJO El Tri
CHANCES  Illya Kuryaki And The Valderramas
TREINTA DÍAS  La Santa Cecilia
REPEAT AFTER ME Los Amigos Invisibles

Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano)
EL FREE Banda Los Recoditos
EN PELIGRO DE EXTINCIÓN Intocable  
A MI MANERA  Mariachi Divas De Cindy Shea
ROMEO Y SU NIETA Paquita La Del Barrio
13 CELEBRANDO EL 13 Joan Sebastian

Best Tropical Latin Album
3.0  Marc Anthony
COMO TE VOY A OLVIDAR Los Angeles Azules 
PACIFIC MAMBO ORCHESTRA Pacific Mambo Orchestra
SERGIO GEORGE PRESENTS SALSA GIANTS Various Artists  (Featuring
CORAZÓN PROFUNDO Carlos Vives

Best World Music Album 
SAVOR FLAMENCO Gipsy Kings
NO PLACE FOR MY DREAM Femi Kuti
LIVE: SINGING FOR PEACE AROUND THE WORLD  Ladysmith Black Mambazo
THE LIVING ROOM SESSIONS PART 2 Ravi Shankar

Best Instrumental Composition
BOUND AWAY  Chuck Owen, composer (Chuck Owen & The Jazz Surge)
CALIFORNIA PICTURES FOR STRING QUARTET Gordon Goodwin, composer (Quartet San Francisco)
KOKO ON THE BOULEVARD  Scott Healy, composer (Scott Healy Ensemble)
PENSAMIENTOS FOR SOLO ALTO SAXOPHONE AND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Clare Fischer, composer (The Clare Fischer Orchestra)
STRING QUARTET NO. 1: FUNKY DIVERSION IN THREE PARTS  Vince Mendoza, composer (Quartet San Francisco)

Mars to Reportedly Headline the 2014 Super Bowl Halftime Show

Posted on September 7, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

It appears that Bruno Mars will be having a super February…

The 27-year-old part-Puerto Rican singer will reportedly perform at the Super Bowl halftime show in February 2014, according to the Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times.

The National Football League is expected to make an official announcement on Sunday during Fox’s pregame show at noon ET.

Mars, currently on tour promoting his sophomore album Unorthodox Jukebox, would be a strong choice. He’s known for giving high-octane performances at awards shows like the Grammys and MTV VMAs.

His hit songs include “Locked Out of Heaven,” “Grenade,” “Just the Way You Are” and “When I Was Your Man.”

Mars would join Madonna, Beyonce, the Black Eyed Peas with Usher and Slash, The Who and Bruce Springsteen with the E Street Band.

Mars’ “When I Was Your Man” Tops Billboard’s Adult Contemporary Chart

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

It took some time, but Bruno Mars has finally notched another No. 1 song on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.

The 27-year-old part-Puerto Rican singer’s “When I Was Your Man” rises from 3-1 this week, making it Mars’ second Adult Contemporary No. 1.

The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter returns to the chart’s summit for the first time since he led with “Just the Way You Are” in 2011.

“Just the Way You Are” sat atop the Adult Contemporary chart for a staggering 20 weeks back in 2011.

In between the two leaders, Mars added the Top 10 single “Locked Out of Heaven,” which reached No. 7 in late April (and ranks at No. 11 this week).

Mars Earns Fifth No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Songs Chart

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Bruno Mars has reached a new milestone on the Billboard charts…

The 27-year-old part-Puerto Rican singer’s “Locked Out of Heaven,” which recently reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 last week, has reached No. 1 on the Pop Songs airplay chart.

“Locked Out of Heaven” becomes Mars’ fifth Pop Songs No. 1, tying him with Nelly and Justin Timberlake for the most leaders among solo males.

Here’s a look at the male soloists with the most No. 1s, dating to the Pop Songs chart’s launch the week of October 3, 1992:

5, Bruno Mars
5, Nelly
5, Justin Timberlake
4, Flo Rida
3, Chris Brown
3, Eminem
3, Ludacris
3, Timbaland
3, Kanye West

Katy Perry and Rihanna lead all artists with nine Pop Songs No. 1s apiece. Five other women have totaled between eight and six leaders each: P!nk (eight), Lady Gaga, Britney Spears (seven each) Beyonce and Mariah Carey (six each). Christina Aguilera and Avril Lavigne, as well as Maroon 5, have also managed five No. 1s each

Mars first ruled Pop Songs as a guest on B.o.B‘s “Nothin’ on You,” which earned the No. 1 ranking on the May 22, 2010 chart. His debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, yielded Mars his first two Pop Songs No. 1s as a lead artist: “Just the Way You Are” and follow-up “Grenade.” He had last led with “It Will Rain,” from the soundtrack to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1, the week of February 4.

Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven” Reaches No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Recent NAACP Image Award three-time nominee Bruno Mars has locked in on the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100…

The 27-year-old part-Puerto Rican singer’s single, “Locked Out of Heaven” has moved past Rihanna’s “Diamonds” to reach the No. 1 position in it’s 10th week on the chart.

It’s Mars’ fourth chart topper on the Hot 100 since his arrival in the music industry in 2010. His first entry, B.o.B‘s “Nothin’ on You,” on which Mars lent his voice, began a two-week reign the week of May 1, 2010.

His debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, which reached No. 3 in a 112-week (and counting) run on the Billboard 200, yielded Mars two Hot 100 No. 1s as a lead artist: “Just the Way You Are” (four weeks, beginning October 2, 2010) and follow-up “Grenade” (four weeks, starting January 8, 2011).

Mars’ amassing of four Hot 100 No. 1s in the span of just two years, 10 months and one week, dating to the February 13, 2010 arrival of “Nothin’ on You” is the fastest collection of a male artist’s first four No. 1s in 48 years.

Bobby Vinton first entered the Hot 100 with “Roses Are Red (My Love)” the week of June 9, 1962. It became his first No. 1 five weeks later. Vinton then added leaders with “Blue Velvet” (1963), “There! I’ve Said it Again” and “Mr. Lonely” (both in 1964). When “Lonely” lifted 2-1 on the Hot 100 dated Dec. 12, 1964 – 48 years ago this week – Vinton had rung up four No. 1s in a stretch of just two years and six months from his first chart appearance.

“Heaven” ascends to No. 1 on the Hot 100 with top Digital Gainer honors, as the song jumps 5-1 on the Digital Songs chart with 197,000 downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan (marking Mars’ fifth Digital Songs No. 1).

It bullets again at No. 2 on Radio Songs with 129 million audience impressions (up 4%) and holds at No. 5 on On-Demand Songs with 890,000 on-demand streams (up 19%), according to BDS.

“Heaven,” the lead single from Mars’ sophomore album Unorthodox Jukebox, released this week.

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