Bruno Mars is a musician’s son, but not Michael Jackson’s

Singer Bruno Mars has been compared to the late Michael Jackson, but claims that Jackson is Mars’ father are wrong. 

One post that suggests their similarities are biological was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

Mars’ father is Pete Hernandez, a musician who was inducted into the Doo-Wop Hall of Fame of America in 2014. The Boston Globe reported that year that Hernandez is "credited with introducing doo-wop to the island of Hawaii," where Mars was born. 

Mars shares his father’s name. He was born Peter Hernandez. 

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On his website, the elder Hernandez claims credit for introducing his son, "Pete Jr.," to the stage. 

"Today he is better known as world famous and adored international star Bruno Mars who, in his own style, has carried on the Doo-Wop tradition like no other," the site says. 

Rumors that Jackson is Mars’ father have been circulating online since at least 2014, when Snopes looked into a similar claim that a DNA test had confirmed Jackson was his biological father. But the source for this celebrity gossip was a self-described satirical website. 

We rate claims that Mars is Jackson’s son False.