...the Playboy coverboy

Bruno Mars Joins Elite Club Of Playboy Cover Boys

By KAYE VILLAGOMEZ

March 17, 2012

 
 
 
MANILA, Philippines — Filipino-American hitmaker Bruno Mars has become the 10th man to rule a Playboy cover, out next month in the US.
 
A guitar-playing Mars has joined the league of interesting Playboy cover boys spread throughout 58 years of publication. The funny men-dominated roster – who have shared published jacket snap shots with one or a group of sexy bunnies – included Peter Sellers (April 1967), Burt Reynolds (October 1979), Steve Martin (January 1980), Dan Aykroyd (August 1993), Jerry Seinfeld (October 1993), Leslie Nielsen (February 1996), and Seth Rogen (April 2009). Donald Trump made it on the cover in March 1990.
 
The “It Will Rain” singer becomes only the second musician to hit the magazine’s banner after Gene Simmons.
 
Mars is seen in his best ’50s rock mood alongside Miss April cover girl, Raquel Pomplun. The 26-year-old singer-songwriter was picked for the magazine’s sex and music issue.

The doo-wop music fan said he impersonated Elvis Presley as a child and his music-loving family influenced a great deal in his craft.

“Growing up in the showbiz world, I looked up to those guys: Frank Sinatra and, of course, Elvis Presley. My dad was into the 1950s doo-wop era. If you look at those groups, or at James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and the Temptations in the 1960s, you’ll see you had to be sharp onstage.”

But it was Jimi Hendrix who made Mars “pick up a guitar” for the first time. He said to Playboy, “I think he’s (Hendrix) the greatest guitar player in the world, and I would want to see him do his thing in person. He’s the reason I picked up a guitar in the first place.”