It's a rare occurrence, one that's happened only nine times before in history: Bruno Mars has become the tenth male cover star of Playboy magazine.
The Grenade singer, 26, graces the cover of the annual Sex and Music edition, posing alongside the gorgeous Miss April, Raquel Pomplun.
In a retro, Tropicana-style photoshoot by renowned Irish photographer Tony Kelly, Bruno poses in a blue convertible with girls fawning over him.
He plays the ukelele fully clothed in a filled bath as swimsuit-clad Raquel peers in from outside.
One saucy shot sees Bruno being tugged from both directions by two beauties, with one glaring jealously as the other presses her lips to his.
The Grammy-winner is chuffed over joining a very select club of male Playboy cover stars that includes Peter Sellers, Burt Reynolds, Steve Martin, Donald Trump, Jerry Seinfeld, Gene Simmons and most recently, Seth Rogen.
He tweeted as the issue went on sale: 'Woke up this mornin feelin like a playboy ;)'
The accompanying interview reveals that the stylish crooner, unsurprisingly, looks to the Forties and Fifties for inspiration.
'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.'
Bruno, born Peter Gene Hernandez in Honolulu, grew up in a highly musical family, with a percussion-playing father and hula dancer mother.
In addition his dad played in a Little Richard tribute, while his uncle was an Elvis impersonator. Bruno followed in his uncle's footsteps and started out his career doing the same.
'My album is called Doo-Wops & Hooligans, but it's not a 1950s Earth Angel sound like you hear in Grease-type movies,' he told Playboy.
'I could sing you a thousand and one doo-wop songs. I love the simplicity in that music. It's not super-poetic, it's just from the heart.'
Asked who his ultimate collaborator would be, Bruno replied: 'Jimi Hendrix. I think he's 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.'
The full interview and photoshoot appears in the new issue of US Playboy magazine, on sale now.
Source
