Bruno Mars gets candid about his mother's death

Bruno Mars has always appeared to be an open book.  His contagious energy and his confidence have always been through the charts.  But now, the "Just The Way You Are" singer has opened up about how his mother's tragic death changed his life and almost made him give up everything.

In 2013, Bruno Mars's mother, Bernadette Hernandez, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly from a brain aneurysm at the age of 55.

People reported she left behind six children, one of them being the "24K Magic" singer.

In a new interview with Latina magazine, Mars opened up about the impact of his mother's sudden death on his life.  “She’s more than my music. If I could trade music to have her back, I would. I always hear her say, ‘Keep going and keep doing it,'” he said.

He admitted the pain he felt when his mother passed away was unimaginable and that he felt guilty for things he said and did to his mother that he now cannot take back.  But from this unfortunate experience, the "Uptown Funk" singer revealed he has gotten a new outlook on life.  "It shows you the real importance of life. Nothing else matters in this world but family and your loved ones," he said.

And today he lives by this mantra.  He continued the interview by speaking fondly of his father, Pedro Hernandez.  Mars also addressed. the rumor that he changed his last name to "Mars" to hide his ethnicity, which he claimed was "so insulting" to him and his family.  “My dad nicknamed me Bruno since I was 2 years old.  The real story is: I was going to go by ‘Bruno,’ one name. Mars just kind of came joking around because that sounds bigger than life. That was it, simple as that," he said.

Catch the new issue of Latina Magazine with Bruno's candid interview when it hits the stands on February 14.