According to bandleader Joel Jacques, the mariachi band was hired to pretend to play the instruments \u2014 but after taping a few takes using the yet-to-be-released recording, the group ended up memorizing the exact musical notes by ear.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany artists don\u2019t get real musicians,\u201d says Jacques, who played the guitarr\u00f3n, an acoustic bass guitar, in the video. \u201cSo when you see a music video, you can often see that people don\u2019t play the real notes, but if you look, [we do].\u201d<\/p>\n
Jacques recalls that the band\u2019s swift adoption of the song came as a surprise to Mars, who let out a chuckle in amazement when he heard his song live for the first time. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s Puerto Rican, we\u2019re Mexican,\u201d says Jacques. \u201cAll Latin Americans have this beautiful romanticism and emotion that we transmit through our music.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now counting nearly 15 million views, \u201cRisk It All\u201d has been dubbed by fans an instant classic wedding song. Various Mexican artists praised Mars on Instagram<\/a> \u2014 including Mexican American singers Jes\u00fas Ortiz Paz of Fuerza Regida, Ivan Cornejo and Lupita Infante, granddaughter of the beloved ranchera king Pedro Infante.<\/p>\n Born Peter Gene Hernandez in Honolulu to parents of Puerto Rican, Filipino and Ashkenazi Jewish descent, Mars pays homage to other parts of Latin culture throughout \u201cThe Romantic\u201d \u2014 like in the Cuban-inspired track \u201cCha Cha Cha,\u201d and \u201cSomething Serious,\u201d which recalls Santana\u2019s 1970 song \u201cOye Como Va,\u201d a cha-cha-cha song originally composed and recorded by Tito Puente in 1962.<\/p>\n Although based in L.A., Mariachi Los Criollos de Guadalajara has roots in Mexico. Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, the birthplace and capital of mariachi music, Jacques studied guitar under his father, Lazaro Jacques. He later attended the municipal school of El Mariachi in Guadalajara under the tutelage of Lino Brise\u00f1o \u2014 original member of the group Mariachi Vargas De Tecalitlan, which is known best for performing with ranchera singer-actors Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete.<\/p>\n In 2007, Jacques formed Mariachi Los Criollos de Guadalajara. He later moved the operation to Los Angeles in 2018, where he settled down after meeting his wife. \u201cLos Angeles is a breeding ground for musicians,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n As the leader of Mariachi Los Criollos de Guadalajara, Jacques prides himself in wearing the charro suit with all the gallantry and dignity that it deserves \u2014 from the matching buckle, buttons, bows and charro hat.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a group that does m\u00fasica mexicana with quality,\u201d he says, which is why his group was keen on memorizing \u201cRisk it All.\u201d<\/p>\n When Jacques got the call from the production team, he gave them a brief history of mariachi by sharing popular clips, such as Elvis Presley\u2019s \u201cGuadalajara<\/a>,\u201d which featured the real-life Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan. He also cited the Mexican mariachi legend Vicente Fernandez, who often performed his music with an 11-piece ensemble, unlike many other singers who simply used the band members for display.<\/p>\n Explaining the rich history of mariachi music, which was added to UNESCO\u2019s list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2011, is part of why Jacques thinks his band was selected to play alongside a 16-time Grammy winner like Mars.<\/p>\n \u201cOur Mexican music is truly an intangible cultural heritage of humanity,\u201d says Jacques. \u201cThanks to this kind of music that\u2019s being made now, with artists like Bruno Mars, it\u2019s really giving a boost to our Mexican music and also our Latin culture.\u201d<\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1772490912_510_hqdefault.jpg\")
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