Very, very sad news this week for Bruno Mars: The musician’s mother, Bernadette Hernandez, died suddenly of a brain aneurysm. She was only 55 years old. A publicist for the singer’s music label confirmed that the passing took place yesterday at Queens Medical Center in Honolulu. No other details are available at this time. Hernandez was a hula dancer and a singer who immigrated from the Philippines. She helped support and nurture her son’s music interest from a young age. Our thoughts go out to Bruno and his loved ones.
The Discovery Channel series Storm Chasers is mourning the loss of its own this weekend. On Friday, Tim Samaras, his son Paul and co-worker Carl Young were among nine who died when a tornado made its way through El Reno, Oklahoma. Samaras founded TWISTEX, the Tactical Weather Instrumented Sampling in Tornadoes Experiment, and that company released a statement on its Facebook page in light of the tragic news: “This is a devastating loss to the meteorological, research, and storm chasing communities. I ask that you keep the families in your thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time. There is some comfort in knowing these men passed on doing what they loved.” Discovery also sent along its “thoughts and prayers” to the families of Samaras and Young, while tonight’s documentary – Mile Wide Tornado: Oklahoma Disaster – will be dedicated to their memories. Friday’s storm, of course, was the second natural catastrophe to hit the region this month. The town of Moore, Oklahoma was devastated two weeks ago when a tornado killed over 20 residents.
