Tonight is the series premiere of The Lylas on WE TV, a reality series documenting the lives of sisters Jaime, Tiara, Tahiti and Presley Hernandez as they leave their home state of Hawaii for Los Angeles to pursue their dream of being a successful girl group. In addition to their talent and good great looks, the sisters have one other thing working for them in that their brother Peter Hernandez has already had a little bit of success in the music industry — you might know him better as his stage name, Bruno Mars.
But don’t think for a second this show is about Bruno! It is all about this tight-knit group of sisters who are dealing with their own unique struggle pursuing their own dream. “Yes, we have a famous brother,” Tahiti says in the preview trailer for the show before adding, “but this is about us.”
Here are all four of The Lylas (which stands for Love You Like A Sister) at the WE TV red carpet premiere event for the series held in Hollywood last night:
And here’s The Lylas preview trailer:
As you were probably able to surmise from the trailer (if you missed the headlines when it happened), Bruno and his sisters unexpecteedly lost their mother Bernadette Hernandez during the time they were filming the show. Bernadette was only 55 years old and died in Honolulu on June 1st from a brain aneurysm. Obviously the tragic death of their mother was a huge blow to the Hernandez family, but as evidenced by the premiere of The Lylas tonight, the sisters decided that moving forward with their careers is what their mother would have wanted them to do.
“It’s been five months and we’re still grieving — we’re still dealing with it and time hasn’t really healed much,” Tiara said about her mom in a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight. “We all have each other, which makes it easier,” Tahiti added.
^ Bernadette Hernandez with Bruno Mars and The Lylas sisters. (Their brother Eric Hernandez is not in the photo)
“The docu-series captured our last moments with her, so we were kind of blessed in a way,” says Tahiti. “We’re so grateful for it. We owe it all to her and the world will see that — she totally shines on the show.”
Bernadette was a hula dancer and singer who immigrated from the Philippines and married musician Peter Hernandez after the two met during a performance in which Bernadette was dancing and Peter was playing percussion. As you would imagine, the Hernandez children were raised in a home that encouraged the love and performance of music, with Bruno even having a recurring role in one of his dad’s shows as an Elvis Presley impersonator.
The Hernandez sisters first performed together for the charity organization 4mamaearth as part of a project for orphanages in the Philippines. Not long after, the group had released their first single, “Come Back,” and a video soon followed:
Now The Lylas are taking the next big step, and they allowed the WE TV cameras (and the rest of the world) along for the ride! From the official press release announcing the show:
Tiara and Presley leave their hometown of Honolulu to join sister Jaime in Los Angeles to officially give music a shot. But, behind the soundtrack of their fast-paced lifestyle, The LYLAS are facing a bigger challenge – living and working together for the first time in years. The LYLAS love each other deeply, but will their strong personalities coupled with the pressure to succeed jeopardize their chances of becoming music’s next big sensation?
In the premiere episode, The LYLAS arrive in Los Angeles; however, the transition is not easy for everyone as Tahiti, a mother of two, struggles with leaving her children behind. We see the ladies quickly get down to business joining forces with their management team who arrange a power meeting with famed producer, Dallas Austin. While the ladies are thrilled with the meeting, they quickly discover they don’t see eye-to-eye with management.
Here are photos and bios of each of The Lylas sisters courtesy of WE TV:
TAHITI HERNANDEZ
When I was two years old, I remember my mom teaching me the Whitney Houston song “One Moment In Time”. I have been hooked on music ever since. I grew up in a music-inspired family with two loving parents and five crazy siblings. If we weren’t pranking each other, we were using song and dance to keep ourselves occupied. My parents divorced when I was young but my siblings had each other, which made for a memorable childhood. Now that I am a mom, it is amazing to look back at my own mother, who is my biggest influence, raise six kids while living her passion. Music is in our genes. My parents inspired it, we are living it, and my kids, Zyah and Nyjah, are growing within it. Along with my mother, I am inspired by Pink and Alicia Keys, who are full time mothers and also influential musicians.
This recent move to Los Angeles with my sisters has been an interesting adjustment. As much as I want to say that my siblings drive me crazy, I was blessed with three sisters who are beautiful and talented. What better way to get into the industry than with your family by your side? It can be rough because we have made the change from just sisters and now are entertainment business partners as well. It will continue to be challenging but when it comes to family, you learn to work through and persevere through the good and bad with a smile.
Tahiti Hernandez on Twitter: @tahitilovesu
Tahiti Hernandez on instagram: @tahitilovesu
PRESLEY HERNANDEZ
I’m the youngest of six kids. Growing up as the youngest is fun because I got my way a lot. Then again, growing up as the youngest meant my older siblings would never let me forget that I was the baby. With five brothers and sisters, I never grew bored or felt alone. Now when I look back, I think about how much we struggled as a family with money, but growing up, I never knew or thought about it as I only came home to love, support and positivity.
I was raised seeing my parents perform in front of an audience. My first memory is my mom bringing me on stage with her during a performance. Almost immediately, I realized I loved being the center of attention and I began performing publicly on stage to Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”, but as I got older, I started to develop stage fright. I would start to shake and my nerves would take over while on stage. At one point, I even blacked out on stage.
Moving to Los Angeles with my sisters and building a relationship with the music industry is helping me overcome this phobia. As my sisters help me with that battle, I am constantly finding myself as the peacemaker between the girls because working together can sometimes get heated. We are family so I do whatever I can to stay neutral in disagreements. I see it as my job to keep everyone laughing, smiling, and moving forward. Sometimes they get mad and refuse my input but that does not stop me from trying. We are family and families stick together.
Presley Hernandez on Twitter: @PresHernandez_
Presely Hernandez on instagram: @preshernandez
TIARA HERNANDEZ
I was born and raised in Hawaii to a Puerto Rican father from Brooklyn and a Filipino mother from Manila. My father was the owner of a Las Vegas review show that my entire family starred in. This show, and most of our family’s general musical upbringing, was influenced by artists from the 1950s and 1960s, like Elvis and The Supremes. While that was the music in our household, I grew up listening to Green Day, AFI, Nirvana, and No Doubt, which made me a rocker by nature.
As the middle child of six, I was the rebel of the pack. It is the same old story you hear all the time: When your father is a doctor, he wants you to be a doctor. In my case, my parents were musicians and my plan was to become something else. The first time I moved to Los Angeles, I shed my musical past and became a preschool teacher. More and more, I found myself playing instruments and talking music with the young kids. After a short stint, I moved back to Hawaii to be with my family and figure out what career options would be best for me. A few years later, I am back in Los Angeles with my amazing sisters more focused, determined, and motivated than ever. It look me a while to accept it but I’m a musician; it’s in my blood. When I perform, I get to take the stage with my sisters, which makes it that much better. After all these experiences, I may not be the lead singer of the group, but I now consider myself as the leader of the group.
Tiara Hernandez on Twitter: @TIARABELLAAA
Tiara Hernandez on instagram: @tiarabellaaa
JAIME KAILANI
I was born and raised in Hawaii and I am the oldest sister of six siblings. Coming from a family of performers, it was only natural that I, too, become a performer. My mother was an amazing singer so I grew up hearing a lot of her influences: Motown, Supremes, Diana Ross, and Whitney Houston; I even entered my first talent show in 6th grade singing Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All”. My 1980’s-era childhood inspired me to expand my list of influences to singers such as Madonna and Cindi Lauper.
Following my upbringing in our very musical family, I was the first of the kids to make the move out to Los Angeles to pursue my dreams. Those dreams were put on hold as I expanded my family with my two sons, Marley and Jaimo. While I raised my boys, I found myself still connected to the industry as I helped my brothers with their careers. As they became successful and my children became more independent, I found myself able to focus on my original dreams in music.
During my time in Los Angeles, I started an organization called Mama Earth, which writes songs for charities. My sisters flew to Los Angeles to sing on a part of the songs for fun. That turned into us having a few more sessions, writing more songs, collaborating, and realizing that we had something special. That’s how The Lylas were born. Now that we are finally a performing group, it is exciting because I am able to do what I have always dreamt of, music. And even better because I get to do it with my sisters who will be there to push and support each other the whole way through!
Jaime Kailani Bayot on Twitter: @JaimeKailani
Jaime Kailani Bayot on instagram: @jaimekailani
The Lylas airs Friday nights at 9/8c on WE TV! Be sure to follow them on Twitter @TheLylas and like The Lylas on Facebook to keep up to date!
