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Hawaiian music & entertainers in Hawaiʻi

15 checked entries, each with sources and the date it was last checked.

Statewide

• Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards (Hawaiʻi’s Grammys)Statewide · Hawaiʻi's top music awards, often called the Hawaiian Grammys. Nā Hōkū Hanohano means "stars of distinction." Started in 1978 by radio...

Hawaiʻi Island

• Aunty Edith Kanakaʻole (hula and chant)Hawaiʻi Island · Revered Hilo kumu hula, chanter and composer who helped lead the Hawaiian cultural revival. Born in Honomū in 1913, she founded Hālau O...

Maui

• Kealiʻi ReichelMaui · Maui-born singer, songwriter and kumu hula whose 1994 debut album, Kawaipunahele, became one of the best-selling Hawaiian albums. He sings...

Oʻahu

• Aunty Genoa Keawe (falsetto)Oʻahu · The beloved queen of Hawaiian falsetto, famous for holding impossibly long notes in her signature song "ʻAlika." Aunty Genoa sang in...
• Don Ho ("Tiny Bubbles")Oʻahu · Hawaiʻi's best-known entertainer of the 1960s and '70s. Born in Kakaʻako, Honolulu, in 1930, Don Ho was a U.S. Air Force pilot before...
• Gabby "Pops" Pahinui (slack-key guitar)Oʻahu · The father of modern slack-key guitar (kī hōʻalu). Born in Lahaina in 1921 and raised in Honolulu, Gabby Pahinui made the first slack-key...
• Israel "IZ" KamakawiwoʻoleOʻahu · The voice behind the ʻukulele medley "Somewhere Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World." Born in Honolulu in 1959, IZ co-founded the...
• Jake Shimabukuro (ʻukulele)Oʻahu · The ʻukulele virtuoso who showed the world what the little instrument can do. Born in Honolulu in 1976, he first won fans with the trio...
• Kalapana (band)Oʻahu · Honolulu's classic 1970s soft-rock band, famous for "Naturally," "Nightbird" and "The Hurt." Their 1975 debut sold well in Hawaiʻi and...
• Kui Lee (songwriter)Oʻahu · The songwriter behind "I'll Remember You," made famous by Don Ho and recorded by Elvis Presley. Kui Lee wrote some of Hawaiʻi's best-loved...
• Nā Leo PilimehanaOʻahu · The trio of Nalani Jenkins, Lehua Kalima and Angela Morales, who formed as Kamehameha Schools seniors in 1984 and won a talent contest with...
• The Brothers CazimeroOʻahu · Robert and Roland Cazimero, one of the defining Hawaiian music duos of the Hawaiian Renaissance. Their May Day (Lei Day) concert at the...
• The Mākaha SonsOʻahu · One of Hawaiʻi's most beloved traditional groups, known for rich harmonies and old-style Hawaiian songs. Formed on Oʻahu in 1976 as the...
• The Royal Hawaiian Band (free concerts)Oʻahu · Founded in 1836 by King Kamehameha III, the Royal Hawaiian Band is older than the state itself and is now run by the City and County of...
• Where to hear Hawaiian music and see hula today (Oʻahu)Oʻahu · Free and easy ways to hear real Hawaiian music: the Royal Hawaiian Band at ʻIolani Palace most Fridays at noon; the free Kūhiō Beach Hula...