70%
view 
Members
1 Male
Origin
Hawaii, USA
Genre
Acoustic
Style
Folk
Mood
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Born
1 MaleOrigin
Hawaii, USAGenre
AcousticStyle
FolkMood
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Born
1959
Active
1959 to 
1997
Cutout
Alternate Name
Israel Kamakawiwo
Most Loved Tracks5 users
Israel Kamakawiwoʻole - Over The Rainbow4 users
Israel Kamakawiwoʻole - Take Me Home Country Road4 users
Israel Kamakawiwoʻole - Ka Huila Wai4 users
Israel Kamakawiwoʻole - Over the Rainbow4 users
Israel Kamakawiwoʻole - Over the Rainbow
Music Video Links Over The Rainbow |
Artist Biography
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Israel Kamakawiwo’ole was a popular entertainer and singer in Hawai’i until his death at the age of 38 in 1997. He became famous outside Hawaii when his album Facing Future was released in 1993 with his medley of Over The Rainbow / What A Wonderful World. The song has been included in the end of several movies, including Finding Forrester, Meet Joe Black, 50 First Dates and Fred Claus, the TV show Scrubs, as well as the 2002 season finale of the TV series ER, the end of the season finale of Young Americans and in the very last episode in April 2007 of the UK Drama series Life On Mars and now as the intro to BBC series South Pacific. His song “Hawai’i 78” is used as the entrance music when BJ Penn fights in the UFC.
Kamakawiwoʻole was born at Kuakini Hospital in Honolulu to Henry Kaleialoha Naniwa Kamakawiwoʻole, Jr., and Evangeline Leinani Kamakawiwoʻole. The notable Hawaiian musician Moe Keale was his uncle. He was raised in the community of Kaimuki, where his parents had met and married. He began playing music with his older brother Skippy and cousin Allen Thornton at the age of 11, being exposed to the music of Hawaiian entertainers of the time such as Peter Moon, Palani Vaughn, and Don Ho, who frequented the establishment where Kamakawiwoʻole's parents worked. Hawaiian musician Del Beazley spoke of the first time he heard Israel play, when, while playing for a graduation party, the whole room fell silent on hearing him. Israel continued his path as his brother Skippy entered the Army in 1971 and cousin Allen parted ways in 1976 for the mainland.
In his early teens, he studied at Upward Bound (UB) of the University of Hawaii at Hilo and his family moved to Mākaha. There he met Louis "Moon" Kauakahi, Sam Gray, and Jerome Koko. Together with his brother Skippy they formed the Makaha Sons of Niʻihau. A part of the Hawaiian Renaissance, this talented Hawaiian band's blend of contemporary and traditional styles gained in popularity as they toured Hawaii and the continental United States, releasing fifteen successful albums. Israel's aim was to make music that stayed true to the typical sound of traditional Hawaiian music. During that time period the songs that people associated with Hawaii weren't authentic or traditional sounding songs.
The Makaha Sons of Niʻihau recorded No Kristo in 1976 and released four more albums, including Kahea O Keale, Keala, Makaha Sons Of Niʻihau and Mahalo Ke Akua. In 1982, Kamakawiwoʻole's brother, Skippy, died at age 28 of a heart attack related to obesity. In that same year, Kamakawiwoʻole married his childhood sweetheart Marlene. Soon after, they had a daughter whom they named Ceslie-Ann "Wehi".
The group became Hawaii's most popular modern traditional group with breakout albums 1984's Puana Hou Me Ke Aloha and its follow-up, 1986's Hoʻola. Kamakawiwoʻole's last recorded album with the group was 1991's Hoʻoluana. It remains the group's top-selling CD.
In 1990, Kamakawiwoʻole released his first solo album Ka ʻAnoʻi, which won awards for Contemporary Album of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year from the Hawaiʻi Academy of Recording Arts (HARA). Facing Future was released in 1993 by The Mountain Apple Company. It featured his most popular song, the medley "Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World", along with "Hawaiʻi 78", "White Sandy Beach of Hawaiʻi", "Maui Hawaiian Sup'pa Man", and "Kaulana Kawaihae". The decision to record a cover of Somewhere Over the Rainbow was said to be a last minute decision by his producer Jon de Mello and him. Facing Future debuted at #25 on Billboard magazine's Top Pop Catalogue chart. On October 26, 2005, Facing Future became Hawaii's first certified platinum album, selling more than a million CDs in the United States, according to figures furnished by the Recording Industry Association of America. On July 21, 2006, BBC Radio 1 announced that "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World(True Dreams)" would be released as a single in America.
In 1994, Kamakawiwoʻole was voted favorite entertainer of the year by the Hawaiʻi Academy of Recording Arts (HARA).
E Ala E (1995) featured the political title song "ʻE Ala ʻE" and "Kaleohano", and N Dis Life (1996) featured "In This Life" and "Starting All Over Again".
In 1997, Kamakawiwoʻole was again honored by HARA at the Annual Nā Hōkū Hanohano awards for Male Vocalist of the Year, Favorite Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year, and Island Contemporary Album of the Year. He watched the awards ceremony from a hospital room.
Alone in Iz World (2001) debuted at #1 on Billboard's World Chart and #135 on Billboard's Top 200, #13 on the Top Independent Albums Chart, and #15 on the Top Internet Album Sales charts.
Kamakawiwo'ole has become the best selling Hawaiian musician of all time.
Support of Hawaiian rights
Kamakawiwoʻole was known for promoting Hawaiian rights and Hawaiian independence, both through his lyrics, which often stated the case for independence directly, and his life, for example his song Hawai'i '78, where the lyrics 'the life of this land is the life of the people/ and that to care for the land (malama 'āina) is to care for the Hawaiian culture', a statement which many consider to summarise his Hawaiian ideals. The state motto of Hawai'i is a recurring line in the song and encompasses the meaning of Iz's message: Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono (proclaimed by King Kamehameha III when Hawai'i regained sovereignty in 1843. Roughly translated: The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.)
Kamakawiwo'ole used the ukulele to promote awareness of the second class status pushed onto the natives by the tourist industry.
Throughout his life, Kamakawiwoʻole suffered from severe obesity and at one point weighed 757 pounds (343 kg; 54.1 st) standing 6-foot-2-inch (1.88 m) tall. He endured several hospitalizations because of health problems caused by his obesity. Beset with respiratory, heart and other medical problems, he died at the age of 38 in Queen's Medical Center at 12:18 a.m. on June 26, 1997. Kamakawiwoʻole is survived by his widow, Marlene Kamakawiwoʻole, and their daughter, Ceslie-Ann "Wehi".
The Hawaii state flag flew at half-staff on July 10, 1997, the day of Kamakawiwoʻole's funeral. His koa wood coffin lay in state at the state capitol building in Honolulu. He was the third person in Hawaiian history to be awarded this honor, and the only one who was not a government official. Approximately ten thousand people attended the funeral. Thousands of fans gathered as his ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean at Mākua Beach on July 12, 1997. The funeral and the scattering of Kamakawiwoʻole's ashes were featured in the official music videos of "Over the Rainbow" released posthumously by Apple Company; as of June 2013, the videos as featured on YouTube have garnered 84,600,038 views.
On September 20, 2003, hundreds paid tribute to Kamakawiwoʻole as a bronze bust of the revered singer was unveiled at the Waianae Neighborhood Community Center on Oʻahu. The singer's widow, Marlene Kamakawiwoʻole, and sculptor Jan-Michelle Sawyer were present for the dedication ceremony.
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