April 17th, 2007
Don Ho - Hawaii’s Best-Known Entertainer…
Don Ho, the biggest and best-known Hawaiian entertainer of the last 50 years, passed away last week Saturday at the age of 76.
Known worldwide for his recordings of songs such as "Tiny Bubbles" and "I’ll Remember You," Ho was a Waikiki showroom headliner for 43 years — from 1964, when he opened with the Aliis at Duke Kahanamoku’s in the International Market Place, until his passing in 2007. Ho was one of an elite group of Hawaii recording artists of any genre whose recordings appeared on any of the six major Billboard record charts in the 20th century.
In 2001, he became the first Hawaii artist to receive a Record Industry Association of America-certified "gold" record when "Don Ho’s Greatest Hits," one of his several albums for Reprise, was certified gold for sales of more than 500,000 copies. The enduring popularity represented a turning point in the history of Hawaiian music — and in perceptions of Hawaii. Two generations later, many people still think of Hawaii and Hawaiian music in terms of Don Ho. Tourists and celebrities would not consider their visit to Hawaii complete without seeing Don Ho.
Ho’s television specials solidified his image as an exotic yet hip crooner while also showing off the beauty of an idealized modern Hawaii. Ho personified the romantic ambiance of "paradise." Ho also displayed his sense of humor when he recorded a local comedy song, "Who Is the Lolo (Who Stole the Pakalolo)."
Born in 1930 as Donald Tai Loy Ho, he was of Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and German ancestry.
He grew up a people-watcher in Honey’s, his parents’ neighborhood bar in Kaneohe. Although he listened to everything in the juke box — American big band swing to traditional Hawaiian music — he showed no particular interest in music.
He was a football star at Kamehameha, graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and then joined the Air Force. It wasn’t until 1959 that he began helping out at the bar and got into music.
"I had no intention of being an entertainer," Ho said. "I just played songs I liked from the radio, and pretty soon that place was jammed. Every weekend there would be lines down the street."