Amy Hānaialiʻi

Amy Hānaialiʻi Gilliom, who performs as Amy Hānaialiʻi, is an American vocalist and songwriter born on Maui, known for reviving the Hawaiian tradition of female falsetto singing. She comes from a musical family: her grandmother, Jennie Napua Woodd, performed at a Hawaiian Room in New York in the 1930s, and her brother Eric Gilliom is also a performer. She began her recording and performing career in 1993 and worked closely with the late Maui musician Willie K, who performed and toured with her on several of her early releases.

Over her career she has released a string of Hawaiian albums, including Native Child (1995), Hawaiian Tradition (1997), and Generation Hawaiʻi (2007). Her recordings have earned 18 Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards, the honors presented by the Hawaiʻi Academy of Recording Arts and often described as Hawaiʻi's equivalent of the Grammy Awards. She is also a six-time Grammy nominee, recognized in the Best Hawaiian Music Album and Best Regional Roots Music Album categories between 2005 and 2020; she has not won a Grammy.

Hānaialiʻi has performed beyond the islands, including at New York's Blue Note, and her own site bills her as Hawaiʻi's top-selling female vocalist. She has recorded with slack-key guitarists of Hawaiʻi, including on the album Amy Hanaialiʻi and Slack Key Masters of Hawaiʻi. She continues to record and perform, and in 2014 launched a wine label under the Hānaialiʻi name.