Don Ho

Donald Tai Loy Ho (August 13, 1930 – April 14, 2007) was an American traditional pop and Hawaiian music singer and entertainer. Born in the Kakaʻako neighborhood of Honolulu and raised in Kāneʻohe on Oʻahu, he was of Native Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, and German descent. A 1949 graduate of the Kamehameha Schools, he earned a sociology degree at the University of Hawaiʻi and served in the U.S. Air Force before returning home to build a music career in the early 1960s.

Ho rose to fame performing in Waikīkī, notably at Duke Kahanamoku's nightclub, backed from 1964 to 1969 by his band The Aliis. He released his debut album, The Don Ho Show!, in 1965, and in 1966 recorded 'Tiny Bubbles,' which charted on the Billboard pop and easy-listening charts and became his signature song. Another number long associated with him was 'Pearly Shells.' His success carried him to Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and New York, and he hosted the ABC variety program The Don Ho Show from 1976 to 1977.

For decades Ho remained a fixture of Waikīkī showrooms, performing regularly for tourists and locals alike and becoming one of Hawaiʻi's most recognized entertainers. He died of heart failure at his Waikīkī apartment on April 14, 2007, at age 76. In 2013 he was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame.