Sonny Chillingworth

Edwin Bradfield Liloa "Sonny" Chillingworth Jr. (July 14, 1932 – August 24, 1994) was a Hawaiian guitarist and singer regarded as one of the most influential figures in slack-key guitar (kī hōʻalu). Born on Oʻahu in the Territory of Hawaiʻi, he took up the guitar around age twelve while living with his grandfather, Harry Purdy, on Molokaʻi, learning in the traditional Hawaiian way by listening, watching, and imitating. He was inspired by Gabby Pahinui's recording of "Hiʻilawe" and, as a teenager, met Pahinui in Honolulu, later joining him and other musicians at clubs, luʻaus, and jam sessions.

Chillingworth made his first recording, the 78 rpm single "Makeʻe ʻAilana," with Vickie Iʻi Rodrigues in 1954, and released his first album, Waimea Cowboy, in 1964, from which came his nickname "The Waimea Cowboy." Over his career he appeared on more than thirty albums and performed with artists including Gabby Pahinui, Maddy Lam, Atta Isaacs, the Sons of Hawaiʻi, and Marlene Sai. His style, often built on the G-major "taro patch" tuning, drew on an eclectic range of influences, from Hawaiian standards to country and western, Portuguese, and rhythm and blues, while remaining rooted in Hawaiian tradition; he played fingerstyle.

Beginning in 1979 he taught slack-key guitar and mentored younger players such as George Kuo, Ozzie Kotani, and Makana, helping carry the tradition forward as one of its elder statesmen. In 1992 he received the Bank of Hawaiʻi Nā Hōkū Lifetime Award for Slack Key Guitar. Near the end of his life he recorded for George Winston's Dancing Cat Records; the solo album Sonny Solo appeared in 1994, and Endlessly was released posthumously in 1999. He was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame in 2014.