Willie K

William Awihilima Kahaialiʻi, known professionally as Willie K, was a Hawaiian singer, guitarist, ukulele player, and producer born October 17, 1960, in Lahaina, Maui, and raised in a musical family; his father, Manu Kahaialiʻi, was a Hawaiian jazz guitarist. Willie began performing alongside his father as a child and, after graduating from Lahainaluna High School in 1979, spent time developing a wide-ranging repertoire that stretched from Hawaiian and Top 40 to classical, country, and rock. He broke into the Waikiki entertainment scene in 1991 and became known across his career for a singular vocal range and stylistic versatility, moving within a single performance between Hawaiian music, blues, rock, and opera.

From 1993 to 2002, Willie K recorded, toured, and performed with singer-songwriter Amy Hānaialiʻi Gilliom; their collaborations earned seven Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards, and their 2003 live album, Amy & Willie Live, received a Grammy nomination for Best Hawaiian Music Album when the category was introduced in 2005. He also co-founded the band Barefoot Natives with fellow Maui musician Eric Gilliom, a Hawaiian-music-and-comedy act that toured internationally and won the 2007 Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award for Best Contemporary Hawaiian Album. Over his career he accumulated 19 Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards as a musician and producer, and in 2018 he received the Hawaiʻi Academy of Recording Arts' Lifetime Achievement Award.

Willie K was widely regarded for his live performances, prized for his ability to shift fluidly between instruments and vocal styles, including Hawaiian falsetto, within a single set. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in early 2018 and continued performing while undergoing treatment, including a January 2020 concert at Blue Note Hawaii after disclosing his prognosis was terminal. He died on May 18, 2020, at his home in Wailuku, Maui, at age 59.