Image Wikipedia: Kamakawiwoʻole in 1993
Who is Israel Kamakawiwoʻole?
From Wikipedia, Israel Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole (Hawaiian: pronounced [kəˌmɐkəˌvivoˈʔole]; Hawaiian for '"the fearless eye, the bold face"';[2] May 20, 1959 – June 26, 1997), also called Bruddah Iz or IZ, was a Native Hawaiian singer-lyricist, musician, and Hawaiian sovereignty activist.
He achieved commercial success outside Hawaii when his album Facing Future was released in 1993. His medley of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" was released on his albums Ka ʻAnoʻi and Facing Future. It was subsequently featured in several films, television programs, and television commercials.
Along with his ukulele playing and incorporation of other genres, such as jazz and reggae, Kamakawiwoʻole remains influential in Hawaiian music.
Kamakawiwoʻole was known for promoting Hawaiian rights and Hawaiian independence, both through his lyrics, which often stated the case for independence directly, and through his own actions.[9] For example, the lyric in his song "Hawaiʻi '78": "The life of this land is the life of the people/and that to care for the land (malama ʻāina) is to care for the Hawaiian culture", is a statement that many consider to summarize his Hawaiian ideals.[10] The state motto of Hawaiʻi is a recurring line in the song and encompasses the meaning of Kamakawiwoʻole's message: "Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono" (proclaimed by King Kamehameha III when Hawaiʻi regained sovereignty in 1843. It can be roughly translated as: "The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness").[11]
Kamakawiwoʻole used his music to promote awareness of his belief that a second-class status had been pushed onto the natives by the tourist industry.
On December 6, 2010, NPR named Kamakawiwoʻole as "The Voice of Hawaii" in its 50 great voices series.[19]
On March 24, 2011, Kamakawiwoʻole was honored with the German national music award Echo. The music managers Wolfgang Boss and Jon de Mello accepted the trophy in his stead.[20]
A 2014 Pixar short film, Lava, features two volcanoes as the main characters. Kamakawiwoʻole's cover of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and his style of music was James Ford Murphy's partial inspiration for the short film.[21]
On May 20, 2020, Google Doodle published a page in celebration of Kamakawiwoʻole's 61st birthday. It featured information about his life, musical career, and impact on Hawaii. Included was a two-minute cartoon video with Kamakawiwoʻole's cover of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" playing as the background and imagery of Hawaii. The section of the page explaining the inspiration of the Doodle says that "The Doodle is full of places in Hawaiʻi that had special significance for Israel: the sunrise at Diamond Head, Makaha Beach, the Palehua vista, the flowing lava and volcanic landscape of the Big Island, the black sand beach at Kalapana, the Waiʻanae coast."[22]
More about Israel Kamakawiwoʻole on Wikipedia...
--> Video Google Doodle celebrate Israel Kamakawiwoʻole’s 61st Birthday:
In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in the U.S., today’s Doodle celebrates the 61st birthday of native Hawaiian `ukulele player, singer-songwriter, and activist Israel “IZ™” Kamakawiwo’ole, who is perhaps best known for touching the world with his beloved rendition of “Over the Rainbow” and forever changing the face of Hawaiian music. Through his joyful songs and lifelong advocacy for the islands’ values and culture, Israel has been widely referred to as the “Voice of Hawai’i.”
