Hawaiian singer and musician Danny Kaleikini passed away at 85 on Friday morning, January 6, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports. Musicians, actors and dignitaries are now paying tribute to the entertainer.
Kaleikini was born on Oct. 10, 1937. He grew up on homestead land in Honolulu and graduated from Roosevelt High School. The singer attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa but left to pursue a career in entertainment.
According to KHON 2, Kaleikini was singing at the Royal Hawaiian hotel when he left college. He went on to have a 27-year engagement at the Hala Terrace in what was at the time the Kahala Hilton, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports. As Japanese tourism in Hawaii took off, Kaleikini learned Japanese and became a major showroom headliner.
The Hawaiian community is now mourning the loss of the entertainer.
“He was the embodiment of the very essence of everything that is so very special about Hawaii,” Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said in a statement according to Hawaii News Now. “He was truly a treasure, to Hawaii and to the world.”
Actor Daniel Dae Kim paid tribute to the performer on Twitter.
“Heaven has just been blessed with a little more aloha,” he wrote.
Fellow musician Rolando Sanchez also paid tribute to Kaleikini.
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