A life in song
Israel Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole was known as “Bruddah Iz,” or simply IZ.[1][2]
Mākaha Sons of Niʻihau
After his family moved to Mākaha on Oʻahu’s leeward coast, he met Jerome Koko playing ʻukulele on the beach. In the mid-1970s, they formed the Mākaha Sons of Niʻihau with Israel’s older brother Skippy, Sam Gray and Louis “Moon” Kauakahi.[1][3]
The group’s musicianship and embrace of Native Hawaiian culture and politics brought it wide popularity. In the late 1980s, it won four Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards for Hoʻola. Israel’s last album with the group was Hoʻoluana (1991).[1][2]
On his own
His solo albums included Ka ʻAnoʻi (1990), Facing Future (1993), E Ala E (1995) and N Dis Life (1996). Facing Future, released by Mountain Apple Company, became the first album by a Hawaiian artist certified platinum in the US in 2005.[1][2][4]
Released after his death, Alone in IZ World (2001) debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s world music chart.[1]
A recording heard around the world
Early in 1988, by the Library of Congress’s account, a call reached a small Honolulu studio at about 3 a.m., just as it was closing. Israel came to the phone and asked if he could come in. Alone with his ʻukulele, he recorded three songs in about twenty minutes. One was his medley of “Over the Rainbow” and “What a Wonderful World.”[1]
Added to Facing Future at the last minute in 1993, the recording reached new audiences through film and television. It topped charts in Germany and France in 2010 and was added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2021. The songs were written by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg, and by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss; the voice and ʻukulele are Israel’s.[1][5][6]
“Hawaiʻi ’78”
Written by Mickey Ioane and first recorded by the Mākaha Sons of Niʻihau, “Hawaiʻi ’78” asks how the aliʻi of old would feel if they could return and see Hawaiʻi and its people today. Israel’s solo version opens and closes Facing Future. The song reflects on the Hawaiian monarchy and pushes back on the gentrification of Hawaiʻi.[1][6][7][8]
A voice for his people
The title song of E Ala E (1995) calls on Hawaiians to rise up for justice and the right to sovereignty. Concert producer Milton Lau said, “To many people [Iz] represented the real Hawaiʻi.” When Israel spoke about people losing their land, Lau added, anyone who had ever felt dispossessed looked up to him as a leader.[1][8]
Aloha, Bruddah Iz
He died in Honolulu on June 26, 1997, at 38, after years of serious health problems. That July, his koa casket lay in state beneath a Hawaiian flag in the courtyard of the Hawaiʻi State Capitol. Only two people had been so honored before him; about 10,000 came to pay respects.[1][9]
On July 12, 1997, his ashes were scattered at Mākua Beach on the Waiʻanae coast, with thousands gathered on the sand and in the water.[2][9]
Timeline
- 1959Born in Honolulu[1][2]
- mid-1970sMākaha Sons of Niʻihau formed[1][3]
- 1990Ka ʻAnoʻi, his first solo album[1][2]
- 1993Facing Future released[6]
- 1995E Ala E[2]
- 1996N Dis Life[2]
- 1997Died June 26, lay in state, ashes at Mākua[9]
- 2001Alone in IZ World[1]
- 2003Bust dedicated in Waiʻanae[10]
- 2005Facing Future certified platinum[1][4]
- 2010Medley tops German and French charts[1]
- 2020Google Doodle[11]
- 2021National Recording Registry[5]