KAMALANI Here’s a beautiful song I would like to share with all my Facebook friends. The singer featured in the video is the late and very popular Hawaiian singer, Israel IZ Kamakawiwoole. His voice became famous outside Hawaii when his album Facing Future was released in 1993. His medley of Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World was subsequently featured in several films, television programs, and television commercials. Through his skillful ukulele playing and incorporation of other genres (such as jazz and reggae), Kamakawiwoʻoles music remains a very strong influence in Hawaiian music. Throughout his life, Kamakawiwoʻole was morbidly obese and at one point weighed 767 pounds (348 kg; 54.8 st) standing 6-foot-2-inch (1.88 m) tall (Body Mass Index=99). He endured several hospitalizations because of health problems caused by his weight. Beset with respiratory, heart and other medical problems, he died at the age of 38 in Queens Medical Center at 12:18 a.m. on June 26, 1997. Kamakawiwoʻole was survived by his wife, Marlene Kamakawiwoʻole, and their daughter, Ceslie-Ann Wehi. The Hawaii state flag flew at half-staff on July 10, 1997, the day of Kamakawiwoʻoles funeral. His koa wood coffin lay in state at the state capitol building in Honolulu. He was the third person in Hawaiian history to be awarded this honor, and the only one who was not a government official. Approximately ten thousand people attended the funeral. Thousands of fans gathered as his ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean at Mākua Beach on July 12, 1997. The funeral and the scattering of Kamakawiwoʻoles ashes were featured in the official music video of Over the Rainbow released posthumously by the Mountain Apple Company; as of July 2014, the video as featured on YouTube has gained over 110 million views. On September 20, 2003, hundreds paid tribute to Kamakawiwoʻole as a bronze bust of the revered singer was unveiled at the Waianae Neighborhood Community Center on Oʻahu. The singers widow, Marlene Kamakawiwoʻole, and sculptor Jan-Michelle Sawyer were present for the dedication ceremony. The song, KAMALANI, also reminds me of a very dear friend, Col. Domingo Felix, who passed away a few months ago. I gave him a copy of this song, and Doming really enjoyed singing this song when he was still alive … and each time I hear the song played, it makes me sad that a dear friend is no longer around.. Click on the link below and enjoy listening to the song … https://youtube/watch?v=ZSh8MG5t0o4
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 22:07:13 +0000
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