Israel “Iz” Kamakawiwoʻole also known as “gentle giant”  was a singer and activist of Hawaiian ancestry, who passed away in 1997, at the age of 38. People who knew him remember him as a “really sweet man”.

In honor of  Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, on May 20th, 2020 Google posted a two-minute animated music video (directed by Sophie Diao) accompanied by Kamakawiwo`ole’s well-known song: A ukelele cover of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” first made famous by Judy Garland for the 1938 movie The Wizard of Oz. If Israel was alive it would be the day on his birthday.

Hawaiians and Hawaiian music consider Kamakawiwo`ole as a legend. The story behind the recording of his most popular song, which has gathered over 147 million streams on Spotify, is remarkable and worthy of consideration as a legend.

Israel Kamakawiwo`ole’s Early Rising  Passion For Music 

Israel Ka`ano`i Kamakawiwo`ole was born on May 20th, 1959 in a suburb of Honolulu,  known as Ni’ihau. Ni’ihau is an island with a population filled with entirely Hawaiian, which is restricted to outsiders without an invitation from a resident.  Here Kamakawiwo`ole grew up with his grandparents and with a strong bond to his heritage. 

Due to his family’s connection to music legends  Peter Moon and Don Ho and Kamakawiwo`ole’s uncle, musician-actor  Moe Keale who acted as Detective Truck Kealoha in the original version of the CBS cop drama Hawaii Five-O, Kamakawiwo`ole was introduced to music in very young age.

Musician and friend Del Beazley mentioned the first time when everyone heard Kamakawiwo`ole’s voice during an interview with NPR. It happened at a graduation party and everyone was stunned and “stopped”.

“Once Israel Kamakawiwo`ole began to sing, the entire room fell silent,” Beazley recalled.“Every great singer has something special. It’s almost a nasal or head tone. And that thing just cut right through the air, stopped everybody in their tracks.”

From that point on Kamakawiwo`ole’s musical journey thrived, In 1976 Kamakawiwo`ole formed a band with his brother Skippy. Before his solo album Ka ‘Ano’i in 1990, he was on a mission to popularize Hawaiian music. 7th song in the album Ka ‘Ano’i is a mix of Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “What a Wonderful World,” made famous by Louis Armstrong in 1967. The song is an upbeat Jawaiian track named “Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World.

Iconic Take On “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”

Even though Kamakawiwo`ole released the song in 1990, the version he recorded before the album release, is the one that caught everyone’s attention. The acoustic version, with Kamakawiwo`ole on vocals and ukelele, was included in his 1993 follow-up album, Facing Future“. Until that, it was stored in the recording studio’s archives.

In 1988, Milan Bertosa, a manager at a recording studio, received a call at 3 am, only when he was finishing up the day. A regular client of Bertosa called in support of Kamakawiwo`ole, who was very eager to pursue his idea. Then he passed the call to Kamakawiwo`ole.

As Bertosa heard Kamakawiwo`ole’s voice he couldn’t help but think

 “This really sweet man, well-mannered, just kind.”. Bertosa said yes when Kamakawiwo`ole kindly asked “Please, can I come in?”.

After 15 minutes Bertosa was shocked by the presence of Kamakawiwo.“And in walks the largest human being I had seen in my life,” Bertosa told NPR. Kamakawiwo`ole struggled with obesity all through his life, weighing to the extent of 757 pounds.

“The first thing at hand is to find something for him to sit on,” Bertosa recalled. A security guard from the building found a  big steel chair and offered it to Kamakawiwo`ole.“Then I put up some microphones, do a quick soundcheck, roll tape, and the first thing he does is ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow.’ He played and sang, one take, and it was over.”

The next day Bertosa gave a copy of the song and retained the original master copy for himself. As time passed by Bertosa realized he was sharing Kamakawiwo`ole’s recording with family and friends. “It was that special,” he said.“Whatever was going on that night, he was inspired. It was like we just caught the moment.”

Bertosa got the chance to work with Kamakawiwo`ole in 1993 on his 2nd album Facing Future. As he felt something was missing, Bertosa went through archived records and found that 3 am recording, played it for producer Jon de Mello, and persuaded him to add it to the album. After adding the song only Bertosa felt satisfied with the album. The album became extremely popular, selling a lot of copies and earning a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America in 2005. The song is used in many commercials, TV shows (ER, Charmed), and movies (Meet Joe Black, 50 First Dates).

Life Of An Icon.

As an activist, Kamakawiwo`ole fought for the rights and interests of the Hawaiian people’s independence. He felt that due to the rise of tourism, his native people were considered second-class citizens in their land.

In his song “Hawai’i ’78,” the artist mentioned how he thought his ancestors would feel upon witnessing the situation of natives in Hawaii.

“If just for a day our king and queen / Would visit all these islands and saw everything / How would they feel about the changes of our land? / Could you just imagine if they were around / And saw highways on their sacred grounds / How would they feel about this modern city life? / Tears would come from each others eyes / As they would stop to realize / That our people are in great great danger now / How, would they feel, could their smiles be content, then cry.”

In 1997 at age 38 Kamakawiwo`ole passed away due to the health issues caused by his overweight.  On the day he passed away as a sign of respect the Hawaiian flag was flown at half-mast. In the posthumous music video for “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, they added Scenes of Kamakawiwo`ole’s funeral.

Even today, Kamakawiwo`ole’s music is remembered and celebrated and his activist movements are honored by not only natives but also people around the world. Bezley, Kamakawiwo`ole’s friend told NRP remembering his funeral, what would Kamakawiwo`ole think about the funeral.

“All the big semi-trucks on the island of Oahu had their air horns blowing. And from the ocean, we could hear the echo, the bounce off the mountain ranges. This whole island came together just to say goodbye to this one Hawaiian. But I tell you, he would have been laughing.”