Israel Kamakawiwoʻole
Hawaiian singer (1959–1997)
Israel Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole (May 20, 1959 – June 26, 1997), also called Braddah IZ or simply IZ, was a Native Hawaiian musician and singer. He is regarded as one of the greatest musicians from Hawaii and the most successful musician from the state. Along with his ukulele playing and incorporation of other genres, such as jazz and reggae, Kamakawiwoʻole remains influential on Hawaiian music. In 2010, he was named one of the 50 Great Voices by NPR, who called him "The Voice of Hawaii".
Kamakawiwoʻole achieved commercial success and mainstream popularity with his 1993 studio album, Facing Future. His medley of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" from his album Ka ʻAnoʻi (1990), spent 375 weeks on top of the World Digital Songs chart, making it the longest-leading number-one hit on any of the Billboard song charts.
Early life
Israel Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole was born at Kuakini Medical Center on May 20, 1959, in Honolulu to Henry "Hank" Kaleialoha Naniwa Kamakawiwoʻole Jr. and Evangeline "Angie" Leinani Kamakawiwoʻole, who worked at a popular Waikiki nightclub. Angie was the manager while Hank was a bouncer; his father also drove a sanitation truck at the U.S. Navy shipyard at Pearl Harbor. The notable Hawaiian musician Moe Keale was Kamakawiwoʻole's uncle and a major musical influence.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Israel Kamakawiwoʻole” as hawaiian singer (1959–1997). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as hawaiian singer (1959–1997). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q42180. The first chronological checks are 1959, 1997, 2010 and 1993.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Israel Kamakawiwoʻole” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.