Gabby Pahinui
American Hawaiian musician (1921–1980)
Philip Kunia Pahinui (Hawaiian pronunciation: [pɐhinui]; April 22, 1921 – October 13, 1980), known as Gabby Pahinui, was an American Hawaiian slack-key guitarist and singer of Hawaiian music. He also went by Pops Pahinui.
Early life and family
Gabby Pahinui was born Charles Kapono Kahahawai Jr. on April 22, 1921, in Lahaina, Maui, Territory of Hawaii, into a struggling family that sold leis. He was later hānaied (informally adopted) with his brother and one of his sisters to Emily and Philip Pahinui, and they were raised in the impoverished district of Kaka'ako in Honolulu in the 1920s ("all tin roofs and kinda falling apart"). He took the name Philip Kunia Pahinui. Pahinui spent his childhood supporting his family by selling newspapers and shining shoes. He dropped out of school after the fifth grade at the Pohukaina school.
Pahinui married Emily Pulipuli Pahinui in 1938. He was age 17 and she was 19.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Gabby Pahinui” as american Hawaiian musician (1921–1980). 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 american Hawaiian musician (1921–1980). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1488078. VIAF identifies the subject as 5143437. The Library of Congress control number is n94057904. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1921, 1980 and 1938.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Gabby Pahinui” 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.