Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

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Lifespan:: May 20, 1959 - June 26, 1997, he died aged 38 and was Hawaiian.
Names:: Birthname: Israel Ka'ano'i Kamakawiwo'ole. Alternative names: Brudda Iz & Iz.
Snapshot:: An Artist with 10 releases, and a member of 1 group.

Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwo'ole was a proud Hawaiian musician famous for his 1993 album Facing Future. The album contained a medley of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World" which has since featured in several films, TV programs and commercials.

Initially he sung with The Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau, but decided to go solo in the early 90s, and recorded four albums. His first album Ka'ano'i was released in 1990, but it was his second Facing Future which became Hawaii's first platinum album. E Ala E was released in 1996 and this was followed in 1996 by N Dis Life, which won several awards for excellence in Hawaiian music.

He died in 1997 aged only 38, a result of respiratory problems caused by his morbid obesity.

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Music

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Genres

Hawaiian, World. Vote on Genres

Alone in IZ World 2001 (Play) Buy mp3

In Dis Life 1996 (Play) Buy mp3

E Ala Ē 1995 (Play) Buy mp3

Facing Future 1993 (Play) Buy mp3

Ka 'Ano'i 1990 (Play) Buy mp3

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Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

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Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau

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Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

Aug, 13 2008

Music fans across the world will be familiar with the little hug of pleasure which accompanies the discovery of a new band and we all recognise the feeling of excitement which comes when anticipating new releases. However, there is a real warm fire and comfortable cardigan cosiness about listening to the old stuff again, harping back to the glory days and the soundtracks of your youth. A little digging around in the dusty archives of songs released before 2000 by music journo Paul Grein reveals that the pre-millenium most likely to be legally downloaded is "Don’t Stop Believin’" by the hairtastic arena-rockers Journey. With over 1.8 million hits, it leads a chart filled with stadium rock anthems from Guns ‘N Roses, Survivor, Queen as well as the less likely figure of supersized Hawaiian starIsrael Kamakawiwo'ole.