Kui Lee
Encyclopedia
Kuiokalani Lee was a singer-songwriter, and the 1960s golden boy artist of Hawaii
. Lee achieved international fame when Don Ho
began performing and recording Lee's compositions, with Ho promoting Lee as the songwriter for a new generation of Hawaiian music.
, Hawaiian and Chinese
ancestry. Ethel died in 1936. Kui's widowed father took him back to Hawaii when he was five years old and enrolled him in Kamehameha Schools and later Roosevelt High School.
Lee worked as a knife dancer and choreographer in the Hawaiian Room of New York's Lexington Hotel.
There he met and married singer-hula dancer Rose Frances Naone Leinani, known to everyone as Nani. Nani returned to Hawaii with Kui and performed with him, as well as with Don Ho at Honey's. She also performed with Sterling Mossman, Tommy Sands
, Sons of Hawaii
and Zulu. Kui and Nani would have four children together - Wailana, Mahealani, Maile and Kimo
By 1961, he was working at Club Jetty in Nawiliwili, Kauai
. He later went to work at Honey's in Kaneohe, owned by Emily "Honey" Ho, mother of Don. The connection would launch a symbiotic relationship between Don and Kui that transcended Kui's early death. Recording Kui's songs made Don a star, and it was from Don's on-stage patter that most people learned of Kui Lee. Onstage, Don gave Kui full credit for creating island music for a new generation.
Kui Lee only achieved fame for his own musical compositions toward the very end of his life. The Extraordinary Kui Lee was the only album released during his lifetime. Famous songs on that album included I'll Remember You
(brought into even greater fame by Don Ho
, Elvis Presley
and Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau
) and Days of my Youth, now both well-known standards in Hawai'i.
Hospital in Tijuana
on December 3, 1966, at the age of 34. His ashes were scattered off Waikiki
. In 1973, Elvis Presley gave the Aloha From Hawaii
concert with $75,000 proceeds going to the Kui Lee Cancer Fund, which had been created shortly before the concert. Not much was heard of the cancer fund after the one concert, and the American Cancer Society
has no records on it.
Kui's widow Nani Lee Meadows also died of cancer, on April 12, 2008.
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. Lee achieved international fame when Don Ho
Don Ho
Donald Tai Loy "Don" Ho was a Hawaiian and traditional pop musician, singer and entertainer.-Life and career:Ho, of Chinese, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Dutch, and German descent, was born in the small Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako, but he grew up in Kāneohe on the windward side of the island of Oahu...
began performing and recording Lee's compositions, with Ho promoting Lee as the songwriter for a new generation of Hawaiian music.
Biography
Lee was born in Shanghai, China. His entertainer parents Billy and Ethel Lee were of ScottishScottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
, Hawaiian and Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
ancestry. Ethel died in 1936. Kui's widowed father took him back to Hawaii when he was five years old and enrolled him in Kamehameha Schools and later Roosevelt High School.
Lee worked as a knife dancer and choreographer in the Hawaiian Room of New York's Lexington Hotel.
There he met and married singer-hula dancer Rose Frances Naone Leinani, known to everyone as Nani. Nani returned to Hawaii with Kui and performed with him, as well as with Don Ho at Honey's. She also performed with Sterling Mossman, Tommy Sands
Tommy Sands
Tommy Adrian Sands is an American pop music singer and actor.-Early life:Born into a musical family in Chicago, Illinois, Sands' father was a pianist and his mother a big-band singer. While still young, he moved with his family to Shreveport, Louisiana...
, Sons of Hawaii
Sons of Hawaii
The Sons of Hawaii was a Hawaiian musical group that popular to mainstream audiences from the 1960s through the 1990s.-History:In 1960 they opened at the Sandbox in Honolulu and were soon the highest paid Hawaiian group in the Islands...
and Zulu. Kui and Nani would have four children together - Wailana, Mahealani, Maile and Kimo
By 1961, he was working at Club Jetty in Nawiliwili, Kauai
Nawiliwili Beach Park
Nawiliwili Beach Park is a beach park and port on the south-east coast of the island of Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands.It is located on Nāwiliwili Bay at , about south of Līhue. It is at the south end of Hawaii Route 51, known as Rice Street. Just to the west is Niumalu Beach Park....
. He later went to work at Honey's in Kaneohe, owned by Emily "Honey" Ho, mother of Don. The connection would launch a symbiotic relationship between Don and Kui that transcended Kui's early death. Recording Kui's songs made Don a star, and it was from Don's on-stage patter that most people learned of Kui Lee. Onstage, Don gave Kui full credit for creating island music for a new generation.
Kui Lee only achieved fame for his own musical compositions toward the very end of his life. The Extraordinary Kui Lee was the only album released during his lifetime. Famous songs on that album included I'll Remember You
I'll Remember You
I'll Remember You is a song written by Kui Lee in 1964. Many artists including Elvis Presley for the soundtrack to Spinout , Andy Williams, Tony Bennett, Herb Alpert, and Roger Williams covered it...
(brought into even greater fame by Don Ho
Don Ho
Donald Tai Loy "Don" Ho was a Hawaiian and traditional pop musician, singer and entertainer.-Life and career:Ho, of Chinese, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Dutch, and German descent, was born in the small Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako, but he grew up in Kāneohe on the windward side of the island of Oahu...
, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
and Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau
Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau
The Mākaha Sons of Ni‘ihau were a Hawaiian musical group. They originated on the leeward side of Oahu. After the deaths of the Kamakawiwoʻole brothers, including nationally known Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, the remaining members dropped the "of Niihau" and now are known as the Makaha Sons, consisting...
) and Days of my Youth, now both well-known standards in Hawai'i.
Final days and death
Kui Lee had been battling lymph gland cancer when he died at the GuadalajaraGuadalajara
Guadalajara may refer to:In Mexico:*Guadalajara, Jalisco, the capital of the state of Jalisco and second largest city in Mexico**Guadalajara Metropolitan Area*University of Guadalajara, a public university in Guadalajara, Jalisco...
Hospital in Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
on December 3, 1966, at the age of 34. His ashes were scattered off Waikiki
Waikiki
Waikiki is a neighborhood of Honolulu, in the City and County of Honolulu, on the south shore of the island of Oahu, in Hawaii. Waikiki Beach is the shoreline fronting Waikīkī....
. In 1973, Elvis Presley gave the Aloha From Hawaii
Aloha from Hawaii
Aloha from Hawaii is a music concert that was headlined by Elvis Presley, and was broadcast live via satellite on January 14, 1973. It is the most watched broadcast by an individual entertainer in television history, viewed by an estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide. The concert took place at the...
concert with $75,000 proceeds going to the Kui Lee Cancer Fund, which had been created shortly before the concert. Not much was heard of the cancer fund after the one concert, and the American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
has no records on it.
Kui's widow Nani Lee Meadows also died of cancer, on April 12, 2008.