TheBisch

You’ve all heard it… It was in the closing credits of “Finding Forrester”, it was in “Meet Joe Black”, and “50 First Dates”. If you’re an ER fan, you might remember it from the episode where we said “Goodbye to Dr. Green”. It’s that haunting, heartfelt rendition of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What a Wonderful World”.

Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwo’ole was one of the most fondly remembered Hawaiian music artists and composers in the Islands. His smooth, passionate voice covered an extraordinary range of vocal octaves. He sung equally well in his Hawaiian native tongue as well as in English. He was a brilliant musician. Iz was nicknamed “The Gentle Giant” by his many admirers. He is also noted for being among the few pure-blooded Native Hawaiians in the world. He was described as always cheerful and positive, and was best known for his love of the land and of the people of Hawai‘i.

As his career progressed, IZ was known for promoting Hawaiian rights and Hawaiian Independence, both through his music (whose lyrics often stated the case for independence directly) and through his life.

Throughout the latter part of his life, Iz was considered obese and at one point weighed over 750 pounds (340 kilograms). He suffered several hospitalizations and died of weight-related respiratory illness on June 26, 1997 at 12:18 a.m. at the age of 38. The Hawai‘i State Flag flew at half-mast throughout the day. IZ lay in state at the Capitol building in Honolulu, where over 10,000 came to pay respects over the course of the first day. His ashes were scattered into the ocean at Makua Beach.

Like you, I’ve heard his work before… He became famous outside Hawai‘i when his album Facing Future was released in 1993 with his medley of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World”. But I had never heard of anything but the medley. I heard more while in Hawai’i and now I’m hooked. I bought two of his albums, ::amazon(”B00000JFG3″,”Facing Future”)::, which debuted at #25 on Billboard Magazine’s Top Pop Catalog chart. and ::amazon(”B00005O4UG”,”Alone In IZ World”)::, which debuted at #1 on Billboard’s World Chart and #135 on Billboard’s Top 200, #13 on the Top Independent Albums Chart, and #15 on the Top Internet Album Sales chart.

If you haven’t heard of IZ, or only know of his one song, you should check him out. ::amazon(”B00000JFG3″,”Buy the albums”):: I bought. I’ve listened to them time and again already between the plane ride home, in the car, and at work Monday.

Trackback URL