Hawaii’s musical heritage is as vibrant and diverse as the islands themselves. Blending native Hawaiian traditions with influences from folk, pop, reggae, rock, jazz, and contemporary music, the Aloha State has produced singers whose voices have touched audiences around the world. From legendary ukulele masters and beloved island storytellers to chart topping stars and internationally recognized performers, Hawaii’s artists carry a unique spirit that reflects the beauty, culture, and warmth of island life. Their unforgettable songs celebrate love, family, heritage, and the natural wonder of the Pacific, creating a rich musical legacy that continues to inspire listeners across generations and around the globe.
1. Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars, born Peter Gene Hernandez in Honolulu, Hawaii, became one of the most successful and versatile entertainers of the twenty first century. His music moves with dazzling ease through pop, funk, soul, R and B, reggae, disco, and rock influenced showmanship, reflecting both deep musical knowledge and an instinct for pure entertainment. Just the Way You Are introduced him as a major solo star, built around a radiant melody and a vocal performance that turned romantic devotion into a global pop anthem. Mars later expanded his reach with songs such as Grenade, Locked Out of Heaven, When I Was Your Man, 24K Magic, That’s What I Like, and Uptown Funk with Mark Ronson. What makes Mars extraordinary is his ability to honor classic influences without sounding trapped in nostalgia. His voice can be silky, explosive, playful, wounded, or commanding depending on the song. He also brings the instincts of a born performer, shaped in part by his early years entertaining audiences in Hawaii. Mars understands rhythm, movement, humor, and melody as parts of the same artistic language. As a Hawaiian born singer, he represents global pop at its most polished, joyful, and musically fluent.
2. Israel Kamakawiwoʻole
Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, lovingly known as Iz, remains one of the most treasured voices ever to come from Hawaii. Born in Honolulu, he became a cultural symbol through music that carried tenderness, aloha, identity, and deep emotional sincerity. His version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow and What a Wonderful World is one of the most beloved recordings in modern music, built on little more than ukulele, gentle phrasing, and a voice that seems to hold both innocence and wisdom. The performance became famous around the world because it feels intimate, peaceful, and spiritually open. Yet Iz was far more than one song. With the Makaha Sons of Niʻihau and as a solo artist, he helped preserve and popularize Hawaiian music through songs such as Hawaiʻi 78, White Sandy Beach, Kaleohano, and Kaulana Kawaihae. His voice had a rare warmth, capable of making listeners feel welcomed and moved before they understood every word. Iz also used his music to express love for Hawaiian culture and concern for the future of the islands. His legacy endures because he sang with unmistakable humanity. Among Hawaii’s greatest singers, he remains a voice of comfort, pride, and enduring aloha.
3. Bette Midler
Bette Midler, born in Honolulu, Hawaii, became one of America’s most beloved and versatile entertainers, with a singing career that blends pop, theater, cabaret, comedy, and dramatic balladry. Her voice is bold, expressive, and full of personality, equally capable of brassy humor and heart stopping sincerity. Wind Beneath My Wings remains one of her signature songs, a sweeping ballad that became an emotional classic through Midler’s careful balance of grandeur and tenderness. She does not merely sing the melody. She shapes it as a dramatic tribute, letting the song rise with genuine feeling. Her catalog includes The Rose, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, From a Distance, Do You Want to Dance, and Friends. Midler’s artistry has always thrived on contrast. She can be outrageous, glamorous, vulnerable, sentimental, and sharply funny, sometimes within the same performance. Her Hawaiian birth gives her story a distinctive beginning before she conquered stages, films, and concert halls across the world. As a singer, Midler brings theatrical intelligence to popular music. She knows how to deliver a lyric so that it lands not just as sound, but as a scene. Her best songs remain unforgettable because they feel fully lived.
4. Don Ho
Don Ho, born in Honolulu, became one of the most famous ambassadors of Hawaiian entertainment in the twentieth century. His smooth baritone, relaxed stage presence, and easy charm helped introduce mainland audiences to a romanticized but enduring image of island nightlife. Tiny Bubbles remains his signature song, a light, playful, and instantly recognizable tune that made him a household name. Ho’s strength was not vocal acrobatics. It was atmosphere. He made listeners feel as if they were seated in a warm Waikiki room, drink in hand, while music drifted through the night air. His catalog includes songs such as I’ll Remember You, Pearly Shells, Hawaiian Wedding Song, and The Hukilau Song. Ho became especially famous through his live performances, where humor, audience connection, and relaxed elegance mattered as much as the music itself. He represented a particular era of Hawaiian popular entertainment, when local sounds, lounge style, tourism, and television exposure blended into national fame. Though his image was polished for broad appeal, his connection to Hawaii was real and central to his success. Don Ho remains one of the state’s most recognizable singers because he turned island hospitality into a musical persona that audiences never forgot.
5. Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson, born on Oahu’s North Shore, became one of the most recognizable acoustic singer songwriters of the modern era. His music reflects the relaxed rhythm of coastal life, but beneath its mellow surface is a sharp sense of melody, emotional understatement, and environmental awareness. Better Together is one of his most beloved songs, a gentle romantic favorite built around warm guitar, easy phrasing, and a sentiment that feels simple without becoming shallow. Johnson’s catalog includes Banana Pancakes, Sitting, Waiting, Wishing, Upside Down, Flake, Good People, and If I Had Eyes. His voice has a conversational softness that makes his songs feel personal, as though they were written on a porch at sunset rather than constructed for commercial effect. Johnson’s background as a surfer and filmmaker shaped his artistic identity, giving his music a natural sense of movement, patience, and place. Hawaii is not just a birthplace in his story. It is part of the sound itself, heard in the unhurried grooves, acoustic textures, and respect for nature that runs through his work. Johnson’s fame proves that quiet songs can travel globally when they are crafted with sincerity and melodic grace.
6. Nicole Scherzinger
Nicole Scherzinger, born in Honolulu, Hawaii, became internationally famous as the lead singer of The Pussycat Dolls and later as a solo artist, stage performer, and television personality. Her voice is powerful, polished, and highly adaptable, capable of moving through pop, R and B, dance, musical theater, and dramatic balladry. Don’t Cha became The Pussycat Dolls’ breakthrough hit, driven by attitude, sleek production, and Scherzinger’s commanding vocal presence. While the group was often associated with image and choreography, Scherzinger’s voice gave the music its center. She also led major hits such as Buttons, Stickwitu, When I Grow Up, and I Hate This Part. Her solo work and stage performances have shown even more range, especially in theatrical settings where her technical control and emotional power can shine. Scherzinger’s Hawaiian birth and multicultural background contribute to the richness of her artistic identity, even as her career became global. What makes her notable is the combination of pop star glamour and real vocal ability. She can sell a dance track with confidence, then turn around and deliver a ballad with impressive strength. Among Hawaii born singers, Scherzinger represents international pop performance at its most stylish and vocally disciplined.
7. Yvonne Elliman
Yvonne Elliman, born in Honolulu, Hawaii, became a major voice of the nineteen seventies through musical theater, pop, rock, and disco. She first gained wide attention for her work in Jesus Christ Superstar, where her performance of I Don’t Know How to Love Him revealed a voice full of vulnerability, clarity, and emotional tension. Later, she became a pop and disco favorite with If I Can’t Have You, a sparkling hit from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. The song remains her best known mainstream recording, and Elliman’s vocal performance gives it both dance floor energy and romantic urgency. Her catalog also includes Hello Stranger, Love Me, and performances connected to Eric Clapton’s band, including her contribution to the era surrounding I Shot the Sheriff. Elliman’s voice is distinctive because it carries both delicacy and drive. She can sound fragile in a theater ballad, then bright and confident in a disco arrangement. Her Hawaiian background adds a fascinating dimension to a career that moved through Broadway, rock tours, and international pop success. As one of Hawaii’s most famous singers, Elliman represents versatility, era defining style, and a voice that helped shape some of the decade’s most memorable musical moments.
8. Glenn Medeiros
Glenn Medeiros, born in Lihue, Hawaii, became a global pop sensation in the late nineteen eighties with a romantic ballad that traveled far beyond the islands. Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love for You remains his signature song, a tender declaration delivered with youthful sincerity and smooth melodic control. The recording became a major international hit because it captured an uncomplicated but deeply appealing kind of romance. Medeiros sings with warmth and clarity, making the song feel heartfelt rather than overly theatrical. His catalog also includes She Ain’t Worth It, a later hit featuring Bobby Brown, as well as Lonely Won’t Leave Me Alone, Long and Lasting Love, and Un Roman d’amitié with Elsa Lunghini. What makes Medeiros interesting is the way his career bridges island beginnings and global pop culture. He started as a young singer from Hawaii and quickly found himself on international charts, especially in Europe, Asia, and the United States. His voice fit the era’s love of polished ballads, clean production, and earnest emotional delivery. Medeiros later moved into education, but his place in Hawaii’s music story remains secure. His biggest song continues to resonate because it offers melody, sincerity, and a timeless sense of devotion.
9. Kealiʻi Reichel
Kealiʻi Reichel, born and raised in Hawaii, is one of the most respected figures in contemporary Hawaiian music and cultural preservation. His artistry blends singing, chanting, hula, language, scholarship, and deep devotion to Hawaiian tradition. E O Mai is one of his most beloved songs, a tender and graceful piece that showcases the warmth of his voice and the emotional power of Hawaiian language in song. Reichel’s performances often feel ceremonial yet accessible, carrying cultural meaning while inviting listeners into a deeply human experience. His catalog includes Kawaipunahele, Wanting Memories, Maunaleo, Pua Mikinolia, and Ka Nohona Pili Kai. What makes Reichel extraordinary is the way he treats music as cultural responsibility. He is not simply entertaining. He is helping sustain language, memory, movement, and identity. His voice has a gentle authority, rich with feeling but never careless. He can make a song feel like a prayer, a love letter, or a story passed through generations. In Hawaii’s musical landscape, Reichel represents excellence rooted in place. His fame matters because it is tied to preservation as well as performance, proving that contemporary success can strengthen ancient traditions rather than dilute them.
10. Amy Hānaialiʻi
Amy Hānaialiʻi is one of Hawaii’s most celebrated contemporary female vocalists, known for blending traditional Hawaiian music with jazz, pop, classical training, and modern island sensibility. Her voice is expressive, elegant, and deeply connected to heritage, capable of moving from soaring beauty to intimate tenderness with remarkable control. Pālehua, recorded with Willie K, is one of her most treasured performances, a song filled with melodic grace and emotional depth. Hānaialiʻi’s catalog includes Napua, Haleʻiwa Hula, No Na Hulu Kupuna, Rain Kilikilihune, and Hawaiian Tradition. She has earned widespread recognition for helping bring Hawaiian music to major audiences while maintaining respect for language, lineage, and cultural meaning. Her singing often carries a refined quality, shaped by technique, but it never loses warmth. She can honor traditional forms while also exploring contemporary arrangements, which has made her an essential bridge between generations. Amy Hānaialiʻi represents the continuing vitality of Hawaiian vocal music. Her performances are not museum pieces. They are living songs, full of feeling, craft, and pride. Among Hawaii’s most famous singers, she stands as a powerful reminder that island music continues to evolve while remaining rooted in the beauty of its own traditions.
Edward Tomlin is a frequent contributor to Singers Room. Since 2005, Singersroom has been the voice of R&B around the world. Connect with us via social media below.
