Category: May 2023

NATIVE HAWAIIAN MUSICIAN PALANI VAUGHAN BORN

Frank Palani Vaughan, born in Honolulu, attended Kamehameha School before earning a Bachelor’s degree from University of Hawaii. A featured artist on the Hawaii Calls radio program, KCCN radio included several of his songs on its list of best songs created by Hawaiian artists. In 1967, he helped form the group Sunday Manoa. In the 1970s, Vaughan focused his music on correcting history’s view of King Kalākaua, recording 4 albums to that end that earned him Best Traditional Hawaiian Album of the Year (1978) & Male Vocalist of the Year (1981). Vaughan later formed the musical group King’s Own—a tribute to Kalākaua. In 1985, he was on the committee that created the statue of Kalākaua in Waikiki. In 1987, Vaughan published Na Leo I Ka Makani Vaughan-a collection of historic Hawaiian photographs. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hawai’i Academy of Recording Arts in 2006 & was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame in 2008. Palani died in Honolulu on December 8, 2016.

Sources:
  “About Palani Vaughan,” Hawaiian Music History.  Retrieved 11/8/2021, Palani Vaughan Fan Site at Hawaiian Music History Dot com
Leila Fujimori, “Hawaiian Music Legend Palani Vaughan Dies,” Star Advertiser, 12/8/2016.  Retrieved 11/8/2021, Hawaiian music legend Palani Vaughan dies | Honolulu Star-Advertiser (staradvertiser.com)
Photo: Hawaiian Moore, 11/16/2008. Permissive Use.