“I had no intention of being an entertainer,” Ho said. When he returned home and took over his parents’ struggling neighborhood bar, Honey’s, he put together a band and started performing at his father’s request. As the Korean War wound down, he piloted transport planes between Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu and Tokyo. military planes flying in and out of Hawaii during World War II, Ho joined the Air Force. He grew homesick, returned to the islands and ended up graduating from the University of Hawaii in 1953 with a degree in sociology. After graduating in 1949, he attended Springfield College in Massachusetts on an athletic scholarship. In high school, he was a star football player and worked for a brief time in a pineapple cannery. 13, 1930, in Honolulu and grew up in the then-rural countryside of Kaneohe. Few artists are more associated with one place.ĭonald Tai Loy Ho, who was Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and German, was born Aug. The son of bar owners, Ho broke into the Waikiki entertainment scene in the early 1960s and, except for short periods, never left. He said he performed it twice because “people my age can’t remember if we did it or not.” “I hate that song,” he often joked to the crowd.
Shows usually started and ended with the same song, “Tiny Bubbles.” Ho mostly hummed the song’s swaying melody as the audience enthusiastically took over the familiar lyrics: “Tiny bubbles/in the wine/make me happy/make me feel fine.” For many, no trip to Hawaii was complete without seeing his Waikiki show - a mix of songs, jokes, double entendres, Hawaii history and audience participation. Ho entertained Hollywood’s biggest stars and thousands of tourists for four decades. Afterward, Ho reminisced about his many years in Waikiki and talked about how Judy Garland sang with him one night. Promoter Tom Moffatt said he attended Ho’s final show Thursday and Ho received a standing ovation. In 2005, he underwent an experimental stem cell procedure on his ailing heart in Thailand. Ho had suffered with heart problems for the past several years, and had a pacemaker installed last fall. He died Saturday morning of heart failure, publicist Donna Jung said. Whether you're a Hawaii kamaaina (oldtimer) or malihini (newcomer), may you find here that special connection with the Islands that was the essence of Don Ho.įrom left to right Jackie Lei a.k.a.Legendary crooner Don Ho, who entertained tourists for decades wearing raspberry-tinted sunglasses and singing the catchy signature tune “Tiny Bubbles,” has died. For this masquerading soul has played out every role. It is the language through which he spoke from his heart to the world.Īnd, as he expressed in song, "If I had to do it all over again, every scene and every dream I'd relive. That is the legacy of Don Ho, whose indelible memories and contributions during his lifetime provide an inspired foundation for the future.ĭon's music is the cornerstone on which he built his extraordinary entertainment career and that he used so effectively to communicate with people on all levels.
DON HO SONGS TINY BUBBLES LYRICS TV
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