Don Ho, born Donald Tai Loy Ho (August 13, 1930 – April 14, 2007) was a Hawaiian musician and entertainer.
Life and career
Ho, of mixed Chinese, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Dutch, and German descent, was born in the small Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaiako, but he grew up in Kineiohe on the windward side of the island of O?ahu. He was a graduate of the Kamehameha Schools in 1949 and he attended Springfield College in 1950, but returned home to earn a bachelor’s degree in sociology at University of Hawai’i in 1953. In 1954 Ho entered the United States Air Force and spent time flying fighter jets in both Texas and Hawaii.
Death
Don Ho died at 76. In September 2006, Ho married Haumea Hebenstreit, who produced his show at the Waikiki Beachcomber. Although he had a new pacemaker installed on September 16, 2006, Ho died in Waikiki from heart failure on April 14, 2007. On May 11, 2007 Ho’s 51 year old daughter Dayna died in a friend’s home in Waialua on the North Shore of O’ahu. The Honolulu medical examiner’s office determined that the cause of death was an accidental methamphetamine overdose.
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Ho left the United States Air Force in 1959 due to his mother’s illness and began singing at his mother’s club, Honey’s. In 1963, he moved from Kineiohe to Waikiki in Honolulu and played at a night club called Duke’s owned by Duke Kahanamoku, where he caught the attention of record company officials.
Ho was originally signed to Reprise Records. Ho released his debut album, Don Ho Show, in 1965 and began to play high profile locations in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and New York City. In 1966 he released his second album, a live compilation called Don Ho — Again!, which charted in the early part of that year. In the fall of 1966, Ho released his most famous song, Tiny Bubbles, which charted on both the pop (#8 Billboard) and easy listening charts and caused the subsequent Tiny Bubbles LP to remain in the album Top 20 for almost a year. Another song that was familiar with Don was the song "Pearly Shells". Guest appearances on television shows such as I Dream of Jeannie, The Brady Bunch, Sanford and Son, Charlie’s Angels, and Fantasy Island soon followed. Although his album sales peaked in the late 1960s, he was able to land a television spot on ABC from October 1976 to March 1977 with the Don Ho Show variety program which aired on weekday mornings
Ho was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy in 2005 and had a pacemaker installed. He contacted Theravitae, a biotechnology company specializing in treating heart conditions with adult stem cells working in conjunction with Dr. Amit Patel, a cardiac surgeon and pioneer of the use of adult stem cells for heart disease. On December 6, 2005, Ho had his own blood-derived stem cells injected into his heart by Patel with his surgeons in Thailand. The treatment went without incident. Later in the month, Ho said, "I’m feeling much better and I’m so happy I came up here to do it."
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