16 Facts About Dennis Kamakahi

Dennis David Kahekilimamaoikalanikeha Kamakahi was a Hawaiian slack key guitarist, recording artist, music composer, and Christian minister.

Dennis Kamakahi was a three-time Grammy Award winner, and in 2009 he was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame.

In 1972, Kamakahi became a member of a Hawaiian music group known as Na Leo O Nu'uanu.

Dennis Kamakahi's first recording with Na Leo O Nu'uanu was the album Ia 'Oe E Ka La Volume 1, released on the Nakahili Productions label with Palani Vaughan.

In 1974, Dennis Kamakahi recorded with the Sons of Hawaii for the National Geographic Society's Music of the World series.

Dennis Kamakahi launched his solo career in 1996, releasing his first slack key guitar CD Pua'ena, co-produced by Howard Johnston and pianist George Winston, under Dancing Cat Records.

Dennis Kamakahi produced an album featuring his son in 2004 entitled Pa'ani.

At that same Award Ceremony, Dennis Kamakahi was honored with the Na Hoku Hanohano Kiho'alu Award by the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts.

At the 49th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, on February 11,2007, Dennis Kamakahi received his first Grammy Award for Best Hawaiian Album for the slack key guitar compilation CD Legends of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, part of the recorded live concerts at Kapalua, Maui, at the Ritz Carlton Hotel.

Dennis Kamakahi received his second Grammy in the Hawaiian Music Category in 2008 at the 50th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles for the slack key guitar compilation CD Treasures of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, part of the second recorded live concert series at the Napilikai Resort Hotel in Kapalua, Maui.

Dennis Kamakahi joined the Music Teachers National Association that year to continue the teaching and advancement of music composition to students.

Dennis Kamakahi was nominated for a third Grammy in 2009 at the 51st Grammy Awards with the slack key compilation CD The Spirit of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, a third recorded live series at the Napilikai Resort Hotel in Kapalua, Maui.

The CD did not win the award, but Dennis Kamakahi did receive his first gold Grammy Nominee medal as a record producer.

Dennis Kamakahi was nominated a fourth time for a Grammy Award for his slack key compilation CD The Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Volume 2 - Live in Maui and won his third Grammy for Best Hawaiian Music Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards on January 31,2010.

In 2009, Dennis Kamakahi was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts as a member of the Sons of Hawaii and inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall Of Fame.

Until his death, Dennis Kamakahi continued to perform in live concerts in Hawaii and abroad, and teach Hawaiian slack key guitar, the history of Hawaiian songs and their meaning, and songwriting workshops in both Hawaii and the US mainland.