Joseph Kekuku (1874–1932) is reportedly the inventor of the

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conv ...

Biography

Kekuku, also known as Joseph Kekuku’upenakana’iaupuniokamehameha Apuakehau, was born in Lāie, a village on the island of

Oʻahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. When Joseph was 15, he and his cousin, Sam Nainoa left for a boarding school in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...

. In 1889 while attending the Kamehameha School for Boys, Kekuku accidentally discovered the sound of the steel guitar. In an article first seen in 1932, C.S. DeLano, publisher of the "Hawaiian Music In Los Angeles" whose "Hawaiian Love Song" was the first original composition to be written for the Hawaiian Steel Guitar said:

'"Joseph told me that he was walking along a road in Honolulu forty-two years ago, holding an old Spanish guitar, when he saw a rusty bolt on the ground. As he picked it up, the bolt accidentally vibrated one of the strings and produced a new tone that was rather pleasing. After practicing for a time with the metal bolt, Joe experimented with the back of a pocket-knife, then with the back of a steel comb, and still later on with a highly-polished steel arvery similar to the sort that is used today."'

In 1904 at the age of 30, Kekuku left Hawaii and would never return. He started in the United States by performing in vaudeville theaters from coast to coast. His group was "Kekuku's Hawaiian Quintet" and were sponsored by a management group called "The Affiliated." In 1919, Kekuku left the U.S. for an eight-year tour of Europe traveling with "The Bird of Paradise" show. "The Bird of Paradise" show started on Broadway, and was well-received in Europe. "The Bird of Paradise" was so popular that it became a film in 1932 and again in 1951, though Kekuku was not in either film. Kekuku eventually returned to the United States and, at the age of 53, settled in Chicago and ran a popular and successful music school. In 1932 Joseph Kekuku lived in Dover, New Jersey, with his wife and gave Hawaiian guitar lessons.

Death and legacy

On January 16, 1932, at the age of 58, Kekuku died in Morristown, New Jersey, of a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

.Ruymar, Lorene
"The Hawaiian Steel Guitar and Its Great Hawaiian Musicians"
via

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. Centerstream Publications, 1996. . Accessed November 23, 2008. Kekuku is buried in the Orchard Street Cemetery. In 1993, Joseph Kekuku was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame with full honors as the inventor of the Hawaiian steel guitar. A statue of him was erected at the

Polynesian Cultural Center The Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) is a family-centered cultural tourist attraction and living museum located in Laie, on the northern shore of Oahu, Hawaii. The PCC is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), wa ...

in Hawaii in 2015.

References

External links

HMHFM Honorees - Joseph Kekuku
at www.hawaiimusicmuseum.org
Owana Salazar - About Hawaiian Steel Guitar
at www.owanasalazar.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Kekuku, Joseph 1874 births 1932 deaths Native Hawaiian musicians People from Dover, New Jersey People from Laie Steel guitarists Inventors from Hawaii