Paula Hiltrudis Fuga is a Hawaiian singer-songwriter who was born in

Waimānalo, Hawaii Waimānalo () is a census-designated place (CDP) in the District of Koolaupoko, in the Honolulu County, Hawaii, City & County of Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, Oahu, Hawaii, United States. This small windward community is located near the ea ...

. She has worked and performed with many artists on projects such as Jack Johnson,

Ben Harper Benjamin Charles Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music, and he is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, liv ...

Ziggy Marley David Nesta "Ziggy" Marley (born 17 October 1968) is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is the son of Bob Marley and Rita Marley. He led the family band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers until 2002, with whom he released eight studio albums. After ...

, and

Damian Marley Damian Robert Nesta “Jr. Gong” Marley (born 21 July 1978) is a Jamaican reggae musician. The second youngest child of Bob Marley, he is the recipient of four Grammy Awards. Early life, education and family Marley is the youngest son of leg ...

Early life

Fuga was born and raised in Waimānalo on the island of

Oahu, Hawaii Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northw ...

in 1978. As a child, she was orphaned and taken in by her grandparents, and found a passion for music as a young child. She unsuccessfully auditioned for ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' in 2003, and shortly after joined a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

band named Dubkonscious.

Career

2005–2007: Debut album and breakthrough

In 2005, Fuga was signed to PakiPika Productions and released her debut studio album ''Lilikoi'' a year later. In 2007, she won a

Na Hoku Hanohano Award The Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards, occasionally called the Nā Hōkū Awards or Hoku Awards, are the premier music awards in Hawaii.Berger, John"A night of Na Hoku Hanohano" ''Honolulu Star-Advertiser''. May 22, 2011.Haug, Kawehi"Hoku awardees shine ...

for "Most Promising Artist of the Year" for ''Lilikoi''. This then led to her gaining national attention, and other prominent Hawaiian artists to take notice.

2008–2017: Touring, Kokua Fest and ''Misery's End''

In 2008, Jack Johnson invited Fuga to perform at select dates of his ''Sleep Through the Static Tour''. During the tour, the two would frequently perform a new song titled "Country Road", which would later appear on Jack's ''En Concert'' album, and a studio version on ''Misery's End''. After Johnson and Fuga performed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, the

Daily Bruin The ''Daily Bruin'' is the student newspaper at the University of California, Los Angeles. It began publishing in 1919, the year UCLA was founded. The ''Daily Bruin'' distributes about 6,000 copies across campus three times a week. It also publ ...

newspaper called the performance of "Country Road" the highlight of the night. Fuga also performed at Kokua Fest that year as a part of Johnson's tour, and it was the second time that she participated in the event. In 2010, Fuga was also asked to feature on Johnson's album '' To the Sea'', where she sang vocals on the tracks "When I Look Up", "Turn Your Love", and was featured on a live version of " Better Together". Fuga also performed at select dates of Jack Johnson's World Tour 2010. In July 2010, Paula Fuga released an EP titled ''Misery's End'', featuring collaborations from Jack Johnson,

, and Adam Topol. The album also included "Country Road", and a recording of " High Tide or Low Tide". In 2012, Paula was featured on four tracks in the '' Best of Kokua Festival'' album. During this period Paula was also featured on many of

Brushfire Records Brushfire Records is a record label owned by singer-songwriter Jack Johnson. Formerly known as '' The Moonshine Conspiracy Records'', the label was founded to release soundtracks for Woodshed Films, a company owned by Johnson, Emmett Malloy, and ...

'' This Warm December'' albums, and featured on a song titled "Farewell" with Jack Johnson, Manuel García, and Silvia Tōmas. The song was featured in the documentary ''El Mar, Mi Alma''.

2018–present

Fuga opened for Jack Johnson in Koloa, Hawaii on his All the Light Above It Too World Tour along with

Makana Makana is a mountain located on northern shore of the island of Kauai, where it rises above Limahuli Valley. ''Makana'' is a Hawaiian language term meaning gift or reward. It is often used as a person's name or as part of a name. Limahuli Gard ...

and

Donavon Frankenreiter Donavon Frankenreiter (born December 10, 1972) is an American musician and surfer. His debut self-titled album was released in 2004 on Brushfire Records through Universal Music. Career Frankenreiter was born in Downey, California, United Stat ...

. In April 2020, she performed several songs at the ''2020 Kokua Festival - Live From Home''. In November 2020, she partnered with

IHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast, radio streaming and Music Streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. Founded in August 2008, iHeartRadio serves as the national umbrella brand for iHeart ...

and ''Island 98.5 Radio'' to end hunger, and raise money for the Hawaii Foodbank. At this show, one of the DJ's mocked her, and was suspended for shaming Fuga. On November 6, 2020, she released a song titled "Christmas Lu'au". In February 2021, Fuga announced on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

that she had been signed to Jack Johnson's record label

. On April 16, she released " If Ever" featuring Jack Johnson and Ben Harper, which serve the lead single to her album ''Rain on Sunday''.

Discography

Albums EPs Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuga, Paula 1978 births Living people American Idol participants Singer-songwriters from Hawaii Na Hoku Hanohano Award winners