Mary Kaye

Mary Kaye (née Malia Ka'aihue; January 9, 1924 – February 17, 2007) was an American guitarist and performer. She was active from the 1940s through 1960s. Malia Ka'aihue was born on January 9, 1924, in Detroit, Michigan, to father Johnny Kaʻaihue. Since she was twelve years old, Mary Kaye performed alongside her brother - Norman Kaye - in her father's band - Johnny Ka’aihue’s Royal Hawaiians. Mary Kaye would create her own band - the Mary Kaye Trio. The Mary Kaye Trio consisted of Mary Kaye, Frank Ross, Norman Kaye, and, for a time, Jules Pursley. The trio's original name was Mary Ka’aihue Trio; however, Norman Kaye pushed for the name to be changed to Mary Kaye Trio since he thought audiences would think the trio only performed Hawaiian music. The Mary Kaye Trio is credited with founding the Las Vegas "lounge" phenomenon at the Last Frontier. The trio also performed at the Sahara and Tropicana hotels.In 1966, the Trio broke up and Mary Kaye moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, with her son Jaye (Jay) Kaye where she performed in a jazz club.In a 2003 interview for Vintage Guitar magazine, Mary Kaye claimed to be descended from Hawaiian Queen Liliuokalani, through her father Johnny Kaʻaihue (Johnny Ukulele) whom she claimed was "pure Hawaiian" and stated, "he was the son of Prince Kuhio, Queen Liliuokalani's cousin." However, according to the genealogy Liliuokalani put in her biography, her brothers were King David Kalākaua and Prince William Pitt Leleiohoku II. Neither Liliuokalani nor her brothers had any biological children.Mary Kaye died of pulmonary disease on February 17, 2007, at Las Vegas' Mountain View Hospital in Nevada.