Raiatea Helm

Raiatea Mokihana Maile Helm thrilled the Hawaiian music community when she was merely 18-years-old, with the
release of her debut album Far Away Heaven in 2002.

Raiatea’s melodic voice made her a natural performer of leo kiʻe kiʻe (Hawaiian falsetto), and earned her the reputation of being the successor to Hawaiian music legends such as Lena Machado, Leināʻala Haili and Aunty Genoa Keawe.

Her debut album continued to propel her career into stardom as she received two prestigious Nā Hōkū Hanohano awards for Female Vocalist of the Year and Most Promising Artist in 2003. The release of Raiatea’s second album, Sweet and Lovely, more than confirmed her early promise and earned her two additional Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards in 2006.

The success of Sweet and Lovely further garnered her national fame as she became Hawaiʻi’s first-ever solo female vocalist to be nominated for a Grammy©. The album was recognized in the top 10 of “The 25 Greatest Hawaiʻi Albums of the New Century” and Raiatea would later receive her second Grammy nomination in 2008.

In 2011, she became the first Hawaiian recipient of a prestigious Native Arts & Cultures Fellowship and her peers upon being awarded her sixth Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award recently named more Female Vocalist of the Year in 2017.

Even more recent, Raiatea received the 2019 award for “Leadership in the Industry – Outstanding Individual in Music and Entertainment” from the AIO media and Hawaii Lodging & Tourism Association.

Raiatea is now recognized as one of Hawaiʻi’s premier female vocalists and a keeper of the Hawaiian falsetto tradition of the early to mid-20th century. She has captivated the attention of audiences throughout the Hawaiian Islands and around the world, interpreting traditional Hawaiian songs with classical elegance.

Source: http://raiateahelm.com/bio/