:Mary Kaye

Malia Ka'aihue was born on January 9, 1924, in Detroit, Michigan, to father Johnny Ka{{okina}}aihue.{{Cite web|last=Nelson|first=Valerie|date=2007-02-20|title=Mary Kaye, 83; singer brought all-night lounge acts to Las Vegas|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-feb-20-me-kaye20-story.html|access-date=2021-11-28|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}} 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.{{Cite web|date=2007-02-21|title=Mary Kaye brought 'lounge' to Vegas|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2007/02/20/mary-kaye-brought-lounge-to-vegas/|access-date=2021-11-28|website=The Mercury News|language=en-US}} 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.{{Cite web|date=1995-05-10|title=Frank Ross; Member of Mary Kaye Trio Lounge Act|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-10-mn-64433-story.html|access-date=2021-11-28|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=Mary Kaye {{!}} Hawaiian musician, 83|url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/obituaries/20070219_Mary_Kaye___Hawaiian_musician__83.html|access-date=2021-11-28|website=www.inquirer.com|date=19 February 2007 |language=en}} 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 Ka{{okina}}aihue (Johnny Ukulele) who she claimed was "pure Hawaiian" and stated, "he was the son of Prince Kuhio, Queen Liliuokalani's cousin."{{cite magazine |last=Moseley |first=Willie G. |date=August 2003 |title=Mary Kaye: Beyond the Stratocaster Connection |url=https://www.vintageguitar.com/2977/mary-kaye/ |magazine=Vintage Guitar |access-date=February 21, 2017 }} 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.{{cite book|last1=Liliuokalani|first1=Queen|title=Hawaii's story by Hawaii's Queen, Liliuokalani|date=1898|publisher=Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Co.|location=Boston, MA|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001268108|via=HathiTrust|pages=399–400}}

Mary Kaye died of pulmonary disease on February 17, 2007, at Las Vegas' Mountain View Hospital in Nevada.

Mary Kaye married and later divorced Jules Pursley. Kaye had three children - Jeffrey Pursley, Donna Ramirez, and Jaye Kaye. Her son Jay Kaye, born in 1953 in St. Louis, Missouri, was also a musician.{{Citation | title = Offspring of lounge legend takes chance on LV | newspaper = Las Vegas Sun | date = May 5, 2006 | url = https://lasvegassun.com/news/2006/may/05/offspring-of-lounge-legend-takes-chance-on-lv/ }} In 1968, at the age of 15, he put out his first LP, Suddenly One Summer. He later moved to Mallorca, Spain, where he was a prominent part of the local music scene through the 1990s and 2000s. Jay died in Spain in 2015.{{Citation | title = Jay Kaye, the 'bluesman' who fell in love with Mallorca, dies | newspaper = Dia Rio de Mallorca (Spanish Language) | date = February 10, 2015 | url = https://www.diariodemallorca.es/sociedad-cultura/2015/02/11/fallece-jay-kaye-bluesman-enamoro/998362.html}} As of 2007, Mary Kaye had nine grandchildren.

Kaye was photographed with her bandmates Frank Ross and Norman Kaye (her brother, born Norman Ka'aihue) of the Mary Kaye Trio in a 1956 Fender promotional advertisement featuring a new Stratocaster electric guitar. This ash blonde guitar with maple neck and gold hardware later became popularly known as "The Mary Kaye Strat." Only a few were produced in 1956, but the color was reintroduced to the Fender line after strong international demand for the color scheme. A limited Custom Shop series "Mary Kaye Tribute Strat" was issued in 2005. In 2007, a "57 Reissue Mary Kaye Strat" was released for the 50th anniversary of the Stratocaster. The Custom Shop release was featured in the 2005 Fender "Frontline Catalog" along with her personal history in an interview with Fender.{{Cite web|last=Baker|first=Alex|title=Mary Kaye Strat - Stratocaster Story {{!}} Fender Guitars|url=https://www.fender.com/articles/gear/cult-classic-the-mary-kaye-stratocaster|access-date=2021-11-28|website=www.fender.com|language=en-US}}

In 2003, Kaye received the first official signature "Mary Kaye" American Stratocaster, gifted to her by the Fender Custom Shop.{{Cite web|last=Price|first=Huw|date=2018-11-19|title=Vintage Bench Test: 1957 Fender Stratocaster 'Mary Kaye'|url=https://guitar.com/review/vintage-review/vintage-bench-test-1957-fender-stratocaster-mary-kaye/|access-date=2021-11-28|website=Guitar.com {{!}} All Things Guitar|language=en-GB}} This instrument, serial MK 001, has a dedication to her on the instrument's back plate, reading "To Mary Kaye From Your Friends at Fender." The instrument was listed with online luxury retailer Luxify.com and their broker INTMIX—The International Musical Instrument Exchange, which produced an in-depth look at the instrument, narrated by Mary Kaye's nephew, John Kaye.{{Cite web |url=https://www.intmix.org/collections/rock-star-collection/products/mary-kaye-trio-first-lady-of-rock-mary-kaye-owned-fender-custom-shop-stratocaster |title=Mary Kaye Trio - First Lady of Rock - Mary Kaye Owned Fender Custom Sh – INTMIX |access-date=2017-03-06 |archive-date=2017-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306134624/https://www.intmix.org/collections/rock-star-collection/products/mary-kaye-trio-first-lady-of-rock-mary-kaye-owned-fender-custom-shop-stratocaster |url-status=dead }}

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{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060202093849/http://namm.harmony-central.com/WNAMM05/Content/Fender/PR/CS-Mary-Kaye-Strat.html The Mary Kaye Strat Reissue]

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Category:1924 births

Category:2007 deaths

Category:American women jazz singers

Category:American jazz guitarists

Category:American jazz singers

Category:Deaths from respiratory failure

Category:20th-century American guitarists

Category:American people of Native Hawaiian descent

Category:20th-century American women guitarists

Category:21st-century American women