During his career of more than 50 years in show business, he was the opening act for Paul Anka at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas,[1] and performed alongside Sammy Davis Jr., Wayne Newton, Dolly Parton, Phyllis McGuire, and Don Ho.

[9][7] On Fridays, after shining shoes in Chinatown, Kaleikini and his brother went to jam sessions with Jesse Kalima and Thousand Pounds of Melody, where they learned to sing and perform.

[6] He started working in the luau shows, and eventually became the headliner at the Tapa Room after the death of Alfred Apaka,[10] performing together with hula dancer and singer Lani Custino.

[15] In July 1961, a review in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin called Kaleikini "a charming shaker" who "has the correct shakes as he shows his versatility in doing the Hawaiian and Tahitian hulas.

[7][6] Kaleikini was actively involved in promoting the show, taking a hula dancer and a ukulele player to Waikiki to perform songs during the day to build interest.

[5] Kaleikini sang and danced with the moonlit Pacific Ocean as his backdrop, and mingled, and joked with the audience, calling on his friends to perform.

[18] Billboard magazine reported that Kaleikini performed eight tunes during an hour set,[19] including traditional Hawaiian and hapa haole "songs of Hawaii" written by pop artists,[3] with hints of country music.

[10] In 1970, he was asked by Governor John A. Burns to attend Expo '70, the world's fair held in Osaka, Japan, to check out the Hawaii Pavilion and coach the performers.

[25] His visit to the Expo, accompanied by the popular Hawaiian sumo wrestler Jesse "Takamiyama" Kuhaulua, helped to raise his profile and led to subsequent engagements in Japan.

[6] In April 1973, Kaleikini was invited to the second annual Tokyo Music Festival to compete with singers from around the world,[26] including Olivia Newton-John.

[28] Kaleikini sang "The Snows of Mauna Kea" by Jay Larrin, Japanese classic "Koko ni sachi ari", and Frank Sinatra's "My Way", in a program that was broadcast nationwide in Japan on August 3, 1986, by Nippon Television Network.

[27] On June 21, 1973, Kaleikini had his Las Vegas debut at the 1,000-seat Caesars Palace showroom, opening for Paul Anka during a two-week engagement.

[31] In December 1988, Harrah's Reno in Nevada featured "Danny Kaleikini's Hawaiian Christmas", a one-week engagement at the Headliner Room.

[33][34] Kaleikini became a 20-percent owner of the show, which struggled to obtain sponsorship in its final years, and Hawaii Calls aired for the last time on August 16, 1975.

[11] The shops featured Polynesian wear for men and women under the "Danny Kaleikini" label, and were operated by his wife, Jacqueline, who was originally from Tahiti.

[17] He served on the board of directors for companies including Aloha Petroleum and Servco Pacific and Financial, and numerous nonprofit organizations, such as the Hawaii Visitors Bureau, the Honolulu Boy Choir, Hui Waʻa Surfing Association, Kamehameha Schools, and Waialae Country Club.

[8] Kaleikini was closely involved in the restoration and preservation of Kahaluʻu Fish Pond over a two-year period starting in 1995,[3][4] working with his business partner Linda Wong and four other volunteers.

[43] To raise funds for the project, they built the Aloha Ke Akua Chapel, operated by Watabe Wedding Corp.[3] Over the years, he gave his time to more than 100 community organizations.

[21] During the 1994 campaign, he was praised for helping to "smooth" Fasi's "notorious bluntness", but critics worried about Kaleikini's lack of political experience and his readiness to assume the office of governor in the event of an emergency.

[45] They finished ahead of Republican candidates Pat Saiki and Fred Hemmings, but were 6 percentage points behind Democrats Ben Cayetano and Mazie Hirono.

[48] Wayne Harada wrote in The Honolulu Advertiser that the album, "complete with conch shell blowing and description of the pig-in-the-imu procession, is a reflection of another era, and, for Kaleikini die-hards, a glimpse of a star in the making.

[59][61] According to Keikilani Kaleikini, the film is "a real documentary, not a tribute", with emotional, funny, and sad moments that provide a glimpse into the realities of his life and his legacy of aloha.