Mary Kaye (née Malia Ka'aihue; January 9, 1924 – February 17, 2007)[1] was an American guitarist and performer.
[4] The Mary Kaye Trio is credited with founding the Las Vegas "lounge" phenomenon at the Last Frontier.
[8] 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) who she claimed was "pure Hawaiian" and stated, "he was the son of Prince Kuhio, Queen Liliuokalani's cousin.
"[9] However, according to the genealogy Liliuokalani put in her biography, her brothers were King David Kalākaua and Prince William Pitt Leleiohoku II.
[10] Mary Kaye died of pulmonary disease on February 17, 2007, at Las Vegas' Mountain View Hospital in Nevada.
This ash blonde guitar with maple neck and gold hardware later became popularly known as "The Mary Kaye Strat."