Jake Shimabukuro

Hawaiian ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro was born in Honolulu on November 3, 1976. He learned to play the instrument from an early age with his mother, and never left it, playing in cafés until 1998, when he met the members of Pure Heart, with whom he recorded two albums and won five Na Hoku Hanohano Awards. He then followed Lopaka Colón and produced an album under the Colón name, before embarking on his own successful career. The first Hawaiian artist signed by Epic Records, a division of Sony Music, he also became popular in Japan with a series of albums in which he displayed his technique and eclecticism, between folk, blues, jazz and bluegrass. Beginning with the album Sunday Morning (2002), he racked up awards at the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards with each release, whether for Crosscurrent (2003), Walking Down Rainhill (2004) or Dragon (2005), which reached No. 5 on the US Billboard World Music chart. In 2006, he attracted a large international audience with the video for his cover of the Beatles classic "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", a song penned by George Harrison, which racked up some seventeen million views. The musician continues with the albums Peace Love Ukulele (2011), Grand Ukulele (2012), Travels (2015) and Nashville Sessions (2016). He forms a quartet for The Greatest Day (2018), followed by trio covers on the album Trio (2020). Subsequent sessions for Jake & Friends (2021) and Grateful (2023) feature a host of guests, international stars for the former and local stars for the latter. 2024 saw the release of the duo album Blues Experience with Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood.