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Na Leo
NA LEO PILIMEHANA, which in Hawaiian means the voices blending together in warmth, is the most popular, most award winning and biggest selling female Hawaiian group in the World. Na Leo consists of three childhood friends, Nalani Choy, Lehua Kalima Heine and Angela Morales. They run their own record label company; they compose, write lyrics, record and perform music; they do volunteer work; play sports and they're moms and wives. They are real women with real lives sticking close to their ideals and putting their friendship first.
THE BEGINNING... Angela, Lehua and Nalani met in seventh grade at Kamehameha Schools and all became members of the concert glee club. They had their first hit as seniors when they entered Hawaii's youth talent contest, "Brown Bags to Stardom" with their original song, "Local Boys." The tune, "an ode to the bronzed and buffed," as local writer David Choo says, blasted onto the charts and ruled as #1 for months. Stoked by the response, they put out their first hit album, also called "Local Boys" which included three other original compositions. The next year, the hit single "Local Boys" won the prestigious Hoku Music Award (Hawaii's version of the Grammys) and it became the best selling single in Hawaii's history, a record that still stands today.
THE GAP... Despite the mega success of their first album, the trio didn't make a dime. Discouraged about music as a way to make a living, they decided to get on with other things, like college, jobs and marriage. A few years later, they missed singing together... writing songs... the fun they had composing and playing. And, a producer dangled the idea of another album.
TOGETHER AGAIN! Once reunited, they released "Friends," another Hoku-award winner and a huge hit. So much of a hit that Attorney General Janet Reno had to weigh in when the Hawaii Department of Education tried to ban students from playing the tune at their proms and graduations because it made reference to "God."
Over the course of their career, Na Leo has released 18 CDs, won over 20 Hoku Awards, have been in the top 20 AC charts nationally, and made music that's part of our lives. Na Leo celebrates the release of their first DVD later this year titled "I Miss You My Hawaii".
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