Eddie Bush

Born Sept. 6, 1935 Died Sept.10 2002 Eddie Bush has long been considered one of Hawaii’s greatest ukulele virtuosos. Born in Honolulu, he attended St. Louis High and the University of Dayton. He performed at nearly every major venue in Waikiki, including the Canoe House at the Ilikai [then the premiere showroom], the Tapa Room at the Hawaiian Village [also the major showroom, where Alfred Apaka sang], Hawaii Calls, the Hawaii Visitors Bureau show in Japan, and others. He appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Mike Douglas Show and on the shows of Merv Griffin, Ed Sullivan, Lawrence Welk and Johnny Cash. He was honored by the Hawaii State legislature. Death Ukulele player extraordinaire Edward "Eddie" Bush died Tuesday 09-10-2002 at age 67, just as his musical star had begun to shine brightly again. Eddie Bush played music as a passion, not a trade. Bush, who had had a quintuple bypass a few years ago, died at The Queen's Medical Center after suffering a massive heart attack at his Hawai'i Kai home. Bush, who always kept a "day job" in the banking and credit fields, played music as a passion, not a trade, said guitarist Winston Tan, one of his latest musical partners. Tan said the two gave a performance together on Saturday at Pearlridge Center, then had dinner to discuss plans for a new CD they had just completed to be sold through the Honolulu Elks Lodge. Now, Tan said, he hopes to produce the CD for public release with proceeds from sales to go to Bush's family. "It is a beautiful album, and we had all the songs, 'Over the Rainbow,' Bach's 'Ave Maria,' 'Kamehameha Waltz,' a solo by Eddie of 'Rhapsody in Blue' . . . "Eddie Bush is a legend, and he stretched that instrument, the 'ukulele, to its limits," Tan said. "He did every style of music." Bush's wife of 37 years, Donna, said Bush had been working at maintaining his health so he could continue performing at Michel's and New Otani Hotel. In his prime, Bush was a headliner at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Tapa Room by night, and a banker by day. Bush graduated from St. Louis School, and then from Dayton University in St. Louis, Ohio. During his business career, he worked at Bank of Hawaii, THC Financial, Servco and First Hawaiian Bank until his retirement four years ago. In 1969, he produced a successful album called "A Man and His Ukulele," and attracted the attention of a talent scout who got him a national television appearance on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson the following year. Bush said at the time he wanted to use the appearance to promote Hawai'i's signature instrument. "I want to show that (the 'ukulele) can be used as a featured instrument, not only as background or as a novelty," he said. In addition to his wife, Bush is survived by his sisters, Edna Ellis, Winona Naweli and Pauline Tagesell; daughter, Keli; son, Edward Kevin; and four grandchildren. Plans are pending for memorial services 10 a.m. Sept. 21 at The Elks Lodge, followed by scattering of ashes at sea.