Myrtle K. Hilo Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth and Family

Myrtle K. Hilo died in 2009. Besides her husband, her daughter Healani also preceded her in death. She was survived by four of her children.

She returned to performing in Hawaii in 1987. In 1998, the Hawai’i Academy of Recording Arts presented her with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards.

After three successive family deaths in 1976, her husband and both her parents, she took a sabbatical from performing and moved to Tacoma, Washington.

Between 1967 and 1973, Hilo recorded three albums. Her break-out hit “Will You Love Me (When My Carburetor Is Busted)” eventually became a classic, and is believed to be an adaptation by George Naʻope of Benjamin (Bell) Zamberg’s ‘”Carburetor the Automobile Song'” from Yiddish theatre. By the 1970s she was filling in for Kahala Hilton headliner Danny Kaleikini.

In the late 1960s, she began to make a name for herself in Waikiki venues. She accompanied herself on ukulele and recorded her first album The Singing Cab Driver on the Makaha Label. Hilo was featured at Sunday entertainment galas in Waikiki promoted by Kimo Wilder McVay. She had her own daily live broadcast on KHVH radio, from the Outrigger Reef Hotel, and a Sunday evening live broadcast from the Moana Hotel.

According to the online Territorial Airwaves, Hilo briefly sang with the Royal Hawaiian Girls Glee Club. She came under the mentorship of Hawaiian cultural preservationist George Naʻope in the early 1950s when he performed at the Niumalu Hotel (where the Hilton Hawaiian Village now stands). Together with Naʻope, she recorded with John Kameaaloha Almeida on their Tropical Records label, and on the 49th State Hawaii label.

Myrtle Kahea Hilo was born of Hawaiian ancestry in Hauʻula on the island of O’ahu, in the Territory of Hawaii. In 1948, she married heavy equipment operator George Hilo. They became the parents of one son and four daughters. Hilo worked as a cashier, and a taxicab driver before achieving success in the entertainment business.

Myrtle Kahea Hilo (May 17, 1929 – October 3, 2009) was a native Hawaiian taxicab driver, radio personality, ukulele player and singer. Her signature album The Singing Cab Driver was released in 1967 on Makaha Records. She was born in Hauʻula, Hawaii on the island of O’ahu. In 1998 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hawai’i Academy of Recording Arts.