John Cruz at

From the time he was a young boy growing up in Palolo Valley on Oahu, John Cruz knew he was destined to play music. Whether inside or outside the home, his earliest memories were filled with song. His Hawaiian grandmother had a beautiful voice and sang in church. His mom loved the Motown sound and had an extensive record collection. His dad played country music and taught John to perform live shows at a very young age. His brothers and sisters were all musically inclined and, along with numerous aunties, uncles, cousins, neighbors and friends, they have surrounded John with the gift of music for his entire life....

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From the time he was a young boy growing up in Palolo Valley on Oahu, John Cruz knew he was destined to play music. Whether inside or outside the home, his earliest memories were filled with song. His Hawaiian grandmother had a beautiful voice and sang in church. His mom loved the Motown sound and had an extensive record collection. His dad played country music and taught John to perform live shows at a very young age. His brothers and sisters were all musically inclined and, along with numerous aunties, uncles, cousins, neighbors and friends, they have surrounded John with the gift of music for his entire life.

When his first album, Acoustic Soul was released in 1996, it made an artistic and commercial impact like few other recordings in Hawaiian musical history.

Acoustic Soul to date has sold about 100,000 copies in Hawaii alone. John produced the album himself and released it on his own label, Lilikoi Records. It spawned the radio hits "Shine On," "Sitting in Limbo" and "Island Style," which has become a local anthem. Most songs from the album still receive daily radio airplay and can be heard on numerous compilation CDs, in hotels, airports, shopping malls, school music classes, commercials and just about everywhere else music is played within the state. Acoustic Soul won two Na Hoku Hanohano Awards in 1997 -- one for Contemporary Album of the Year and one for Most Promising Artist.

In 2005, John added the Grammy Award to his list of honors. His original song "Jo Bo's Night" was featured on the compilation CD Slack Key Guitar Volume 2, which won the first Grammy ever awarded for Hawaiian music.

For more information, visit www.johncruz.com

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