Mary Kaye

Who was Mary Kaye?

Mary Kaye, sometimes called the "First Lady of Rock and Roll", was a guitarist and performer who was active in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Mary Kaye descended from Hawaiian royalty in the line of Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii's last reigning monarch, and was born into a show business family. She is credited, along with Louis Prima, as being a founder of the Las Vegas "lounge" phenomenon: an all-night party atmosphere where stars and common folk rubbed elbows in a freewheeling environment. Mary Kaye died in a Las Vegas hospital of pulmonary disease on February 17, 2007.