Raiatea Helm

Raiatea Mokihana Maile Helm (born 8 August 1984) is a Hawaiian music vocalist from Molokaʻi, Hawaiʻi. She has earned four Na Hoku Hanohano awards, as well as two Grammy nominations for Best Hawaiian Music Album.

Helm is best known for her Leo Kiʻekiʻe (Hawaiian falsetto). Helm started her music career when she was 16. At 18 she released her first album, Far Away Heaven, which was critically acclaimed and won her the Na Hoku Hanohano Female Vocalist of the Year Award and the Most Promising Artist Award. Her second album, Sweet and Lovely, earned her four more Na Hoku Hanohano awards, as well as a Grammy nomination for Best Hawaiian Music Album at the 48th Grammy Awards, making Helm the first Hawaiian female vocalist nominated for a Grammy. Her third album, Hawaiian Blossom, earned her further Na Hoku Hanohano awards, as well as a second Grammy nomination. Her 2016 album, He Leo Huali, A Pure Voice, also won her a Na Hoku Hanohano Award.

Helm has recorded with a number of other Hawaiian music artists, such as Keola Beamer, Genoa Keawe, and Kealiʻi Reichel. She studied music at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Raiatea Helm is a descendant of King Kamehameha I, thru Chiefess Keanolani, daughter of Abigail Maheha and Lot Kapuāiwa, who reigned as King of Hawaii from 1863 to 1872. She is the daughter of Zachary Helm and Henrietta Helm, and the niece of Hawaiian musician and sovereignty activist, George Helm.

Discography