The music video for “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” by Hawaiian Israel Kamakawiwo’ole has been viewed 1.4 billion times on YouTube. This is enough to conclude that the song has actually traveled around the world and reached its furthest corners. Presumably each of us would be able to hum, if not the words themselves, then at least the melody of this worldwide hit. The success of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” is primarily evidenced by the fact that the song topped Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart for 332 weeks starting in 2011.
The song “Somewhere over the rainbow”, also known under another title “Over the rainbo”, was created in cooperation between H. Arlen and E. Harburg in 1939. The artists created it especially for the fantasy film “The Wizard of Oz”. In the original version, the song was sung by the main character, Judy Garland, who was then 17 years old. The musical hit was awarded an Oscar, and later in two versions (vocal and instrumental), it was performed by many artists: Frank Sinatra, Celine Dion and Bob Marley.
The most popular, of course, apart from the original performance by Judy Garland, who was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1981, was the version recorded by Israel Kamakawiwo?ole. The artist from Honolulu included the song on his 1993 album “Facing Future”. The Hawaiian’s performance was used many times in films and TV series and broke the record on the US Billboard World Digital Songs chart.
The artist died in 1997 at the age of only 38 due to heart failure, which was most likely caused by health problems caused by obesity. The coffin with the body of the deceased singer was displayed in one of the public buildings in Honolulu. A total of 10,000 people attended the funeral of Israel Kamakawiwo?ole, and the artist is still considered one of the most popular, if not even the most popular, singer from Hawaii.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
