Raiatea Helm

Raiatea Helm, a two-time Grammy nominee and multiple Nā Hōkū Hanohano awards recipient, is recognized as one of Hawaii’s premier female vocalists. Among her awards, she was honored in Hawai‘i four times as Female Vocalist of the Year. A master of the art of leo kiʻe kiʻe – Hawaiian falsetto – she shares her pure, crystalline voice and passionate knowledge of Hawaiʻi’s rich history through traditional mele [songs]. Her music career spans 20 years and includes seven album releases, recorded and performed with legendary musicians including Keola Beamer, Aunty Genoa Keawe, Keali’i Reichel, Willie K and Mick Fleetwood.

Her most recent album, A Legacy of Hawaiian Song and String, Volume 1, revives song selections composed, performed and popularized in the Hawaiian Islands in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Raiatea presents a passionate musical snapshot of the stories, poetry and emotions of a once flourishing independent nation. Produced in partnership with the Kealakai Center for PacificStrings, the music captured on this album reclaims a legacy. This recording swept Hawai‘i’s Na Hoku Hanohano Awards with 7 wins and recently placed #4 on Folk Alley Favorites: Best Trad of 2023 year-end roundup of “the albums that take traditional roots in new directions, … artists that are changing the way we think about traditional music.” She is the first Hawaiian Musical Artist Fellow of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation and the 2021 awardee of the foundation’s SHIFT – Transformative Change and Indigenous Arts grant.

Raiatea grew up with her family on the Hawaiian island of Moloka‘i and released her first album at the age of 18. Far Away Heaven was critically acclaimed and won her the Nā Hōkū Hanohano (Hawai‘i’s “Grammy”) Female Vocalist of the Year Award and the Most Promising Artist Award. Her second and third albums, Sweet and Lovely and Hawaiian Blossom, earned her Grammy nominations for Best Hawaiian Music Album, making Raiatea the first Hawaiian female vocalist nominated for a Grammy. Those releases as well as her next album, He Leo Huali, A Pure Voice, earned her multiple Nā Hōkū Hanohano awards.

In 2024, her masterful release A Legacy of Hawaiian Song and String, Volume 1 swept the Na Hoku Awards with 7 wins, including Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year, and Hawaiian Album of the Year. An emotional touchstone in Hawaiian music, its songs originated during the Hawaiian monarchy era (late 19th/early 20th centuries) and serve as both a tribute to the past and a promise for the future. Transcending its historical context, Legacy reclaims the narrative of Hawai‘i’s musical past, rediscovering the breadth and depth of this musical heritage before the story became overshadowed by colonial influences. Hawaiian string bands toured the U.S. with this music during this era, and as Folk Alley notes “Hawaiian music in the early 1900s was a global phenomenon, a driver of wide technological change. If you like the pedal steel in country, the slide guitar in blues, or even the electric guitar in rock, you owe a debt to Hawaiians.” Notes project collaborator Kilin Reece, of Kealakai Center for Pacific Strings, “It’s an incredibly vibrant and untold story.” Her “Legacy” band includes guitar, ‘ukulele, steel guitar, bass, and fiddles. Raiatea captures the attention of audiences throughout her native islands and around the world, interpreting this Hawaiian repertoire with her awe-inspiring vocal mastery.

Raiatea has toured the U.S. extensively and has also performed in China, Japan and Tahiti, captivating audiences with her vocal interpretation of Hawaiian mele [songs]. A graduate of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, she took a break from touring to earn her degree. When she’s not performing, she serves as a Program Coordinator at the Liliuokalani Trust in Honolulu, developing music programs for Hawai’i’s keiki [youth].