Day 189 of the Lower Puna Eruption.
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The four most famous people from Hawaii are Barack Obama, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, Duane The Rock Johnson and Bruno Mars. Barack and Bruno were born in Hawaii, and, while Tammy came from Thailand and Duane from California, they both went to my alma mater, McKinley High School. Barack graduated from Punahou and Bruno from Roosevelt. I was born at Queen's Hospital and first left Hawaii when I went to college in California. We are all, thus, kamaaina, children of Hawaii.
Peter Gene Hernandez was born in 1985 and was already famous at the age of 4 as Little Elvis. He has been an entertainer all his life. However, there was a period as a teenager when he remembers being homeless with his brother and father in Manoa Valley, where my University of Hawaii campus is located. His mother is Filipino and father of Puerto Rican and Ashkenazi Jewish descent.
He moved to Los Angeles after graduating from high school, had a few difficult years, but eventually became a noted songwriter, one song in 2010 being Fuck You by CeeLo Green, which reached #2 on Billboard. That was a big year for him, as he also had his first #1 single, Nothing' on You. He returned home to a sold-out show at the Blaisdell Arena.
Eight years later he now caps his mega 24K Magic tour, involving 113,000 travel miles, which has been ongoing for nearly two years with 213 shows spanning six continents selling more than 2 million tickets and earning more than a quarter billion dollars, in Honolulu for three final sold- out performances to more than 100,000. Organizers are concerned that traffic will be horrendous, for this is a normal business day, and there are only 6,000 parking slots for the expected 36,000 fans. We've had 50,000 for Hawaii football games, but those occur on Saturdays. You can enter the lot from 3:30PM for the 7PM concert. Tickets are still available at "enhanced" prices, from $47 to $1450 at the stadium box office.
The year 2010 was also potentially devastating, for he was arrested in Las Vegas for possession of cocaine. Whatever the circumstances, and no doubt with incredibly effective legal advice, he paid a $2,000 fine, did 200 hours of community service and completed a drug counseling course. He admits being foolish, in stronger terms, and appears to be clean today.
Many first heard of him in 2014 when he led the Super Bowl halftime show. Two years later he returned as a guest of Coldplay with Beyonce. That year he also played to three sold-out shows at the Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu.
Frankly, while I like his 2015 Uptown Funk, I can't hum any of his tunes. This is what old age does to you. At midyear he was summoned to the White House as part of President Barack Obamas Independence Day celebration.
He has won eleven Grammy Awards, been awarded three Guinness World Records, had seven #1 singles on Billboard, has sold 130 million records, and in the 2018 Grammys became only the second artist to win Record and Song of the Year with two different songs. 
Impressively enough, he has had a hand in producing and writing all his hits. He's his own choreographer, plays several instruments and orchestrates everything. 
His band includes his brother, and the accompanying girl singers are his sisters and a cousin, The Lylas. What a story, what a life and he credits his success to growing up in Hawaii.
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