Don Ho (Tiny Bubbles) dies in Hawaii

April 14, 2007

Hawaii - Don Ho, known for his song "Tiny Bubbles," has died, his publicist announced. He was 76.

Ho died Saturday morning of heart failure. Ho had suffered heart problems for the past few years, and finally had a pacemaker installed last fall.

Ho was diagnosed with heart failure caused by cardiomyopathy. The cause of his heart failure was unknown, but there was no treatment available. He contacted Theravitae, a biotechnology company specializing in treating heart conditions with adult stem cells working in conjunction with Dr. Amit Patel, a cardiac surgeon and pioneer of the use of adult stem cells for heart disease.

On December 6, 2005, Ho had his own blood-derived stem cells injected into his heart by Dr. Patel with his surgeons in Thailand.

The treatment went without incident. In an interview with the Associated Press later in the month, Ho said, "I'm feeling terrific, 100 percent better". He credited the treatment with saving his life.

Ho released his debut album, Don Ho Show, in 1965 and began to play high profile locations in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and New York City.

In 1966 he released his second album, a live compilation called Don Ho - Again!, which charted in the early part of that year.

In the fall of 1966, Ho released his most famous song, "Tiny Bubbles", which charted on both the pop and easy listening charts and caused the subsequent Tiny Bubbles LP to remain in the album Top 20 for almost a year.

Guest appearances on television shows such as The Brady Bunch soon followed. Although his album sales peaked in the late 1960s, he was able to land a television spot on ABC from October 1976 to March 1977 with the Don Ho Show variety program.