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Darren Benitez, Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winning falsetto vocalist, died Thursday. He was 57.
Clifford Darren Benitez graduated from Waianae High School in 1983 and stepped forward as a recording artist 12 years later with the release of his debut album, “Broken Hearts,” in 1995. The album won him the Hoku award for Most Promising Artist the following year.
Benitez followed “Broken Hearts” with his second album, “Mother of the Sea,” in 1998. He released his third, “Dear Mama,” in 2008.
Guitarist Richard Gideon, one-third of the Hoku award- winning trio Maunalua, described Benitez, the brother of his brother-in-law, as “my biggest musical inspiration.”