Kū

**Mary Kū Tompkins** (born 12 February 1984), known professionally as simply **Kū**, is a Hawaiian singer and songwriter. Tompkins began her career in 1999 at the age of 15, being signed to Honolulu Records in the hopes of making her a teen idol.

After artistic development and training, Tompkins made her debut in 2001 with the single "Dumb Blonde". The song went on to become a teen hit in Hawaii, and Tompkins made several appearances on Hawaii Blu to promote the single. Her debut studio album *Kū's World* was released later in 2001, peaking at number-two in Hawaii. Following the success of *Kū's World*, Tompkins released two more albums with Honolulu Records: *Upside Down* (2002) and *A Whole New Me* (2004), both commercial successes in the demographic, before departing from the label in 2008 due to artistic differences.

After parting ways with Honolulu Records, Tompkins signed with Big Island Records, in the hopes of recreating her sound and image. After a six-year hiatus from music, Tompkins returned to the public eye in 2011 with the release of "Season of the Witch", her first single since 2005 and first on Big Island Records. While the single did not receive mass radio airplay, it was still a hit, becoming certified 3x platinum. Her fourth studio album *Unchained* (2012) was released the following year, and debuted at number-one, becoming her first chart-topping album in Hawaii. "Season of the Witch" and *Unchained* saw a stylistic departure from the teen pop Tompkins became known for, instead adopting an alternative image and a sound merging elements of Hawaiian folk, indie pop, and neo-soul. Tompkins has gone on to release three other studio albums with Big Island Records: *Honeymoon Lane* (2013), *Stitches* (2015), and *Voodoo* (2017). Since 2016, Tompkins has been a judge on *Starmaker*. She is the recipient of six Hawaiian Music Awards, and has sold over 200 thousand records.

## Early life and education

Tompkins was born on 12 February 1984 in Hilo to parents Thomas and Elizabeth Tompkins (née *Chan*). Her father is of English and Scottish descent, while her mother is of mixed Native Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, English, and Irish origin. Tompkins's middle name *kū* means "rose" in the Hawaiian language. Thomas worked as a business executive, while Elizabeth was a homemaker until becoming Tompkins's manager at the start of her career. Tompkins grew up in an upper-middle class family as the youngest of three siblings; her elder siblings include brothers Joseph, born  (1980-07-01) 1 July 1980 (age 43), and Jedediah "Jed", born  (1982-12-29) 29 December 1982 (age 41).

Growing up, Tompkins's family was devoutly Pentecostal Christian, and Tompkins was forced to pray multiple times a day. She never attended public schooling, and was homeschooled her entire life, until earning a high school degree two-years early in 2000. Tompkins's elder brother Joseph had previously been enrolled in a public school, but their mother removed him from the school in his first year due to disagreements with school administration over school prayer. She subsequently began homeschooling all three of her children.

## Career

### 1999–2008: Teen idol

Tompkins began pursuing a professional music career in 1999, after a discussion with her mother about what she wished to pursue in life. While her mother initially attempted to persuade Tompkins to perform Christian music, after reluctance from Tompkins her mother relented. With the help of her mother, Tompkins recorded demo tapes with local record producers and sent them to record labels. She soon was noticed by Honolulu Records, who invited her to Honolulu for a live audition. Tompkins was signed by the label immediately after her audition. After signing to Honolulu Records, Tompkins began artistic development and training with the label, and discovered that they intended to brand her as a teen idol. While her mother was initially against this, the producers managed to convince her to approve.

Tompkins made her debut with Honolulu Records with the 2001 release of her debut single "Dumb Blonde". The teen pop song was an instant success amongst its target demographic in Hawaii, and went on to peak at number-ten in Hawaii. In order to promote the single and Tompkins as an artist, Tompkins made several guest appearances on Hawaii Blu, performing the song, appearing as a guest host, and even guest appearing on an episode of *Being Bella Song* starring Queenie Ng. Following the success of the single, Tompkins released her debut studio album *Kū's World* later in 2001, peaking at number-two in Hawaii and being certified gold. With its success, she went on a Hawaii-wide tour, performing in venues such as shopping malls. Tompkins went on to release two other albums with Honolulu Records: *Upside Down* (2002) and *A Whole New Me* (2004), both commercial successes in the demographic and spawning several hit singles.

During the recording and following the release of her third album *A Whole New Me*, Tompkins began encountering tension between herself, her producers, and her mother, all of whom wanted to take her career in a separate direction. In 2006, she fired her mother as her manager, and later left Honolulu Records in 2008 due to creative differences.

### 2009–2012: *Unchained*

Following her departure from Honolulu Records, it emerged that Tompkins had signed a recording contract with Big Island Records, and had intended to "reinvent" her image and sound. After signing the contract in 2008, Tompkins isolated herself for two years in order to fully immerse herself in writing new songs that fit her new desired aesthetic.

In October 2011, Tompkins released the single "Season of the Witch", ten years after she first debuted and six years since her last release. The song saw a large musical departure from the music she had become known for, instead consisting of indie pop and neo-soul, while also maintaining a strong influence from Hawaiian folk. Her image also changed, instead sporting her natural brunette hair instead of the blonde hair that she had become widely recognizable for. "Season of the Witch" did not receive mass radio airplay in Hawaii, but it was still a hit, becoming certified 3x platinum. Her fourth studio album *Unchained* (2012) was released in January 2012, and debuted at number-one, becoming her first chart-topping album in Hawaii. Tompkins promoted the album with the *Unchained Hawaiian Tour* (2012), which performed shows throughout Hawaii. The album was also a critical success, with Tompkins winning three awards at the 2012 Hawaiian Music Awards.

### 2013–2015: *Honeymoon Lane* and *Stitches*

Tompkins began writing new music for her fifth studio album while on tour promoting *Unchained*. After completing the tour in the summer of 2012, Tompkins began recording and revealed in an interview that she'd be "incorporating more folk music" into the new album. She released the album's lead single "Honeymoon", a demure acoustic ballad, in November 2012. It was certified gold and peaked within the top forty in Hawaii. She later went on to release her fifth studio album *Honeymoon Lane* in February 2013. The album featured one song in the Hawaiian language, her first time ever recording in a language other than English. The album was successful, peaking at number-two and being certified gold. To promote *Honeymoon Lane*, Tompkins embarked on the *Honeymoon Lane Tour*, which performed shows in Hawaii and California.

After the success of *Honeymoon Lane*, Tompkins revealed that her sixth studio album would be in a more similar vein to *Unchained*. She released the album's lead single "Summertime" in May 2015, which became her first mainstream radio hit with Big Island. The song peaked within the top ten in Hawaii, and was certified gold. Stylistically, the song featured a much stronger pop-influence, while also maintaining a folk background. Tompkins's sixth studio album *Stitches* was later released in September 2015. The album became the most successful release of her career, peaking at number-one and being certified 3x platinum. She promoted the album with the *Eternal Summertime World Tour*.

### 2016–present: *Starmaker* and *Voodoo*

While on tour promoting *Stitches*, it was confirmed by Hawaii Television (HTV) that Tompkins had signed on a judge for their upcoming music competition series *Starmaker*. The show saw Tompkins along with Daniel Amore, Regina Jarrett, Bobby Palakiko, and Betty Woo mentoring up-and-coming Hawaiian musicians. Tompkins has served as a judge on the show for all four seasons its been airing.

In September 2017, Tompkins released the single "Cry", the lead single to her upcoming seventh studio album. The song received moderate commercial success, becoming a top forty hit and being certified gold. She later released the album *Voodoo* in December 2017, which became her third chart-topping album and was certified platinum in Hawaii. She promoted the album with the *Voodoo Queen Hawaiian Tour*.

## Personal life

Despite being raised a strict Pentecostal Christian, Tompkins became interested in Hinduism around age 16 and began to lose interest in Christianity. In 2007, she abandoned the Christian church and began fully embracing Hinduism. She has stated that her relationship with her mother was significantly damaged after abandoning Christianity and firing her as her manager, and they did not speak between the years 2007 and 2014. They reunited in 2014, and reestablished their relationship. Tompkins is additionally a vegan and supporter of the Nā Mea Āpau political party.

Tompkins began a relationship with Pakistani-Californian visual artist Ali Tahir after meeting at a Los Angeles charity gala in 2014. They soon began a romantic relationship, and became engaged in 2016. They married the following year in Honolulu in a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony. Tompkins and Tahir have one child together: Indigo, born  (2017-06-01) 1 June 2017 (age 6). Tahir converted from Islam to Hinduism one year into his relationship with Tompkins, and is also a vegan. The family resides in the Waikiki neighborhood of Honolulu, and also owns property in Malibu, California.

## Discography

*Main article: Kū discography.*

* *Ku's World* (2001)
* *Upside Down* (2002)
* *A Whole New Me* (2004)
* *Unchained* (2012)
* *Honeymoon Lane* (2013)
* *Stitches* (2015)
* *Voodoo* (2017)