Iona

**Iona Cecelia Rodrigues** (born 16 August 1999), known professionally as simply **Iona**, is a Hawaiian singer and songwriter. Rodrigues began her career in 2016, competing in season one of the Hawaii Television (HTV) music competition series *Starmaker*. Mentored by Kū, Rodrigues advanced to the competition until being declared the runner-up in the finale.

After competing in *Starmaker*, Rodrigues signed a recording contract with Big Island Records. In the show's finale, Rodrigues performed her winner's single "Bad Boys", which went on to become a number-one hit in Hawaii. She later released her debut single "Telephone" in April 2017. The single went on to become a smash hit in Hawaii, shattering numerous streaming records and reigning at the top of the charts for eight consecutive weeks. The records were later beaten by her second single "You Should Be with Me", which became her third number-one single in Hawaii. Rodrigues later released her debut studio album *A Piece of Me* (2017) in 2017, which went on to become the best-selling album of 2017 in Hawaii.

## Early life and education

Rodrigues was born on 16 August 1999 in Ewa Beach to parents Michael and Rosanna Rodrigues (née *Tavares*). Her father was born in Hawaii to Filipino parents, while her mother is of primarily Irish, Portuguese, and Spanish origin. She was raised in a Catholic family. Michael works in advertising, while Rosanna is a pediatric nurse. Rodrigues is the elder of two children; her younger brother is named Mackenzie, born  (2002-01-03) 3 January 2002 (age 22).

Rodrigues attended public schooling growing up. At the time of *Starmaker*, Rodrigues was in her senior year at James Campbell High School in Ewa Beach. She remained enrolled at the school during and after the competition, and graduated in 2017.

## Career

### 2016–2017: *Starmaker* and *A Piece of Me*

During the summer of 2016, Rodrigues sent in an audition tape for season one of the Hawaii Television (HTV) music competition series *Starmaker*. She was later invited by the producers to audition in front of the judges, where she received votes from all five of the judges to advance to the next round. Rodrigues did not have to participate in the sudden death round as she was allocated an "A-lister" by the judges, and following her interview was chosen by Kū to join her team. Rodrigues performed well in the live shows, receiving the highest public vote of all members of the Kū's team in each round. She eventually advanced to the top five as the representative of Kū's team, later advancing to the finale.

In the finale, Rodrigues performed her winner's single "Bad Boys", and was chosen as the runner-up by the Hawaiian public, behind winner Lorena Walls. Despite not winning the competition, Rodrigues was still signed to Big Island Records immediately after the competition, and her winner's single outsold Walls's winner's single "Shadows", becoming certified multi-platinum and peaking at number-one for two consecutive weeks. In April 2017, she made her official debut with Big Island, releasing the single "Telephone". "Telephone" shattered streaming records in Hawaii, becoming the most-streamed song in 24 hours of all-time. Its music video also became the most-watched music video within 24 hours in Hawaii. The song debuted atop the Hawaiian singles chart, and reigned at number-one for eight consecutive weeks. The streaming records set by "Telephone" were later beaten by her second single "You Should Be with Me", which became her third number-one single in Hawaii. Following the success of its three preceding singles, Rodrigues released her debut studio album *A Piece of Me* in August 2017. The album debuted atop the Hawaiian albums charts, and additionally became the best-selling Hawaiian album of 2017. She promoted the album with the *Telephone Hawaiian Tour*.

### 2018–present: Second studio album

In July 2018, Rodrigues revealed that she had begun work on her second studio album. In January 2019, she stated that she'd begin releasing new music in the spring of 2019.

## Personal life

Rodrigues resided with her parents in Ewa Beach until 2018, when she purchased a beachfront apartment in the Waikiki neighborhood of Honolulu. She is fluent in Spanish in addition to her native English.

## Discography

*Main article: Iona discography.*

* *A Piece of Me* (2017)