The Hawaii Tribune Herald is reporting that Hawaiian broadcasting legend Jacqueline Leilani “Skylark” Rossetti died Wednesday. She was 65.
Rossetti got her start in radio with the station of the San Francisco City College when she studied there in the early 70s. She returned to Hawaii after her studies and worked on-air at KNDI-AM in Honolulu before becoming the midday personality in a legendary air staff at Honolulu’s KCCN-AM that included Kimo Kahoano and the late Krash Kealoha.
Broadcasting Hawaiian music, Rossetti was integral in the rise of Hawaii superstars such as the Sunday Manoa, the Brothers Cazimero, and the Makaha Sons of Niihau.
A 2017 inductee of the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame, Rossetti called herself “The Honolulu Skylark” after an early Hawaii airplane, later shortening the name to simply “Skylark.”
Rossetti is survived by longtime companion Kimo La‘au; her children, Imaka Lindsey, Kilohana Lindsey, and Makana Rossetti-Ota; and six grandchildren.
