Dennis Pavao, was one of several Hawaiian musicians who, during the 1970s, led a Hawaiian music renaissance, reviving Hawaiian music, especially "ka leo ki'eki'e," or Hawaiian falsetto singing. Along with his cousins, Ledward and Nedward Kaʻapana, Pavao started the group Hui ʻOhana. Hui ʻOhana became the premier falsetto group in Hawaiʻi. After the breakup of Hui ʻOhana, Dennis Pavao moved on to pursue a solo career.
Pavao was born in Kalapana on the Big Island in Hawaii. Jerry Kunimoto, one of Dennis' close longtime friends once said, "Dennis’ recordings over three decades will be sung for generations; he’s one of those performers. If our lives can be measured by the number of people we can touch in a positive way, then Dennis is in a place we all aspire to." He died from a brain aneurysm on January 19, 2002, at the age of fifty.