Ukulele virtuoso Bill Tapia died in his sleep today at his home in Westminster, California. Born January 1, 1908, he was a month short of his 104th birthday.

Pat Enos, a close friend and caregiver, said that Tapia had been in failing health since late May when he cancelled plans to come to Hawaii to receive the Hawai’i Academy of Recording Arts Lifetime Achievement Award. Until that time Tapia had amazed audiences with his repertoire of Hawaiian, hapa haole and pop standards – most of which he had played for the first time when they were newly written hits more than 50 years ago.

He was for years the only performer who could introduce a pop standard with the words "Here’s a song I learned during World War I."

Born and raised in Liliha, Tapia bought his first ukulele in 1915 from famed ukulele maker Manuel Nunes for 75-cents ("He wanted $1.50 but it was all the money I had"). Three years later he was playing for American soldiers; in 1918 he came up with a unique arrangement of "Stars and Stripes Forever" that was copied and adapted by generations of Hawaiian musicians.

Tapia found more work playing banjo and guitar, and played those instruments for most of his professional career in Hawaii and then in California. Tapia was retired and at loose ends when a fortuitous meeting with AlyssaBeth Archambault, who’d contacted him for help researching the careers of her Hawaiian ancestors in California, resulted in what has been described as "the unlikeliest career comeback in music history."

With Archambault’s encouragement, Tapia resumed playing the ukulele, recorded his first-ever full-length album, "Tropical Swing," at the age of 96, and was soon in demand for engagements on the West Coast, Hawaii and Japan. 

For the next six years Tapia entertained crowds of all ages with his playing, singing and storytelling – the story about his encounter with Nunes, and the time he got caught playing in a speakeasy during Prohibition were always crowd pleasers. 

Tapia also became known for his colorful stage attire. Red was one of his favorite colors. 

Guitarist Jeff Peterson recalled that despite his age Tapia was always fully engaged with the performance and would call out key changes and solo performances with the precision of a band leader half his age.

"Tropical Swing" was followed by three more albums: "Duke Of Uke" in 2005, "Livin’ It Live" in 2009 and "Live At The Warner Grand," which was recorded during his 100th birthday concert in late-2007 and released this summer.

He continued to tour until late last year.

Funeral arrangements are pending.