Hawaiian guitarist Mary Kaye has died at the age of 83 from respiratory and heart failure. The musician, a descendent of Hawaii's royal family, born Mary Kaaihue, was the first woman to have a guitar named after her - the Fender Mary Kaye Stratocaster - and was sometimes referred to as "the first lady of rock and roll".
Kaye's Mary Kaye trio, comprising the guitarist, her brother Norman Kaye, and Frank Ross, set the Las Vegas 'lounge' trend of playing late into the night during their time at the city's Frontier casino hotel during the 1950s. Other hotels followed suit, creating similar lounge bars to keep gamblers entertained all night. During their time together the group recorded 13 albums and 21 singles, and appeared on television on a total of 22 occasions.