Bill Sevesi, Tongan-born New Zealand musician, Died at 92

  Music

Wilfred Jeffs was born on July 28, 1923, and died on April 23, 2016.

He was better known by the stage name Bill Sevesi.

He was a musician and master of the steel guitar who helped popularise Hawaiian-style music in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

He has composed more than 200 songs with over 20 albums to his credit during a career spanning six decades.

Bill started playing the Hawaiian Steel Guitar in 1936, and in later years his band ‘Wilfred Jeffs and the Islanders’ became ‘Bill Sevesi and the Islanders.’

Bill Sevesi performed all over the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Australia and the United States.

Bill Sevesi recorded some classic favourites such as ‘”Bye Bye Baby Goodbye” (1958) as well as recording artists such as Daphne Walker, The Yandall Sisters and Annie Crummer.

Bill Sevesi passed away at 92 yrs old.