Musicians

Elvis Presley

In 1966, the famous singer spent a week at the Polynesian Cultural Center, filming his movie Paradise, Hawaiian Style. He even transposed the center's signature song, Bula Laie, into a song used in his production, Drums of the Island. He would later return for another visit.

Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder, blind almost since birth, was called a child prodigy. A prolific musician, he has received 25 Grammy awards and sold over 100 million records worldwide. Here he is pictured with some of the tour guides at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Johnny Mathis

Another of the early famous visitors to the Polynesian Cultural Center, Johnny Mathis (center) has over a dozen gold or platinum albums and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame three times. 

Sports and Politics

Karl Malone

Best known as a former player for the Utah Jazz, Karl Malone also played basketball for the Los Angeles Lakers. Here he poses for a picture with some employees at the Polynesian Cultural Center, where he likely visited while at a training camp with the Lakers in the early 2000s.

Jackie Kennedy

Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy is here pictured at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Mrs. Kennedy stayed in Hawaii for several weeks in the mid-60s, a few years after her husband was shot.

Pat Nixon

One of the most-traveled First Ladies, Pat Nixon appears to have stopped by the Polynesian Cultural Center sometime in the later 1960s/early 1970s.

Lynda Bird Johnson

The daughter of President Johnson was one of the Polynesian Cultural Center's earliest celebrity visitors and enjoyed "rubbing noses with Maori children" at the center.