Guy Cruz died today, brother to the late Ernie Cruz Jr who died Tuesday afternoon in a drowning at Sandy Beach. Guy Cruz had been in hospice care for some time.
He was 49 years old.
From John Cruz’s biography: John returned to Hawaii in 1995 to help his brother Ernie record his album. At the time, Ernie was in the immensely popular band, the Ka’au Crater Boys. He invited John to play bass with them and to play his own songs during their shows. The exposure to large crowds gave John’s music a substantial fan base before it was even recorded. When his first album, Acoustic Soul was released in 1996, it made an artistic and commercial impact like few other recordings in Hawaiian musical history.
Very sad, indeed, for the entire Cruz Family, with their father, Ernie Cruz Sr dying in May of this year in Arizona; and now this week, both Ernie Cruz Jr and now Guy Cruz.
According to entertainer Amy Hanaialii,
He is the younger brother of Ernie Cruz Jr., of the Ka‘au Crater Boys, who also died this week after being found unresponsive at Sandy Beach.
In her Facebook posting Hanaialii said “my cousin Guy Cruz passed away early this morning. Guy is brother to Ernie that passed away a couple of days ago. What a blow to my Aunty Puna and all Cruz Ohana. Guy was extremely talented as well. Rest with Akua Guy.”
Survivors include brothers David, John and Anthony; sisters Ernelle Downs, Desiree and Sarah Cruz, Stephanie Tyrin, Marissa Meredith, Tiffany Garza and Connie Rincon.