Hawaiian singer Aunty Genoa Leilani Keawe — a fixture in the Island music scene — died this morning in her sleep at her home in Papakolea, her family said.

She was 89.

"She was a very simple person," her son, Eric, said this morning in announcing the death. "She loved the people of Hawai'i and her many fans throughout the world for their support through her experiences and travels."

Services are pending but will be conducted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Eric Keawe said. He was her manager and vice president of Genoa Keawe Records, Inc.

Many people said that she was a huge influence on Hawaiian music and on themselves personally.

"She was a teacher, she was a student, she was Hawai'i," said Jon de Mello, CEO of Mountain Apple Co.

"She gave us anything we needed in music. She lived it," de Mello said. "And I was fortunate to visit her a week ago at Queen's hospital. When I walked in the door, she looked like a little angel and she smiled; she motioned to Eric (her son, Eric Keawe) for her 'ukulele and she grabbed it and sang 'Ho'onanea.' "

"She was always magical, the power of living that long, we see how far we have come, what is happening to Hawai'i now."

De Mello called her "an amazing person, with a heart. If anyone was going to meet their maker, she was totally prepared; totally in balance."

"We will miss the gentleness (of those forgotten times) with the passing of Aunty Genoa," said Robert Cazimero of The Brothers Cazimero.

At a noon news conference, Keawe's three surviving children were surrounded by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren at the Moana Terrace of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, where she had performed every Thursday night for the past 14 years.

Her last public performance occurred on Jan. 31, but she continued to sing for the staff at The Queen's Medical Center. Keawe was frustrated that she didn't have her 'ukulele and asked her son, Eric, to bring it to the hospital.

"I got scolding," he said at the news conference.

Since Feb. 1, Keawe's granddaughter Pomaika'i, 26, had been taking her grandmother's place with the four-piece band.

"I feel it's more of a responsibility than a privilege," Pomaika'i said.

Last Thursday, when Keawe was released from Queen's, the family took her to see her granddaughter and the band play.

"She kept saying 'You sound beautiful,'" Pomaika'i said. She and the band plan to pick up where her grandmother left off and perform this Thursday at the Moana Terrace from 6-9 p.m.

"This Thursday will be a good one," she said. "She'll be here in a better spirit."

Her son, Eric, said services are pending.

The family said Keawe had been battling breast cancer for the last 10 years, and it spread to her arm 18 months ago. She had turned down chemotherapy or breast surgery – a decision that her son believes "extended her life."

He said his mother told doctors at the time, "I've lived a full life. When the Lord is ready to take me, I'll be ready."

She later developed a herniated stomach and heart and kidney problems, and had a pacemaker inserted in May 2005.

In November 2006, the cancer spread to her stomach and lungs.

She was hospitalized Feb. 1.