Ken Delo,
Singer (1969-1982) Singer
With A Warm Personality Was A Fan Favorite
Ken Delo was a singer on the
Lawrence Welk Show from 1969 to 1982. Delo was
raised in Detroit Michigan where he formed a vocal
quartet in high school. After graduation, he began
singing solo with several local dance bands. One of
the members of his band was Marilyn Markhart, who he
later married. During a two year stint with the
Army, Delo performed throughout the 13 state area of
the Fifth Army in a five man jazz combo called the
"Fifth Army Casuals." After release from the Army,
the Delo family moved to Los Angeles and he formed a
"Martin-Lewis type" team with Jonathan Daly. They
went on a seven week USO tour to Alaska, and then
went to Australia. They had three more tours to
Australia where he stared in his own weekly
television variety show called the Delo and Daly
show.
In 1969, Delo ran into an old friend from his
Australia days,
Arthur Duncan. Duncan took a
Ken Delo Album to Lawrence Welk. Delo was a
guest on the show three times, where he sang his
signature song, the Hawaiian Wedding Song, and officially
joined the show in 1969. In his latter
years, Delo lived in Gilbert, Arizona with his
wife Marilyn. They were married in 1956. His
record label KimKev Records is named after his
two children, Kimberly and Kevin. Delo died from
pneumonia in February 2016 at the age of 79.