Whatever
Happened To...
An update on past news
Singer Glenn Medeiros lives out
his childhood dream of teachingQuestion: What ever happened to Glenn Medeiros?
Answer: Kauai-born Medeiros, who became an international pop star at 16, has been out of the spotlight recently. But he is almost as busy as he had been in his teen-idol days.
Medeiros, 33, is a music teacher as well as a resource teacher at St. Joseph School in Waipahu. He also gives private voice lessons and expects to get his master's degree in elementary education from the University of Phoenix in February.
He had been a special-education teacher at Mililani Middle School before joining St. Joseph last year.
"What's funny is that my first desire (as a child) was to teach, and when I see people from Kauai, they tell me it's so incredible that I'm living out my dream," Medeiros said in a recent interview.
Medeiros was a shy and soft-spoken high school student in 1986 when he won the KIKI/I-94 "Brownbags to Stardom" talent contest. His winning rendition of "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You" was released locally, and it led to him receiving a contract from a national label.
The nationally released version of the song peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart in 1987. Then in 1990, "She Ain't Worth It," a song he recorded as a duet with Bobby Brown, was No. 1 for two weeks.
The recording sold a million records, making him the first artist from Hawaii to have a gold record.
Medeiros lived on the mainland while he was recording for national labels and became popular in Europe. But he decided to move back to Hawaii in the early 1990s because he missed home and wanted to get his college degree.
He continued entertaining in Hawaii, working showrooms and teaming with Frank De Lima at the Polynesian Palace in Waikiki.
He also earned a bachelor's degree in history and worked as music consultant and music director for "Baywatch Hawaii" for two years.
Medeiros is working on a manual for parents of aspiring entertainers. It will cover "in layman's terms" the things parents need to know before their children get into show biz, he said.
"People seem to know how to prepare their children as far as talent is concerned -- lessons are a big business -- but I try to warn the parents about what they should and shouldn't do.
"At this point in my life, I think I find more enjoyment in being able to help children reach their goals (than being in the spotlight)," Medeiros said.
Medeiros and his wife, Tammy, have been married for nearly seven years. They have a son, Chord, 3, and a daughter, Lyric, 2.
Although he has not performed recently, his fans can see him in concert with the Honolulu Symphony in January.
STAR-BULLETIN / 1996
Glenn Medeiros and Frank De Lima ham it up at the Polynesian Palace in Waikiki.
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