Daniel Rae Costello


Daniel Rae Costello was a Fijian-born musician based in Samoa. He died on 22 July 2019 with cancer. A man of great faith in Jesus and a family man, he is survived by 5 daughters and wife Corrina

Personal life

Born in Suva, Fiji, Costello, along with his brother, attended high school in Whangarei, New Zealand. His mother, Jessie Rae was of Samoan, Rotuman and Scottish descent whereas his father, Dan Costello, was Irish; both were born in Fiji. He was brought up in Tavua. His father owned a cattle ranch. He moved with his family to Lautoka when he was 5 and lived there for the rest of his life. He and his younger brother Vince started a band called The Fleet Swingers when he was in Grade 7; his brother was the lead singer.
While in New Zealand, Costello took much interest in rugby, soccer, and athletics, and represented North Auckland in the "Under 17" soccer team.
He completed his last year of school in Suva, Fiji, at Marist Brothers High School, where he won the school's talent contest for that year.
He was later asked to perform at Suva Grammar School as a guest artist, and there met his future wife, Corrina.
After winning a few talent contests,
he joined a small group called The Beachcomber Boys who performed daily at the Beachcomber Island Resort.

Music

In 1979 he recorded his first solo-album called "Tropical Sunset" which wasn't much of a success but a year later, his album, Lania which was a huge success in Fiji and around the Pacific. After his mother died in 1985, he changed his name to Daniel Rae Costello. He moved to Australia a few years later because of the 1987 Coup where he wrote two songs, Samba and Take me to the Island and returned to Fiji and started his own Studio and Production Suite called "Tango Sound Productions" and recorded his first big hit album, Samba. Since 1978, he has recorded 30 albums to date in the last 30 years. He was an accomplished songwriter, composer, arranger, audio engineer, vocalist, musician and producer in the Pacific region. He recently recorded an album with Toni Willé from the Dutch group Pussycat, called Let The World Sing. The first single, originally a hit for Pussycat Georgie gained numerous airplays on Fiji radio.

Discography

Albums