HONOLULU -- Slack key guitarist and Hawaiian music singer Raymond Kane died on Wednesday night, friends said.

Kane, 82, had been hospitalized for three months with respiratory problems.

He was known for his distinctive style of playing the guitar. He performed with many of the greats in Hawaiian music including Albert Kawelo, Henry Kapuana, Gabby "Pops" Pahinui and more.

In 1973, Kane held his first solo concert devoted to slack key guitar, or ki ho`alu. In 1987, the National Endowment for the Arts honored Kane as a "National Living Treasure" with an NEA National Heritage Fellowship.

Ki Ho`alu Slack Key Guitar Festival organizer and Kane's friend, Milton Lau, said the legend's death is saddening. However, he said Kane leaves behind his music and the lives he touched.

"He was generous and filled with aloha for people," Lau said. "He left a legacy for all of us."

Kane taught guitar students for free and sometimes gave away his guitars to those who did not have one, Lau said.

"He was the only master that would bring his students with him to perform. So, every year he would bring someone, give them a chance, you know, to show folks and share what they've learned," Kane's student Ray Sowders said.

"He was one of those guys who taught by example," Lau said. "He was truly an inspiration for all of us."

"That was his dream -- to perpetuate the Hawaiian music as long as he could, and he really did it," Kane's wife, Elodia, said.

Elodia Kane said they welcomed those students into their home to perpetuate that tradition.

She said he taught more than how to play ki ho`alu.

"From his heart he shared with them the aloha spirit and that was the main point of his being Hawaiian, and being proud of being Hawaiian," Elodia Kane said.

Kane was the cousin of Hawaiian music great "Aunty" Genoa Keawe, who passed away on Monday. Keawe was also known internationally for promoting Hawaiian music and culture.