When cancer strikes, friends respond. Amy Hanaiali‘i Gilliom has stepped up to the plate to pinch-hit for ailing friend Willie K in gigs at Maui’s Mulligans on the Blue and Oahu’s Blue Note Hawaii.

“He let me know a couple of weeks ago that he wasn’t feeling good, that there was a mass in his lungs,” said Gilliom of Willie Kahaiali‘i, known professionally as Willie K. They both are Maui residents.

She will fill in for him Feb. 20 and March 20 at Blue Note — longer, if necessary — and has already logged two performances in his place at Mulligans.

Gilliom knows both turfs, having performed at both venues on her own terms.

“Cancer has been in my family, too; my father had it,” Gilliom said. “Willie was close to my dad, and it’s a big blow to any family. So many people have cancer, it’s crazy.”

In an earlier time, Gilliom had a relationship with Willie, personally and professionally. They jointly wrote music, recording five CDs together, and performed side-by-side. They parted ways and were married, but not to each other.

They remain friends and their last appearance together was at Iolani Palace last month.

When Willie K developed a cough and wasn’t feeling well, Gilliom referred him to her ear, nose and throat doctor, but he was told there was nothing wrong with his throat. Subsequent tests revealed cancer in his right lung.

“I was kind of shocked,” she said. “But it was discovered in the early stages and Willie’s strong. I have complete faith that he will recover.”

Gilliom said she’s spoken to Willie K’s wife, Debbie, and was told, “He’s sleeping all day but he’s feeling pretty good. Gotta malama your body; rest is important.”

The singer’s own show at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua’s Anuenue Room is a Friday fixture on Maui. She delves into her Valley Isle roots and ohana, but her spectrum includes jazz, Hawaiian, pop and Hollywood. Gilliom also has a signature wine, in a partnership with a Napa vineyard, and has made appearances at Costco to market her Hanaiali‘i bottles of chardonnay and merlot.

“Willie and I opened the Costco stores, in earlier days, and I remember they put us on huge pallets in the meat department to perform,” she said.

“It’s fun to diversify,” she said of her wine venture. So instead of signing CDs, she’s been autographing bottles of wine. With Valentine’s Day approaching, she’ll sign bottles of her new effervescent Tiny Bubbles.

Fundraisers are planned on Oahu and Maui to help Willie K with anticipated medical costs over his 12-week treatment plan. Dates, performers and venues are not yet set. …

MARS IN ORBIT

Hawaii’s Bruno Mars, who performed at Super Bowl halftime shows in 2014 and 2016, has orbited into a galaxy of conversation and controversy looking ahead to the 2019 championship game at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. On Twitter, he’s urged the NFL to book a hip-hop bill of Georgia’s retinue of acts like OutKast, T.I., Gucci Mane, Jeezy and Jermaine Dupri, but went a step further: “I just wanna help curate that show,” said Mars, jokingly adding, “I’ll only charge, like, a billion.”

He neither praised nor criticized Justin Timberlake’s extravagant but somewhat hollow and irrelevant song-and-dance-a-thon last Sunday, with an abundance of hoofers and bandsmen, from the field to the stadium stands.

Note to Mars: Suggest yourself, too — solid, pure, appealing, personal 24K magic — and don’t do froufrou. Betcha you’d add celebrity and substance to the hip-hop agenda. …

And that’s “Show Biz.” …

Wayne Harada is a veteran entertainment columnist. Reach him at 266-0926 or wayneharada@gmail.com.