The Most Famous

SINGERS from Israel

This page contains a list of the greatest Israeli Singers. The pantheon dataset contains 4,381 Singers, 35 of which were born in Israel. This makes Israel the birth place of the 21st most number of Singers behind Finland, and Turkey.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Israeli Singers of all time. This list of famous Israeli Singers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Israeli Singers.

1. Ofra Haza (1957 - 2000)

With an HPI of 63.00, Ofra Haza is the most famous Israeli Singer. Her biography has been translated into 49 different languages on wikipedia.

Ofra Haza (Hebrew: עפרה חזה; 19 November 1957 – 23 February 2000) was an Israeli singer, songwriter, and actress, commonly known in the Western world as "the Madonna of the East", or "the Israeli Madonna". Her voice has been described as a "tender" mezzo-soprano. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Haza at number 186 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. Of Yemenite-Mizrahi descent, Haza performed music known as a mixture of traditional Middle Eastern and commercial singing styles, fusing elements of Eastern and Western instrumentation, orchestration and dance-beat, as well as lyrics from Mizrahi and Jewish folk tales and poetry. By the late 1980s, Haza was an internationally successful artist, achieving large success in Europe and the Americas and appearing regularly on MTV. During her singing career, she earned many platinum and gold discs and her music proved highly popular in the club scene. By the 1990s, at the peak of her career, she was regularly featured in movie soundtracks, such as that of Dick Tracy (1990) and famously in The Prince of Egypt (1998), and her vocals were popularly sampled in hip hop. Her death in 2000 from an AIDS-related illness shocked Israeli society. Haza was a highly influential cultural figure in Israel, and is considered one of the country's biggest cultural icons, who helped popularize Mizrahi culture.

2. Dana International (b. 1969)

With an HPI of 56.61, Dana International is the 2nd most famous Israeli Singer. Her biography has been translated into 53 different languages.

Sharon Cohen (Hebrew: שרון כהן; born 2 February 1969), professionally known as Dana International (Hebrew: דנה אינטרנשיונל), is an Israeli pop singer. She has released eight albums and three additional compilation albums. She was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 in Birmingham with the song "Diva". After consolidating her initial commercial success with the albums Umpatampa (1994) and Maganuna (1996), she was selected in 1998 to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest with her song "Diva". Placing first at the international competition, she came to public attention throughout Europe. Dana following up this success with the albums Free (1999), Yoter VeYoter (2001), HaHalom HaEfshari (2002) and Hakol Ze Letova (2007), she represented Israel in Eurovision a second time in 2011, this time with the song "Ding Dong", which failed to make it into the final. The same year, she became a judge on the Israeli television music talent contest Kokhav Nolad.

3. Achinoam Nini (b. 1969)

With an HPI of 54.57, Achinoam Nini is the 3rd most famous Israeli Singer. Her biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Achinoam Nini (Hebrew: אחינועם ניני, romanized: Aẖinóʿam Nini; born (1969-06-23)23 June 1969), known professionally as Noa (נועה), is an Israeli singer-songwriter, percussionist, poet, composer, and human rights activist working internationally. She is accompanied by guitarist Gil Dor and often plays the conga drums and percussions as she sings. Noa represented Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 together with singer Mira Awad, with the song "There Must Be Another Way". Her music is known to fuse languages and styles. She has performed in 52 countries and was the first Israeli artist to perform in the Vatican.

4. Esther Ofarim (b. 1941)

With an HPI of 54.28, Esther Ofarim is the 4th most famous Israeli Singer. Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Esther Zaied, better known by her married name Esther Ofarim (Hebrew: אסתר עופרים; born June 13, 1941), is an Israeli singer. She came second in the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "T'en va pas", representing Switzerland. After marrying Abi Ofarim in 1958, she was half of the husband-and-wife folk duo Esther & Abi Ofarim in the 1960s. After the couple divorced, she undertook a successful solo career.

5. Naomi Shemer (1930 - 2004)

With an HPI of 53.51, Naomi Shemer is the 5th most famous Israeli Singer. Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Naomi Shemer (Hebrew: נעמי שמר; July 13, 1930 – June 26, 2004) was a leading Israeli musician and songwriter, hailed as the "first lady of Israeli song and poetry." Her song "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" ("Jerusalem of Gold"), written in 1967, became an unofficial second anthem after Israel won the Six-Day War that year and reunited Jerusalem.

6. Arik Einstein (1939 - 2013)

With an HPI of 52.95, Arik Einstein is the 6th most famous Israeli Singer. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Arieh Lieb "Arik" Einstein (Hebrew: אָרִיק אַייְנְשְׁטֵייְן [ˈʔaʁik ˈʔajnʃtejn]; 3 January 1939 – 26 November 2013) was an Israeli singer, songwriter, actor, comedian and screenwriter. He was a pioneer of Israeli rock music and was named "the voice of Israel." Through both high public and critical acclaim, Einstein is regarded as one of the greatest, most popular, and most influential Israeli artists of all time. An illustrious musical career that spanned over 50 years saw Einstein recording over 500 songs and releasing, collaborating, and featuring in 34 albums, far more than any other Israeli musician. Through the years he collaborated with many well-known Israeli singers and songwriters, including Shalom Hanoch Miki Gavrielov, Yoni Rechter, and Shmulik Kraus. Einstein wrote many of his own songs and was a vocalist with The Churchills, Batzal Yarok and The High Windows. Einstein was also part of, and wrote songs for the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement.

7. Izhar Cohen (b. 1951)

With an HPI of 52.72, Izhar Cohen is the 7th most famous Israeli Singer. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Izhar Cohen (Hebrew: יזהר כהן; born March 13, 1951) is an Israeli singer who won the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest.

8. Gali Atari (b. 1953)

With an HPI of 52.58, Gali Atari is the 8th most famous Israeli Singer. Her biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Gali Atari (Hebrew: גלי עטרי; born December 29, 1953) is an Israeli singer and actress. Atari won the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 which was held in Jerusalem, as part of Milk and Honey.

9. Ilanit (b. 1947)

With an HPI of 49.71, Ilanit is the 9th most famous Israeli Singer. Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Hanna Dresner-Tzakh (Hebrew: חנה דרזנר; born 17 September 1947), known by her stage name Ilanit ( אילנית, Hebrew pronunciation: [ilaˈnit]), is an Israeli singer. She was one of Israel's most popular singers from the late 1960s to the 1980s, both as a soloist and in the duo Ilan & Ilanit. Ilanit also represented Israel twice in the Eurovision Song Contest, in 1973 with "Ey Sham" (Israel's debut entry in the competition) and in 1977 with "Ahava Hi Shir Lishnayim". In a career spanning over four decades, Ilanit has recorded and produced over 600 songs and more than 30 albums.

10. Rika Zaraï (1938 - 2020)

With an HPI of 49.67, Rika Zaraï is the 10th most famous Israeli Singer. Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Rika Zaraï (Hebrew: ריקה זראי; 19 February 1938 – 23 December 2020) was a Franco-Israeli singer and writer.

People

Pantheon has 38 people classified as Israeli singers born between 1930 and 2000. Of these 38, 32 (84.21%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Israeli singers include Dana International, Achinoam Nini, and Esther Ofarim. The most famous deceased Israeli singers include Ofra Haza, Naomi Shemer, and Arik Einstein. As of April 2024, 3 new Israeli singers have been added to Pantheon including Rim Banna, Kamilya Jubran, and Michael Ben David.