Kobi Farhi (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: קובי פרחי) (Born September 8, 1975) is an Israeli musician, lead singer and founder of Oriental metal band

Orphaned Land Orphaned Land is an Israeli heavy metal band, formed in 1991 under the name Resurrection (changing their name in 1992 to the current name), that combines Israeli Jewish, Mizrahi, and other West Asian influences. They are considered the pioneer ...

Life and career

Farhi was born in

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

, the oldest part of

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, Israel. At a young age, Farhi, who already loved heavy metal music, discovered oriental and world music through his family. He formed the band

in 1991 with his high school friends. The musician has stated that his main mission is "to bring people and hearts together, from all countries and sectors of the bleeding Middle East". Apart from Orphaned Land, Farhi founded the record label MDMA, with a focus on heavy metal and electronic music. In 2001, he left the label, as Orphaned Land was gaining in popularity and playing their first show overseas, in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

. Farhi has received three honorary awards for peace: From Istanbul Commerce University, from the Mayor of Çankaya in Ankara, and from the Turkish government's official advisor, after a show Orphaned Land played in the country, donating all earnings to the people affected by the

2011 Van earthquake The 2011 Van earthquakes occurred in eastern Turkey near the city of Van. The first earthquake happened on 23 October at 13:41 local time. The shock had a magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (''Severe''). It occurred at a ...

. In 2014, Farhi won the Global Metal Award for Orphaned Land, granted by ''

Metal Hammer Magazine ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form a ...

'' at the Golden Gods awards. In September 2018, Orphaned Land won the Video of the Year award at the Progressive Music Awards in London, for their video to the song "Like Orpheus". Besides his involvement with Orphaned Land, Farhi has worked as a musical editor at

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a heavy metal record label with offices in the United States, Germany and London. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Ol ...

, the label to which the band is signed, editing a compilation titled ''Oriental Metal''. He has also contributed guest vocals to a number of albums by other artists, such as North of South (Spain), Arkan (France),

Amaseffer Amaseffer was an Israeli progressive metal band which was formed in 2004 in Tel Aviv by drummer and percussionist Erez Yohanan, and guitarist Yuval Kramer. A year later, a second guitarist Hanan Avramovich joined and completed the line-up. T ...

(Israel), Magor (Israel),

Subterranean Masquerade Subterranean Masquerade is a progressive metal band from Israel that was formed in 1997 by Tomer Pink, who is a guitarist and primary songwriter for the band. Overview Started as a project consisting of a variety of changing guest and session ...

(Israel), Melted Space (France), Enzo Donnarumma (Italy), and Moran Magal (Israel). He has also collaborated with

Steven Wilson Steven John Wilson (born 3 November 1967) is an English musician. He is the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corrosi ...

Erkin Koray Erkin Koray (; born 24 June 1941) is a Turkish musician, electro-baglama player, and active in Anatolian rock. Career Koray has been in the Turkish folk music scene since the late 1950s. In 1957, he and his band began playing covers of Elvis P ...

, and

Yehuda Poliker Yehuda Leon Poliker ( he, יהודה ליאון פוליקר; born December 25, 1950) is an Israeli singer, songwriter, musician, and painter. Poliker first became known in the 1980s as the lead vocalist for the band Benzene. In 1985, after Benzen ...

. Farhi participated in the 2013 '' Rise Up (Colors of Peace)'' musical project. He also recorded a cover of "

Jeremy Jeremy may refer to: * Jeremy (given name), a given name * Jérémy, a French given name * ''Jeremy'' (film), a 1973 film * "Jeremy" (song), a song by Pearl Jam * Jeremy (snail), a left-coiled garden snail that died in 2017 * ''Jeremy'', a 1919 ...

" by

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, g ...

with fellow musicians, as part of a campaign to get the band to perform in Israel. In 2017, former

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

guitarist

Steve Hackett Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis ...

contacted Farhi about a peace-themed collaboration. Together with Israeli Arab singer Mira Awad, Farhi sang on "West to East", a track from Hackett's 2017 album '' The Night Siren''. Hackett then recorded a guitar solo on the track "Chains Fall to Gravity" from Orphaned Land's 2018 album, ''Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs''.Orphaned Land Collaborates With Genesis' Guitar Legend, Steve Hackett
(Playbuzz, April 2017)

References

External links

Orphaned Land official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farhi, Kobi Living people 1975 births Israeli heavy metal musicians 21st-century Israeli male singers 20th-century Israeli male singers Jewish heavy metal musicians