Amir Benayoun (; born on August 30, 1975) is an Israeli singer-songwriter.

Biography

Amir Benayoun was born in

Beersheba Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most p ...

to Maxim and Esther Benayoun who moved to Israel from

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. His father was an oud player. From a very young age he showed great interest in music, playing with his father and his brother. While devoting himself to songwriting, he made a living working in home repair jobs. He was turned away from serving in the IDF because of a drug problem. Benayoun is a second cousin of

Yossi Benayoun Yossi Shai Benayoun (; born 5 May 1980) is an Israeli former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career in Israel and England and captained the Israel national team. Born in Dimona, he is sometimes nicknamed ...

. In November 2005 he married Miryam Golan, an Israeli poet and musician. The couple have two children. They divorced in 2018.

Music career

In 1999 Benayoun released his first album, "Rak Ath" (Only You), selling 40,000 copies. Shortly after it came the second album, and in 2002 his third, "Shalechet" (Fall), was a big hit, establishing Benayoun in the mainstream of Israeli music. Additionally, he wrote and composed songs for other artists, such as

Gidi Gov Gideon "Gidi" Gov (; 4 August 1950) is an Israeli singer, TV host, entertainer, and actor. He was married to Anat Gov before her death in 2012 and they had three children. Biography Early life Gov was born in Rehovot to Daniel and Tzipora ...

and

Gali Atari Gali Atari (; born 29 December 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. Early life Atari was born as Abigail Atari (Hebrew: אביגיל עטרי) ...

and

Yehoram Gaon Yehoram Gaon (; born December 28, 1939) is an Israeli singer, actor, director, comedian, producer, TV and radio host, and public figure. He has also written and edited books on Israeli culture. The son of Sephardic Jewish parents—a Bosnian f ...

. In 2011, Benayoun created an album in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

called "Zini" to support the people in the Syrian uprising. In 2012 he began to include in his Albums parts of his wife's poetry. The artistic collaboration between the two maintained until their divorce.

Awards and recognition

In 2006, Benayoun won an ACUM prize for his song, "Nitzacht Iti Hakol" but he refused to accept it and donated it instead.

Controversy

In November 2014, the President of Israel,

Reuven Rivlin Reuven "Ruvi" Rivlin ( ; born 9 September 1939) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the president of Israel between 2014 and 2021. He is a member of the Likud party. Rivlin was Minister of Communications from 2001 to 2003, and su ...

cancelled a scheduled performance by Benayoun at the president's official residence, after the latter released a song reacting to a deadly terror attack on a synagogue in Jerusalem on November 18. The lyric described a terrorist dreaming of murdering Jews, and a wave of controversy arose in reaction to its circulation.Rivlin Cancels Appearance by Israeli Singer After Anti-Arab Song'

The Forward ''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...

25 November 2014. A poll by Channel 2 News suggested 42% of Israelis concur with the song's sentiments.

Meretz Meretz (, ; ) was a left-wing political party in Israel. The party was formed in 1992 by the merger of Ratz, Mapam and Shinui, and was at its peak between 1992 and 1996 when it had 12 seats. It had no seats in the Knesset following its failure ...

Issawi Frej Issawi Frej (, ; born 14 December 1963) is an Arab-Israeli politician who served as a minister and was a member of the Knesset for Meretz in 2021 and was also an MK for the party between 2013 and 2019. As of June 2023, he was the Minister of Re ...

has requested that the singer be investigated on incitement charges.'New song 'Ahmed Loves Israel' sparks charges of racist incitement,'

Israel Hayom ''Israel Hayom'' () is an Israeli Hebrew-language free daily newspaper. Distributed for free around Israel, it is the country's most widely distributed newspaper. Owned by the family of the late Sheldon Adelson, the casino mogul and politica ...

November 25, 2014 However, Benayoun was not investigated and President

was severely criticized for his decision, also by MP Uri Orbach who stated he will not attend the event at the president's official residence if Benayoun's performance will not take place as planned.

Discography

Albums

* Rak At (רק את – Only You) 1999 * Oto Makom, Ota Haruach (אותו מקום אותה הרוח – The Same Place, the Same Spirit) 1999 * Shalechet (שלכת – Fall) 2002 * Nitzacht Iti Hakol (ניצחת איתי הכל – You Won Everything with Me) 2004 * Hakol Ad Lecan (הכל עד לכאן – Everything until Here) 2006 * Aluf Beshachor (אלוף בשחור – Champion in Black) 2007 * Omed Basha'ar (עומד בשער – Standing at the Gate) 2008 * Machshavot – with Yehuda Masas (מחשבות – Thoughts) 2010 * Lada'at Hakol (לדעת הכל – To Know Everything) 2010 * Etz Al Mayim (עץ על מים – Tree On Water) 2012 * Shirei Eretz Ahava (שירי ארץ אהבה – Songs of a Land of Love) 2013 * Sufa (סופה – Storm) 2015 * Milah Baruach (מילה ברוח – A Word in the Wind), 2016

Compilations

* Sha'a Shel Or (שעה של אור – Hour of Light) 2009

Mini albums

* Hamiklat (המקלט – The Shelter) 2011 * Zini 2011 (in Arabic)

References

External links

About Amir Benayoun
in the website of "Nevel Asor" (his record label)(in Hebrew) {{DEFAULTSORT:Benayoun, Amir 1975 births Living people Jewish Israeli singers Jewish Israeli songwriters Israeli male singer-songwriters Musicians from Beersheba Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent 20th-century Israeli male singers 21st-century Israeli male singers 20th-century Israeli singer-songwriters 21st-century Israeli singer-songwriters 20th-century Israeli Jews 21st-century Israeli Jews