Kobi Farhi (; born 8 September 1975) is an Israeli musician, the lead singer and founder of

Oriental metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for example ...

band

Orphaned Land Orphaned Land is an Israeli Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in 1991. They combine Mizrahi music, Mizrahi and Maghrebi Jews, Maghrebi Jewish, Arabic music, Arabic, Music of Turkey, Turkish, and other Middle Eastern music, Middle Easter ...

Life and career

Farhi was born in

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

, the oldest neighborhood in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, 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, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Farhi has received three honorary awards for peace: From

Istanbul Commerce University Istanbul Ticaret University () is a foundation university which was founded in 2001 by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce Education and Social Services Foundation. Istanbul Ticaret University, which provides education and training in two differe ...

, 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 ...

. In 2014, Farhi won the Global Metal Award for Orphaned Land, granted by '' Metal Hammer Magazine'' 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 German heavy metal record label with offices in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by R ...

, 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 (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 mu ...

(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 Mustafa Erkin Koray (; 24 June 1941 – 7 August 2023) was a Turkish singer and guitarist who mainly played Anatolian rock. Life and career Koray was active in the Turkish rock music scene since the late 1950s. In 1967, he released his first ...

, and

Yehuda Poliker Yehuda Leon Poliker (; born Leonidas Polikaris; 25 December 1950) is an Israeli singer, songwriter, and musician. Poliker first became known in the 1980s as the lead vocalist for the band Benzene. In 1985, after Benzene broke up, he began a sol ...

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

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge, grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, ...

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

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

guitarist

Steve Hackett Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is an English guitarist who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis (band), Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis studio albums, three l ...

contacted Farhi about a peace-themed collaboration. Together with Israeli Arab singer

Mira Awad Mira Anwar Awad (; ; born June 11, 1975) is a Palestinian-Israeli singer-songwriter, actress, television host, and political activist of Arab Palestinian and Bulgarian descent. She represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 alon ...

, 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