Rita Jahan-Farouz (), known mononymously as Rita, is an Israeli singer and actress. In 2011, she became famous in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

after the release of various pop records in which she sings in her native

Persian language Persian ( ), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision ...

. In 2012, Israeli producer Amer Payami managed her album ''All My Joys'', also sung in Persian; it was popular in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and Iran,With Farsi album, Israeli singer Rita finds herself a fan club in Iran
''Jewish Telegraphic Agency''. 8 November 2012 going gold in Israel after three weeks. She has since been commonly referred to as a cultural ambassador between Israelis and Iranians, and has personally stated that she hopes to "puncture the wall of tension" between the two countries.

Early and personal life

Rita was born in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, to a family of

Persian Jews Iranian Jews, (; ) also Persian Jews ( ) or Parsim, constitute one of the oldest communities of the Jewish diaspora. Dating back to the History of ancient Israel and Judah, biblical era, they originate from the Jews who relocated to Iran (his ...

in 1962. In 1970, they immigrated to

, settling down in the city of

Ramat HaSharon Ramat HaSharon (, ) is an affluent city located on Israel's central coastal strip in the south of the Sharon, Israel, Sharon region, bordering the cities of Tel Aviv to the south, Hod HaSharon, Hod-HaSharon to the east, and Herzliya and kibbutz ...

. Her niece is Israeli actress and singer Liraz Charhi. During her compulsory military service in the early 1980s, she began singing professionally as a musical band member, and rose to stardom quickly.Fassihi, Farnaz; Mitnick, Joshua
"Iran and Israel Can Agree on This: Rita Jahanforuz Totally Rocks"
''Wall Street Journal'', June 2, 2012 In 1988, she married Israeli singer and composer

Rami Kleinstein Rami Kleinstein (; born 10 November 1962) is an Israeli singer and composer. Early and personal life Kleinstein was born in New York City to a family of Ashkenazi Jews in 1962. In 1968, they immigrated to Israel. After a year, the family moved ba ...

, with whom she has two daughters. The couple performed together in 2001. In 2007, they announced that they were separating.

Career

Rita began her career in 1980 as part of a musical troupe in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

. In 1982, she attended the "Beit Zvi" school of acting. Her first exposure to the general public in Israel was at the 1986 Pre-Eurovision Song Contest (known as the Kdam-Eurovision), which decided who would represent Israel in the upcoming

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

. Rita did not win, but her song, ''Shvil haBrichah'' garnered much interest. That same year, Rita starred in a production of ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

'' and released her self-titled debut album, ''Rita'', which went triple platinum, selling over 120,000 copies. In 1987, she released the English language album ''Breaking Those Walls'' under the name of Rita Farouz. That album contained several English versions of her Hebrew songs from the first album as well as original material. Despite going gold (20,000 copies) in Israel, that album was not an international success. In 1988, Rita released her second album, ''Yemei Ha'Tom'' (The Days of Innocence), which was produced by her then husband,

, and which included a song by Israeli playwright Hanoch Levin. In 1988 and 1989 she was chosen as ''Singer of the Year'' by Israel's national radio station. In

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, Rita represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest with '' Shara Barkhovot'' (Singing in the Streets), but only achieved 18th place. After a brief hiatus, Rita returned in 1994 with her third album, ''Ahava Gedola'' (A Great Love), which led to a three-year tour around the country. ''Tahanot Bazman'' (Stations in Time) was released in 1996, consisting mainly of previously unreleased material. In 1995, Rita voiced

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, also known as Matoaka and Rebecca Rolfe; 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. S ...

in the Hebrew dubbed version of the animated Disney film ''

'', including the songs. In 1998, Rita was invited to sing the Israeli national anthem ''

Hatikvah Hatikvah (, ; ) is the national anthem of the Israel, State of Israel. Part of 19th-century Jewish literature, Jewish poetry, the theme of the Romantic poetry, Romantic composition reflects the 2,000-year-old desire of the Jews, Jewish people ...

'' (The Hope) at Israel's jubilee celebration ''Paamonei ha'yovel'' (The Jubilee Bells). There was a minor uproar concerning her fee, which was deemed exorbitant by some, but she was convinced to appear following a call from Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

. She reportedly donated the money to charity. In 1999, Rita released ''Tiftakh Halon'' (Open a Window). Her song, "Bo (your soul)" was featured prominently in the 2002 Israeli film, ''

Yossi & Jagger ''Yossi & Jagger'' () is a 2002 Israeli romantic drama film directed by Eytan Fox about soldiers at the Israel–Lebanon border who try to find some peace and solace from the daily routine of war. The film has a sequel entitled '' Yossi'' ( ''Yos ...

''. She released ''Hamtzan'' (Oxygen) in 2003. In 2004, Rita played the role of Roxie Hart in an adaptation of ''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

'' for the Beit Lessin Theater. In 2006, Rita appeared in a show called ''One'' (in English) which ran for a month at the Israel Trade Fairs & Convention Center. Directed by Hanoch Rosenn and choreographed by Mitch Sebastian, it included lasers, flamethrowers, 3-D images, smoke machines and forty dancers, acrobats, and actors. Over 100,000 tickets were sold. In 2008, Rita released her 7th album, ''Remazim'' (Clues), her first in five years. In 2010 she performed at the President's Residence in Jerusalem in the presence of Italian prime minister

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...

and Israeli president

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres ( ; ; born Szymon Perski, ; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 t ...

. She sang her musical version to Bialik's poem ''Hachnisini tachat knafekh'' ("Put me under your wings") and an aria in Italian. Deciding to create a song in her childhood language of Persian, which she speaks fluently, she introduced the single, "Shaneh" based on traditional Persian folk music, but modernized with a more pop and techno dance beat. She released her new

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

single, "Shaneh", on June 22, 2011. Iranians of all ages responded "overwhelmingly," including sending her emails and writing on her Facebook page. Most Westernized popular music, including hers, is banned in Iran, which filters the Internet. However, fans have downloaded or bought bootleg copies of her albums. Iranians living in other countries flooded her recording studio with messages, especially after the release of her 2012 album, ''All My Joys'', also in Persian. It was certified gold in Israel within three weeks of its release. Despite her popularity in Iran, the Iranian government called her music a "plot" to win over the hearts and minds of Iranians and part of Israel's "soft war" against Iran. She was also criticized for sending good wishes to Iranians for

Nowruz Nowruz (, , () , () , () , () , Kurdish language, Kurdish: () , () , () , () , , , , () , , ) is the Iranian or Persian New Year. Historically, it has been observed by Iranian peoples, but is now celebrated by many ...

, the Iranian New Year.

Awards and recognition

In 2013, a documentary about her album in

was directed by Ayal Goldberg. It was shown at the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

in New York City during the New York Jewish Film Festival in 2014. In Australia, it was shown in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

and

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

during the AICE Israeli Film Festival in August 2014.

Discography

Studio albums

* 1986: '' Rita'' (4× Platinum) * 1987: ''Breaking Those Walls'' (Gold) * 1988: '' Yamey Ha-Tom'' (The Days of Innocence) (5× Gold) * 1994: ''Ahava Gdola'' (A Great Love) (4× Platinum) * 1999: ''Tiftah Halon'' (Open a Window) (2× Platinum) * 2000: ''Time For Peace'' (Gold) * 2003: ''Hamtsan'' (Oxygen) (Gold) * 2008: ''Remazim'' (Hints) (Platinum) * 2012: ''HaSmachot Sheli'' (My Joys) (Gold) * 2015: '' Heaven Sent'' * 2017: ''Nisim Shqufim'' (Transparent Miracles)

Compilation albums

* 1996: ''Tahanot BaZman'' (Stages in Time) (2× Platinum) * 2015: ''Rita - haOsef'' (Rita: The Collection)

Live album

* 1998: ''Ahava Gdola - Hahofaa'' (A Great Love - The Show) * 2001: ''Rita & Rami On Stage'' (5× Gold) * 2007: ''ONE (Live)'' (Gold)

Notes

References

Sources

*Friedman, Motti.
Rita
" The Department for Jewish Zionist Education website, retrieved August 19, 2006. * Griver, Simon.
The Ingathering of the Exiles
" Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs web site, retrieved March 25, 2005. * Hartog, Kelly.
Diva Sings Out About Her Tour, Fans
. ''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles'', January 4, 2005. Retrieved March 25, 2005. * Pri, Tal.

(in Hebrew). ''nrg

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'', or ''Arbit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or at night. It consists primarily of the evening '' Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two ...

'', retrieved March 25, 2005.

External links

*
Official YouTube page
- live performances

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rita 1962 births Living people Beit Zvi School for the Performing Arts alumni MTV Europe Music Award winners Iranian emigrants to Israel Israeli film actresses Israeli women folk singers Israeli women rock singers Israeli musical theatre actresses Israeli people of Iranian-Jewish descent Israeli Mizrahi Jews Jewish Israeli actresses Jewish Israeli singers Jewish folk singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants Persian-language singers of Iran English-language singers of Iran Hebrew-language singers of Iran Persian-language singers of Israel English-language singers from Israel 20th-century Israeli women singers 21st-century Israeli women singers 20th-century Israeli actresses 21st-century Israeli actresses 20th-century Israeli Jews 21st-century Israeli Jews 20th-century Iranian Jews 21st-century Iranian Jews