Yael Naim (; born 6 February 1978) is a French-born Israeli singer and actress. She rose to fame in 2008 in the US after her hit single " New Soul" was used by

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

in an advertising campaign for its

MacBook Air The MacBook Air is a line of Mac (computer), Mac laptop computers developed and manufactured by Apple Inc., Apple since 2008. It features a thin, light structure in a machining, machined aluminum case and currently either a 13-inch or 15-inch ...

. The song peaked at No. 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 2013, the French government made her a knight of the .

Life and career

Yael Naim was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to Maghrebi Jewish immigrants from

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. At the age of four, she moved with her family to Ramat HaSharon, Israel, where she spent the rest of her childhood. She served 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 ...

as a soloist in the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; , commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Indep ...

Orchestra. She began her singing career with a part in the musical ' and her first solo album, '' In a Man's Womb'' (recorded in Los Angeles with Kamil Rustam), was released in 2001. She also sang the song "You Disappear" by

Bruno Coulais Bruno Coulais (born 13 January 1954) is a French composer, most widely known for his music on film soundtracks. Life and career Coulais was born in Paris; his father, Farth Coulais, is from Vendée, and his mother, Bernsy Coulais, was born in ...

for the film '' Harrison's Flowers''. In her early work, she was credited simply as Yael. She also performed a duet with Din Din Aviv titled "Mashmauyot". Her version of the

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

song "

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" also garnered significant attention. Naim joined with percussionist and, over a period of two years, they arranged and recorded thirteen of Naim's songs in a studio in her apartment in Paris. These were released as her second album, ''

Yael Naim Yael Naim (; born 6 February 1978) is a French-born Israeli singer and actress. She rose to fame in 2008 in the US after her hit single "New Soul" was used by Apple Inc., Apple in an advertising campaign for its MacBook Air. The song peaked at N ...

'', on 22 October 2007, on the label. The songs are in French, English, and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and received critical acclaim. The album entered the French album chart at No. 11 the week after its release. Her style has been described as having a touch of folk and a touch of jazz, with mysterious and evocative words sung with a delicate and intentionally husky voice. In January 2008,

featured her song " New Soul" in its debut commercial for the

laptop.

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...

himself picked the song for the launch of the laptop line.''Hey, Let's Write a Song Called "Steve Jobs Is Dreamy"''
100 And Single, Idolator. Accessed 12 February 2008Farber, Jim

''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

'', 11 March 2008. Owing to high U.S. digital sales, the song debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the chart week of 16 February 2008, at No. 9, becoming Naim's first U.S. top ten single, and making her the first Israeli solo artist to ever have a top ten hit in the United States. "New Soul" moved up to No. 7 the following week. The song was also featured on the soundtrack of the movies '' The House Bunny'' and '' Wild Target''. Her third album was released in November 2010. The first single from this new record was "Go to the River". In 2016, she won her second Female Artist of the Year award at , the French equivalent of the Grammys.A French-Israeli Singer Takes an Unlikely Path to Success
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. 16 March 2016 She previously won the award in 2011.French-Israeli Singer Claims Top Award in Paris
Haaretz. 3 March 2011

Personal life

She is married to , a Martiniquais musician, with whom she has two children.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

* 2001 – "You Disappear" * 2001 – "Do I Do" * 2001 – "Avril" * 2007 – "

" (SPAIN Peak #35) * 2008 – "Too Long" * 2009 – "Far Far" * 2010 – "Go to the River" * 2010 – "The Only One" * 2011 – "Come Home" * 2015 – "Dream in My Head" (FRANCE Peak: #77) * 2015 – "Coward" (FRANCE Peak: #123)

Awards and nominations

Television

Naim's voice was used in a Season 21 episode of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'', entitled " The Greatest Story Ever D'ohed". She voiced Dorit, the niece of an Israeli tour guide named Jakob (voiced by

Sacha Baron Cohen Sacha Noam Baron Cohen ( ; born 13 October 1971) is an English comedian, actor and performance artist. Known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral General Haf ...

).Older and Wiser, Singer Yael Naim Still Feels Like a New Soul
Haaretz. 20 April 2015 Her single "Come Home" was in an episode of Season 7 of ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

'' and in episode 6 of the

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

series '' Switched at Birth''. Also, her cover of Irene Cara's " Flashdance (What a Feeling)" was used in the promotion video of ''

The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing reality competition television series. Created by John de Mol and Roel van Velzen, it premiered on BBC One on 24 March 2012. Based on the original Dutch singing competition '' The Voice of Holland'', and ...

'' in 2014.

Philanthropy

On 27 November 2015, she participated together with

Nolwenn Leroy Nolwenn Le Magueresse (; born 28 September 1982), known by her stage name Nolwenn Leroy (), is a French singer-songwriter and actress. Originally classically trained (violin and opera singing), she rose to fame after winning the second season o ...

and Camélia Jordana at the national memorial day for the victims of the November 2015 Paris attacks singing the song "" from

Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed theatrical songs. He generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, but later throughout the world ...

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial blog

Yael Naim's 'New Soul' Review on Daily Music Guide

Official biography
(French) *

(Hebrew)
Yael Naim at NPR Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naim, Yael 1978 births Living people Actresses from Paris Atlantic Records artists English-language singers from France English-language singers from Israel French emigrants to Israel 20th-century French Sephardi Jews French people of Tunisian-Jewish descent French voice actresses 21st-century Israeli women singers Israeli voice actresses Israeli pop singers Jewish folk singers Musicians from Paris People from Ramat HaSharon Ukulele players 21st-century French women singers