Israeli singers & songwriters
Every song on Shir-ly comes with the person who made it: what they changed in Israeli music, where they came from, and which of their lines are worth learning by heart.
Naomi Shemer
נעמי שמר
Songwriter & composer · 1930 – 2004
Naomi Shemer, born on Kvutzat Kinneret, is remembered as the "First Lady of Israeli Song". She wrote both words and music — rare at the time — and gave the young country a vocabulary for longing, land and everyday life.
1 song with translation
Eyal Golan
אייל גולן
Singer · b. 1971
Eyal Golan, born in Rehovot to a Yemenite-Moroccan family, is one of the biggest voices of Israeli Mediterranean music (מוזיקה מזרחית) — the style that grew from neighbourhood weddings and cassette stalls into the mainstream sound of Israeli radio.
1 song with translation
Naftali Herz Imber
נפתלי הרץ אימבר
Poet · 1856–1909
Naftali Herz Imber was born in Zolochiv, Galicia (today Ukraine), into a traditional Jewish family. A restless, bohemian poet, he wandered between Europe, Ottoman Palestine, London and finally New York.
1 song with translation
Sasson Shaulov
ששון שאולוב
Singer & songwriter · b. 1990s
Sasson Shaulov grew up in Israel's Mizrahi music scene and became one of the leading voices of the 'emuna song' — Hebrew pop built around faith, gratitude and everyday struggle.
1 song with translation
Eden Ben Zaken
עדן בן זקן
Singer, Songwriter · 2013-Present
Eden Ben Zaken is an Israeli singer who rose to fame as the runner-up in the first season of X Factor Israel.
1 song with translation
Ben Zion Chaim Tzur
בן ציון חיים צור
Singer & songwriter · Active 2020s
Ben Zion Chaim Tzur belongs to the new wave of Israeli 'emuna pop' — young artists who write about faith, therapy, money worries and family in the same breath, in the Hebrew people actually speak.
1 song with translation
Haim Gouri
חיים גורי
Poet · 1923–2018
Haim Gouri was born in Tel Aviv in 1923 to pioneer parents and grew up in the youth-movement world that shaped Israel's founding generation.
1 song with translation