Ofra Haza

Haza was a highly influential cultural figure in Israel, and is considered one of the country's biggest cultural icons, who helped popularize Mizrahi culture.

Bat-Sheva Ofra Haza was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to Mizrahi Jewish parents from Yemen who had emigrated to Israel in 1949 with eight children. She was the youngest of nine children (six sisters and two brothers) born to Yefet and Shoshana Haza. They were raised in a Masorti household in the Hatikva Quarter, then an impoverished, working-class area of Tel Aviv. Although named Bat-Sheva by her parents, her sisters disliked the name, and preferred to call her by her middle name, Ofra, instead.

Haza's earliest musical influences included her learning traditional Yemenite songs from her parents; Haza's mother in particular, Shoshana, proved a major influence on her musical direction. Shoshana had been a professional singer in Yemen and often performed at family celebrations, with Haza also recalling her mother singing to her children from an early age. Additionally early influences in her music came from Israeli folk songs, the Beatles, and Elvis Presley.

Haza herself began to exhibit a similar musical inclination to that of her mother, and began singing at an early age, including at local weddings and as a soloist in her school choir. At the age of 12, Haza joined a local protest theatre troupe, named “Hatikva” (The Hope) which had been recently founded by a neighbour of hers, Bezalel Aloni. Haza soon emerged as one of the most gifted performers in the troupe, and manager Bezalel Aloni soon noticed her singing talent. He featured her at front of stage in many of his productions, and later became her manager and mentor. At the age of 19, she was Israel's foremost pop star, and news articles have retrospectively described her as "the Madonna of the East". ...

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