Kobi Farhi (Hebrew: קובי פרחי) (Born September 8, 1975) is an Israeli musician, lead singer and founder of Oriental metal band Orphaned Land.
Kobi Farhi | |
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![]() Farhi performing with Orphaned Land in 2014 | |
Background information | |
Born | (1975-09-08) 8 September 1975 (age 46) Jaffa, Israel |
Genres |
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Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instruments | Vocals |
Years active | 1991–present |
Labels | Century Media Records |
Associated acts | Orphaned Land Steven Wilson Erkin Koray Amaseffer Yehuda Poliker Subterranean Masquerade Arkan North of South |
Website | Orphaned Land official website |
Farhi was born in Jaffa, the oldest part of Tel Aviv, Israel. At a young age, Farhi, who already loved heavy metal music, discovered oriental and world music through his family.
He formed the band Orphaned Land[1] in 1991 with his high school friends. The musician has stated that his main mission is "to bring people and hearts together,[2] from all countries and sectors of the bleeding Middle East".[3]
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.[4][5][6]
Farhi has received three honorary awards for peace: From Istanbul Commerce University, 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.[7] In 2014, Farhi won the Global Metal Award for Orphaned Land, granted by Metal Hammer Magazine at the Golden Gods awards.[8] 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".[9]
Besides his involvement with Orphaned Land, Farhi has worked as a musical editor at Century Media Records, the label to which the band is signed, editing a compilation titled Oriental Metal.[citation needed] He has also contributed guest vocals to a number of albums by other artists, such as North of South (Spain),[10] Arkan (France), Amaseffer (Israel), Magor (Israel), Subterranean Masquerade (Israel), Melted Space (France), Enzo Donnarumma (Italy), and Moran Magal (Israel).[citation needed] He has also collaborated with Steven Wilson, Erkin Koray, and Yehuda Poliker.[citation needed] Farhi participated in the 2013 Rise Up (Colors of Peace) musical project.[citation needed] He also recorded a cover of "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam with fellow musicians, as part of a campaign to get the band to perform in Israel.[11]
In 2017, former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett contacted Farhi about a peace-themed collaboration. Together with Israeli Arab singer Mira Awad, 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.[12]
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