Eyal Golan

Eyal Golan stands as a celebrated Israeli performer who crafts songs and recordings in the Mizrahi vein, a regional fusion blending European, North African, and Arab folk traditions. He also produces and headlines the popular television talent contest Eyal Golan Is Calling You while serving as owner of the Rehovot-based soccer club Hapoel Ironi Marmorek Rehovot F.C. Though he grew up in Rehovot, his earliest passion centered on football, which he pursued from elementary years through high school and into a professional career that lasted until 2006.

Music developed alongside those athletic pursuits. As a teenager he performed with multiple ensembles, then transitioned into solo nightclub appearances by his late teens. His first release, the 1995 album Lehisha ba'Laila, featured interpretations of longstanding Israeli compositions and drew the attention of Ethnix co-founders Zeav Nechama and Tamir Kliski, who encountered him during a club engagement and proposed a partnership. That alliance yielded three joint projects: Bila'adayikh in 1997, Chayal Shel Ahavah in 1998, and Histakli Eilay in 1999. Once the arrangement ended, Golan returned to independent work, issuing Tzlil Meytar in 2001. Each of the subsequent nineteen studio and concert albums he put out reached the Top 50 on Israeli charts. The 2012 track "Kashat Ito" ranked as the year's most-aired single, surpassing Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know." In 2016 the album Rahak Mikan climbed to number three. Residing today in Tel Aviv, he is broadly viewed as a national treasure.