Sarit Hadad

Israeli mizrahi music superstar Sarit Hadad, born Sarah Hodadetova on September 20, 1978 in Afula, Israel, displayed her prodigious talents at an early age. Becoming skilled on multiple instruments as a child and teen, she met her longtime manager, Avi Gueta, when she was just 16. Her debut album, Spark of Life, came out in 1995, but it was 1998’s Law of Life that began her remarkable 20-year-run of sixteen consecutive top 10 albums, the majority of them going to number 1. She quickly became the biggest singing star in the country, and in 2002 she represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest. Her mastery of pop ballads and dance hits, showcased on albums like 2001’s Sweet Illusion, 2004’s Celebration, and 2007s’ The One Who Watches Over Me, led to her being named the best female singer of the 2000s by Israel’s most influential music television station. She kept up her success in the next decade with chart topping albums like 2011’s 20, 2015’s Sarit Hadad, and 2017’s Sara Sings, and became one of the original judges on Israel’s version of the competition show The Voice.