Sarit Hadad (born September 20, 1978) is an Israeli singer. She was named by Channel 24 as the "best female singer of the 2000s" in October 2009. She represented Israel with the song "Light a Candle" at the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 in Tallinn, Estonia.

Biography

Hadad was born Sarah Hudadatov (שרה חודדטוב) in Afula, Israel, to a family of Caucasus Jews. Her parents had made aliyah from Dagestan in 1976. Hadad also traces her ancestry to Uralo-Kavkaz, a region in Ukraine near the Black Sea. She is the youngest of eight children: she has four brothers and three sisters. In 1980, her family moved to Hadera. When she was 10 years old, she participated in a contest for young talent, where she performed on the piano. She also played the organ, guitar, accordion, and darbuka. In September 2021, she came out of the closet and revealed her partner Tamar Yahalomi, releasing the song "Ahava Kmo Shelanu" ("A Love Like Ours"). On September 21, 2017, Hadad gave birth to a baby girl named Noya. In May 2020 Sarit and Tamar had a second daughter together, Shira and in November 2022 they had a third girl, Adele Esther.

Career

Hadad comes from a musical family and was recognized as a child prodigy. She began performing at the age of eight. Apart from classical piano, she taught herself to play the organ, guitar, accordion, and a Middle Eastern drum known as the darbuka. At the age of 15, she joined the Hadera Youth Band. When she was 16 she was discovered by Avi Gueta, who is still her manager. Hadad's career as a pop singer has been successful, with many of her songs topping the Israeli charts. Israeli Television selected her to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002. The song, Nadlik Beyakhad Ner (Light A Candle) (in Hebrew: נדליק ביחד נר), came in 12th place. In 2004, she collaborated with David D'Or to record the DVD Pets in Tunes. In December 2006, Hadad drew crowds in New York City, Miami, and Los Angeles with her "Sing with Sarit" tour. In July 2007, Madonna revealed that she is a fan of Hadad, and enjoys listening to her music when dining at a kosher restaurant near her home. Hadad performs Mizrahi music, sometimes employing Arabic lyrics. She does not perform on Jewish holidays or on the Jewish Sabbath. She sings in English, Arabic, Georgian, Turkish, Greek and Hebrew. She was the first Israeli to perform (professionally) in Jordan. In 2020 she did a duet with Neta Barzilai, winner of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. Hadad was a judge in the inaugural season of The Voice Israel on Israeli television.

Awards and recognition

In 2010, Hadad was named Israel's Singer of the Decade by Galgalatz and Channel 24.

Discography

Albums

Greatest hits album

Other

DVDs

Charts

Album