Shlomi Shabat

Shlomi Shabat was born on August 30, 1954, in Yehud, Israel, and grew up in that city.[1][2] His parents, Emily and Abraham, had immigrated to Israel from Turkey, and Turkish and Greek music filled the family home.[1][7] The family was not well-off; Shabat recalled that his father supported them through hard physical work.[1]

His attraction to music surfaced at a very early age. Shabat said he had played guitar since age five.[3] As a child, he struck a practical bargain with a neighboring family who owned one of the only guitars in Yehud, mowing their lawn and tending their hedge in exchange for half an hour of playing time.[1] His sister Lea, who also became a prominent singer, recalled that Shlomi was playing music before she was and that she listened to him as she found her own path into the craft.[7]

Shabat launched his professional music career in the United States, performing in clubs for Israeli audiences after arriving in New York in 1986.[3] That period introduced him to Mediterranean music, and his 1986 debut album, מן החושך חזרתי ("I Returned from the Darkness"), blended Mediterranean sounds with rock, blues, and Spanish music.[2] The album failed commercially, though it established him as a distinctive musician.[2]

The years in New York were difficult personally as well. Shabat and his family lived in a basement for three years, sometimes lacking food and relying on free supermarket chicken wings to feed his daughter Manor.[3] When his wife Hani decided to return to Israel while pregnant with their son Avihu, Shabat chose to go with her, saying he could not live apart from his children despite the career momentum he had built abroad.[3]

The turning point came with בגלל הרוח ("Because of the Wind"), released on his second album in 1989.[4] Recollections of the song's origin differ. Micha Shitrit remembered drafting the lyrics on a napkin in a café and allowing Lea Shabat to take and compose them. Lea recalled seeing the words on cigarette foil that Shitrit was passing to Arkadi Duchin and putting the paper in her own pocket instead.[1] Shironet credits Shitrit as lyricist, Lea Shabat as composer, and Duchin as arranger and producer.[2] The song brought Shabat to broad public attention. Shabat and Duchin subsequently became close friends, and Shabat appeared at many concerts by HaChaverim Shel Natasha.[2]

His next album, אל תלכי רחוק מדי ("Don't Go Too Far"), drew on South American music.[2] A 1993 album, שעה אחת ביחד ("One Hour Together"), was produced by Duchin with Shitrit as artistic director; despite what the biography described as its high quality, it failed commercially, after which Shabat resolved to concentrate on Mediterranean music.[2]

Shabat's major commercial breakthrough developed across 2000 and 2001. The duet לכל אחד יש ("Everybody Has" / "L'chol Echad"), performed with Lior Narkis, became an immediate hit in 2000 and was named Song of the Year on Reshet Gimmel's chart.[4] Shabat composed the melody to lyrics by Uzi Hitman. The song first appeared on Narkis's album רק איתך ("Only with You") and was included the following year on Shabat's duet album שלומי שבת וחברים ("Shlomi Shabat and Friends").[4] The album featured fourteen performers, sold more than 200,000 copies, and led to an accompanying touring show.[4] The National Library page quotes critic Yossi Hersonski describing the duet as one of the notable melodic songs to emerge from local Mediterranean music and emphasizing its communal, anthem-like quality.[8] Shabat made his first performance at the Caesarea amphitheater in August 2004.[4]

Subsequent albums continued to expand his catalog. זמן אהבה ("Time for Love") appeared in 2003, followed by חברים 2 ("Friends 2") in 2006 and אני שר אלייך ("I Sing to You") in 2008.[2] The 2008 album included אבא ("Father"), written and composed by Doron Medley, which had been released during a 2007 concert tour with singer Pablo Rosenberg.[5] Aba ranked third on Reshet Gimel's annual Hebrew-song chart and 21st on Galgalatz for 2008, and by December 2021 had accumulated more than 7.5 million YouTube views.[5]

By 2022, Shabat had completed 40 years on stage and released hundreds of songs across 13 albums and four compilations.[1] He described still becoming emotional on stage, especially when singing Aba or אמא ("Mother"), and recalled trembling when he first walked on stage at Caesarea at age 50.[1] A 2015 profile described him as having moved beyond the category of a strictly Mizrahi singer to become a mainstream consensus artist.[3] He also served as a mentor on the Israeli edition of The Voice, where he said his priority was less winning than helping contestants begin careers that could last for decades.[3] His repertoire has been described as Mizrahi-style music performed in Turkish, Hebrew, and Spanish.[9]

In 2024, a new arrangement of "Habayta" was recorded as a family project, bringing together Shlomi, his sister Lea, and his children Manor and Avihu.[10]

Shabat has spoken openly about his growing religious observance over the years, describing an increased practice of prayer and tefillin and an understanding of his success as requiring help from above.[3] In late September 2020, he tested positive for COVID-19 and was hospitalized at Beilinson Hospital for twenty days after his condition worsened.[11] He recalled that when doctors discussed transferring him to intensive care, he asked for more time before the decision; the following morning the doctor told him the transfer would wait.[11] After his discharge, he reported feeling well enough to play and sing, though he was still using supplemental oxygen and acknowledged that he was not yet breathing fully on his own.[11]

Following his recovery, Shabat held a virtual press conference in October 2020, praised the medical personnel who had cared for him and thanked his fans, and performed "Because of the Wind."[12][11]

"Because of the Wind" remains one of the songs most closely identified with Shabat and has been characterized as an optimistic song about persevering through adversity.[12][1] It has received dozens of performances in varied styles by artists including Gidi Gov and Riki Gal, as well as multiple versions by Shabat himself.[13] In 2020, amid the COVID-19 crisis in Israeli culture, Shabat performed the song alongside music producers in support of the industry.[13]

In 2025, ACUM — the Israeli performing rights organization — awarded Shabat its lifetime achievement award in composition.[6] The committee's citation highlighted his ability to connect East and West and forge a unified musical language, and recognized his collaborations across decades with artists including Arkadi Duchin, Micha Shitrit, Lior Narkis, Pablo Rosenberg, and Doron Medalie.[6] Jewish News characterized him as a classic Israeli musician with broad appeal and described his style as Mizrachi Sephardic.[14]