Perhaps not quite Coldplay, but Ivri Lider is one of Israel’s biggest selling artists (after the Bruce Springsteen of Israeli rock and pop). He has topped the Israeli charts a number of times, won Male Singer of the Year and sold more than 200,000 records, which is an impressive feat for an Israel musician.
His first album Caressing and Lying launched his career back in 1997, going platinum and setting him on the road to Coldplay-like stardom. His other albums followed suit and his tours also became big sellers, earning him the title of Performer of the Year. In 2002 he made a decision to come out of the closet, a decision that made big news back then, but it has only helped his career blossom. Since then he has become a bit of an icon for the gay scene but keeps himself to himself and refuses to push for Israeli acceptance of the gay lifestyle. Ivri prefers the option of respect:
“I would love to show those religious guys that hate us that we are different than them, that we respect them even though they don’t respect us – that’s more powerful than anything else.”
Shame his website is a year and a half out of date, it’s a nicely designed site. He does have a Facebook fan page, of course. Below are a couple of Ivri Lider’s biggest hits, enjoy! Not quite Coldplay, but the most major artist in Israel closest…