Singer Eyal Golan Is Born

April 12, 1971

Singer Eyal Golan is born Eyal Biton in Rehovot, Israel, to a family of Yemenite and Moroccan Jewish ancestry. He lives in Rehovot until 2010, when he moves to Tel Aviv. Known as one of Israel’s most successful Mizrahi singers, he reports the highest income of all Israeli singers in 2011.

Golan plays soccer for Hapoel Marmorek’s youth team until age 18, when he joins the senior team and plays professionally. In his final year in professional sports, Golan plays for Maccabi Sha’arayim in the 2005-06 season. He buys Hapoel Marmorek in 2014.

Golan begins singing in clubs at age 20. He specializes in Mizrahi music that combines elements from Europe, North Africa and the Arab world. His first album, “Whisper in the Night,” is released in 1995. He then collaborates with Zeav Nechama and Tamir Kliski of the band Ethnix from 1996 to 2000, resulting in three hit albums. Overall, through 2019, he releases 22 studio albums and eight concert albums; all of his albums except his debut are platinum sellers. Channel 2 names him Israel’s Performer of the Year in 1997.

In 2011 and 2012 he stars on two seasons of the reality TV show “Eyal Golan Is Calling You,” in which he leads the search for Israel’s next Mizrahi singing star. Moran Mazor wins Season 1, and Nasreen Qadri wins Season 2. He and singer Aviv Geffen co-star in another singing competition in 2018 called “Aviv or Eyal.” As in the American show “The Voice,” the two singers form teams of competitors to coach.

Golan has children with ex-wife Ilanit Levi, who is Miss Israel 2001, and model Ruslana Rodina. He announces in March 2020 that he and model Daniel Greenberg are expecting a child and are planning to marry, although the coronavirus outbreak delays their wedding.