Rita Yahan-Farouz, formally known as Rita, is an Iranian-born singer and one of Israel’s biggest divas. She was born in 1962 in Tehran, Iran. Her family immigrated to Israel in 1970 and lived in a suburb outside of Tel Aviv.
She began singing professionally during her military service as an IDF musical troupe member. Later on in the 80’s she became a professional singer and performer and rose to stardom. Rita released 10 albums so far, almost all of them earning “gold” or “platinum” titles. She was married to singer and composer Rami Kleinstein, and the two worked together performed together until their separation in 2007.
In 2011, she gained a surprising success in Iran as an underground singing sensation after the release of various pop records in which she sings in her native Persian language. Iran has tried to block Western-style pop music and filtered the Internet, but it did not stop her Iranian fans. In 2012, her album Ha'Smachot Shellanu (“All My Joys”,) also sung in Persian, was popular in both Israel and Iran. She has since been referred to as a cultural ambassador between Israeli and Iranian citizens, and was quoted recently saying she hopes to “puncture the wall of tension” between the two countries.
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