Musicאהובה עוזרי

Ahuva Ozeri

Ahuva Ozeri was an Israeli singer, songwriter and composer, known as one of the pioneers of Mizrahi music in Israel.

1948 to 2016Pioneering Mizrahi musicThe album Where is the Soldier?Playing the bulbul tarangThe album Bell Chimes

Born: 3 March 1948, Tel Aviv
Died: 13 December 2016, Ramat Gan
Occupation: songwriter, composer, singer

Ahuva Ozeri was born in 1948 in Tel Aviv

Ozeri was born in Tel Aviv on 3 March 1948 and grew up in the Yemenite Quarter. Her parents were of Yemenite origin. She was born Aviva, but the nickname Ahuva, given by her father, became her name.

In 1968 she learned to play the bulbul tarang, an Indian string instrument, from a musician who had played with Ravi Shankar. She sang in clubs and worked as a cook in a restaurant. Her first album, Where is the Soldier?, came out in 1975 and included songs about the Yom Kippur War.

In 1982 she stopped performing but kept recording, and she taught music and voice. The singer Zohar Argov was one of her students. In 1999 she released the album Bell Chimes and returned to the stage.

In 2000 she was diagnosed with throat cancer and her vocal cords were removed. Her voice became hoarse and weak, but she kept creating and working with other artists, including Hadag Nahash. She died of cancer on 13 December 2016 at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan.