Avihu Medina

Avihu Medina was born in 1948 in Tel Aviv

Medina was born in 1948 in the Shabazi neighborhood of Tel Aviv, the third son of Leah and Aaron Medina. His mother was born in Jerusalem to parents from Yemen, and his father came from Yemen in 1939 and was a cantor. The family later moved to Holon.

After his mother died, he moved in with his older brother and later went to Kibbutz Kissufim through Youth Aliyah. There he heard the rock music of the 1960s. He later said his songs combine this rock with the traditional Yemenite music of his childhood home.

He joined the IDF in 1967 and served as a tank commander in the Armored Corps. He fought in the Yom Kippur War and in the First Lebanon War.

Medina began writing songs in 1970, and his first song took third place at the Mizrahi Song Festival in 1971. He wrote many songs for Zohar Argov and other singers, began singing at the 1980 festival and released his first solo album in 1990. He also ran a diamond polishing business and pushed for Mizrahi music to be played on mainstream radio.

From 2006 to 2011 he chaired ACUM. In 2021 he published an autobiography, and he lives in Petah Tikva. He is divorced and has 3 daughters.