Dana International

Dana International was born in 1969 in Tel Aviv

Dana International was born Sharon Cohen in Tel Aviv on 2 February 1969, to a family of Yemenite-Jewish descent. She was named after an uncle killed in a terrorist attack. Her mother paid for music lessons although the family was poor.

As a young performer she appeared in drag shows, where she met producer Offer Nissim. Their parody song "Saida Sultana" became a hit in 1992. In 1993 she had gender reassignment surgery in London and released her first album, which gave her the stage name.

Her albums Umpatampa in 1994 and Maganuna in 1996 followed, and she was named female singer of the year. In 1998 she represented Israel at Eurovision in Birmingham and won with 172 points. She was the first transgender winner of the contest.

She released more albums, including Free in 1999 and Hakol Ze Letova in 2007. In 2011 she represented Israel again with "Ding Dong", which did not reach the final, and became a judge on Kokhav Nolad. In 2025 she was an Independence Day torchbearer.