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Ivri Lider

Biography

Ivri Lider was born on the 10th of February 1974 and grew up in Ramat HaSharon. He started playing the piano when he was only 5 years old and during the years he also learned how to play the guitar and expanded his skills with playing the synthesizer.

Ivri went to high school Alon in Ramat Ha Sharon and graduated his majors in Art. In 1992 he joined the army but didn’t fit in and left after a month of service. He knew he wanted to do something in the arts field so he joined the world of dance. He wrote and composed music with Ohed Naharin the famous dancer and choreographer.

Ivri went on composing and writing for other projects too and eventually in 1996, Helicon one of Israel’s biggest music labels signed him on a contract to make albums with them. After writing and composing the songs for his debut album, his first single called Leonardo was released in August 1997. The song became a hit in no time and he started getting noticed by the music world. His first album which was called Fondling And Lying came out in December that year and became a best seller. There were more hits on it like Always Love and None Of Us.

The album was a Pop/Rock album with the use of synthesizers. A sound combination that has become his trade mark. Some of the lyrics of the songs were written in Metaphor’s and some he also sang in a female language. Of course this raised many questions about him and this act. A Show was made for the album and performed all over Israel. Eventually the album reached a Gold status in 1998.

After gathering material for his second album Ivri traveled to London with the musical director Yoad Nevo, who worked with him on his first album, and they recorded his second solo album over there. The first single from it was released in May 1999 and was called Striped Shirt. When the song was broadcasted on the radio stations in Israel it became an instant hit, the demand for it was so large that the record company Helicon decided to release the single just in 1000 units as a gimmick. Of course the price for the rare object was higher and the demand for it from the market wasn’t matchable.

His second album came out in July 1999, a month before it was planned because of the huge demand from the fans. The album was called Better Nothing Than Almost, and it became a best seller too. It had more hits like The Blue Glass and the album title song Better Nothing Than Almost. This album like the previous one had several ballads on it, but this one was a bit more acoustic (Un Plugged).

The album reached a gold status in April 2000 at the same time his debut album almost reached a platinum status. He went on a tour for his second album too and won the Tamuz Prize for Shows And Performances.

In 2001 he was very popular and many artists wanted to work with Ivri. The wanted him to write and compose songs for them. Ivri decided to work with the singer Sharon Haziz produced for her, her third album called Street Lights.

Later that year in October 2001 Ivri released his third album which was called The New People. The first single from it was called Batei Café. The album was of course a success and reached Gold Status, but what caused a stir in the local media with this album was mostly the interview he gave in December. Here he confessed being gay and presenting his life partner Yaniv Waitzman whom he was with for almost 4 years (they met in a gay club). He added and said that those that listened to his lyrics could have figured out a long time ago and not be surprised and also said that he didn’t confess earlier because he was afraid of the reaction of the people and the media before he became popular.

2002 was a very busy year for Ivri, first he released the song Come, it’s a makeover to a famous song by Rita and the song became a hit. He also wrote the sound track to the movie Yossi And Jaeger. Later that year Ivri produced the debut album of Idan Raichel, who was the keyboard player at Ivri's concerts, which had lots of success.

In the years later Ivri was busy with several projects, several shows and dances he wrote, composed and even produced. At the same time he was gathering material for his forth album. The first single from this album came out in December 2004 and was called I Got (Blessed) To Love (the song was about the love for his partner Yaniv). The single was followed by his forth album which was called Its Not The Same. The album was released in February 2005 and became a gold album and successful just like his previous albums. Ivri also released a special LP to the album which was called Fight and came out in a limited edition.

Lately in 2006 he released a collection of Live songs from his previous albums. Ivri also separated from his partner that was with him for almost 9 years.