Hanan Ben Ari (, born 8 April 1988) is an Israeli singer, songwriter, and composer. His debut album, Izun (Balance), released 21 February 2016, was certified gold in Israel with 15,000 copies sold in three months and received heavy radio play on Galgalatz. He has been noted as one of relatively few religious artists, including Ishay Ribo and Nathan Goshen, who have found success in the secular Israeli mainstream.
Early life
Ben Ari grew up in Karnei Shomron, the fifth of six siblings; his father works in the financial sector of Bat Yam, while his mother works in special education. He is the nephew of former MK and Otzma Yehudit co-founder Michael Ben-Ari. Hanan sang in choirs from the age of six, learned keyboard from age 12, and began composing music at age 13. His father sang Iraqi, Egyptian, and Syrian music when he was growing up, and he was first exposed to hip hop around age 15. One of his older brothers, Neria, later left Haredi Judaism.
After graduating high school at 17 via matriculation, Ben-Ari attended a hesder yeshiva in Mitzpe Ramon. He also spent time in Gush Katif's Neve Dekalim and witnessed the Israeli disengagement from Gaza, which later inspired his single "Mother". Ben-Ari served in the IDF's Netzah Yehuda Battalion for a year and eight months.
Career
Beginnings and Izun (2014–2016) Prior to a full-time music career, Ben-Ari taught at an alternative high school in Petah Tikva, wrote and edited the religious youth magazine Olam Ketan with his wife, and sang in a Jewish wedding band, Hakolot. In 2013, he collaborated with musicians Yaakov Asraf and Nir Rubin on an educational stage musical called Mitbagrim ("Growing Up"), which ran for over 100 performances. A performance of Hakolot's song "Vatikh Miriam", composed by Ben Ari, won third place in a national Israeli dance music contest in 2014.
Ben-Ari's debut single, Mimecha Ad Elay ("From You to Myself"), was announced by his uncle in November 2014. The song, whose lyrics reference Song of Songs and other Jewish scripture, was added to the Galgalatz daily playlist, where it reached fourth place in the station's weekly ranking and 34th in the station's year-end ranking. Several of his subsequent singles were also placed in heavy rotation on Galgalatz, as well as receiving over a million views each on YouTube. Another single, Hachaim Shelanu Tutim (Our Lives are Strawberries), reached No. 1 on Media Forest's weekly chart and was parodied on the Israeli TV sketch show Eretz Nehederet.
Ben-Ari's debut album, Izun (Balance), was crowdfunded via the website Headstart, where it raised over ₪100,000. The album was produced by Eyal Mazig. One of the album's tracks, Achim (Brothers), was a duet with Ivri Lider. The album was released on 21 February 2016 via NMC Music, receiving positive reviews and being certified gold in Israel with 15,000 copies sold in three months.
The following month, Ben-Ari played dates in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Herzliya. During the summer, he toured nationally in Israel and performed at Festival HaTamar alongside Shlomi Shaban, Peter Roth, Maor Cohen, Margol, Riki Gal, and Guy & Yahel.
Lo Levad (2016–present) Ahead of the release of his second album, Ben Ari released the singles: "Not Alone", "Thanks to you", "On my bed" featuring Moshe Peretz, and "", the lyrics of which he wrote with Keren Peles. The song "Wikipedia" reached the second place in the annual parade of Galglatz for the Hebrew year 5777 and the third place in the annual parade of the Network 3 in the same year.
To coincide with Yom Ha'Atzmaut in 2016, Ben-Ari released the song Nigun HaNeshamot (Melody of the Souls). He had originally written the song during the 2006 Lebanon War, and later revisited it during the conflict in Bint Jbeil.
He then won ACUM song of the year award in 2017. In December he released the single "What do you want from me", and in March 2018 he released the song "Good News". In April, he released his second album, "".
With Maccabi Tel Aviv's victory in the 2018–19 Israeli Premier League, Ben Ari performed the championship song "", as a renewal of the song sung by Ethnix in the 1995–96 Liga Leumit.
In February 2019, he released the single "", composed by Ben Ari in collaboration with Nathan Goshen. In May 2019, he released a single called "", which deals with the intergenerational gap on issues such as faith and preserving tradition. The song provoked mixed reactions in the religious sector and beyond.