Important and influential Jewish singers 

When talking about Jewish celebrities, you usually think about famous Jewish actors, Jewish comedians, and successful high-tech individuals,  you don’t however immediately include Jewish singers, even though there are many of them. Here are some of the biggest and most influential.

Leonard Cohen – Leonard Cohen was a Canadian Jewish singer, one of the most famous in the world. Leonard Cohen is also considered a poet due to his complex lyrics,  as a singer, he is known for his melancholy songs and the great emotional expression in them. From his well-known songs Dancing to the End of Love and “Hallelujah”. In 1973, he appeared before Jewish soldiers in Israel during the Yom Kippur War alongside Israeli bands and crews.

Neil Diamond – Neil Diamond is an American Jewish singer from the Rappaport family. His father’s name is Akiva. He released 31 albums and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Simon and Garfunkel – Both Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel are Jewish singers. They were among the popular singers of the sixties and the most prominent singers in the genre of folk rock. They have some of the greatest hits in the world,  Mrs. Robinson, the sound of silence. According to Rolling Stone music magazine, they are among the forty most successful artists of all time.

Paula Abdul – Paula Abdul is not just a real judge. She is also one of the most successful singers of the 1980s. Paula Abdul is a Jewish singer, dancer, and choreographer, winner of Grammy Awards, and an Emmy.  Her song “The Way That You Love Me” reached number three on the Billboard charts.

Jack Black – Jack Black is the founder of the comedy band “Tenacious D” and is not only a Jewish singer, he is also an actor and comedian. His mother is Jewish and his father was born a Christian and converted to Judaism. As an actor, he played himself in the movie “The Muppets” and got a lead role in “Be kind rewind” by Michelle Gondry and in many other movies. Black is raising his children as Jews and visits the synagogue with them.

Bett Midler – Bett Midler is a Jewish singer and actress with three Grammy Awards, along with Emmy Awards, Golden Globe, and Tony Awards. She appeared in the musical Fiddler on the Roof, based on the story of Shalom Aleichem, “Tuvia the Milkman”.  Her first album was “The Divine Miss M” by Happy Barry Manilo. Other musicals and rock operas in which she sang and acted: Tommy, Gypsy, and Hello Dolly. In recent years she has been best known as a comedic actress. Midler’s name appears in the encyclopedia for Jewish women.

Bob Dylan – Another Jewish folk singer. And not just any singer. Dylan is considered the father of folk rock, he is one of the most influential singers and songwriters, and is not only another Jew who has won the Nobel Prize, but he is also the only musician who has won the Nobel Prize for Literature. His song “Blowin ‘in the Wind” was very popular in the sixties and the civil rights movement used it as a kind of anthem. Dylan expanded pop music topics from the common theme of personal and couple relationships to politics, philosophy, and poetry.  His full Hebrew name is Shabtai Zosha ben Avraham and Rachel Rivka Zimmerman. 

Between the seventies and eighties, he converted to Christianity and then returned to Judaism and even studied at the Chabad Center.

Matisyahu – Matisyahu was born in Brooklyn as Matityahu Shaul Miller. In the past, he was identified as the best-known ultra-Orthodox Jewish singer in the world. Matisyahu was born into a conservative Jewish family. After participating in a Jewish heritage program and visiting Israel, he decided to become an ultra-Orthodox Jew. Matisyahu’s music is characterized by the influence of reggae, hip hop, rock and rap, and Jewish lyrics. ‘Time’ defined him as one of the fifty most influential Jews in the world and he even received a cover story. In 2011 he photographed himself without a beard and wrote that “he is no longer a Hassidic reggae superstar”. However, he stressed that he is still loyal to Judaism and he continues not to perform on Saturdays.

These are just some of the most influential Jewish singers. We can also mention Lou Reed, Billy Joel, Berry Manilo, Red Newman, and one of the greatest chanson singers in France: Serge Ginsburg, Georges Brassens, and in the field of world-renowned religious music cantors such as Richard Tucker, Siddur Blersky, and many others.