Rita Kleinstein
| Rita | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Rita Yahan Farouz |
| Born | March 24, 1962 |
| Origin | Tehran, Iran |
| Genres | Rock, soul, pop, folk |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Actress |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Labels | Hed Arzi, Helicon, Kna'an |
Rita Yahan-Farouz (Persian: ریتا جهانفروز; English: Jahanforuz; Hebrew: ריטה יהאן-פרוז; b. March 24, 1962), known as Rita, is an Israeli pop singer and actress.
In 2011, she became popular in Iran after the release of various pop records which she sings in her native Persian language. In 2012, her album "All My Joys," also sung in Persian, was popular in Israel and Iran, going gold in Israel after three weeks. She has since been referred to as a cultural ambassador between Israeli and Iranian citizens, and states she hopes to "puncture the wall of tension" between their countries.
Rita Jehan-Forouz was born in Tehran, Iran in 1962. Her family immigrated to Israel in 1970 and lived in a suburb outside of Tel Aviv. She began singing professionally as a band member while in the Israeli Army during the 1980s, and rose to stardom quickly.Rita was married to singer, composer, and keyboardist Rami Kleinstein, with whom she has two daughters - Meshi and Noa. The couple performed together in 2001. In 2007, they announced they were separating.
Rita began her career in 1980 as part of a musical troupe in the Israel Defense Forces. In 1982, she attended the "Beit Zvi" school of acting. Her first exposure to the general public in Israel was at the 1986 Pre-Eurovision Song Contest (known as the Kdam-Eurovision), which decided who would represent Israel in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. Rita did not win, but her song,"Shvil habricha" garnered much interest. That same year, Rita starred in an adaptation of My Fair Lady and released her self-titled debut album, Rita, which went triple platinum, selling over 120,000 copies. In 1987, she released the English language album Breaking Those Walls under the name of Rita Farouz. That album contained a couple of English versions of her Hebrew songs from the first album as well as original material. Despite going gold (20 000 copies) in Israel, that album was not an international success.
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