What a shame.
Let us not forget that Ofra Haza will always have a special place in
electronic music history for the warped use of her vocals by the
Coldcut boys in M/A/R/R/S's "Pump Up the Volume".
3
Thursday, 24 February, 2000, 13:37 GMT
Singer Ofra Haza dies
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/newsid_655000/655312.stm
Israeli pop star Ofra Haza, famous for her haunting voice and
blending of Middle Eastern and western music styles, has died
aged 42.
The singer died from massive organ failure after
being in intensive
care in Tel Aviv's Tel Hashomer hospital for 13 days.
Born in south Tel Aviv as the youngest of nine
children, Haza rose
from poverty to carve out a musical career that won
her accolades
worldwide, including a Grammy nomination.
Inspired by traditional Jewish-Yemeni culture, Hazar's first
international release, Yemenite Songs, was a huge
hit when released
in 1985.
Her dance single Im Nin Alu, based on a devotional poem by a
17th century rabbi, then topped the charts across Europe.
She went on to work with performers such as Paula
Abdul and in
1998 she recorded the title track to Steven
Spielberg's movie The
Prince of Egypt.
Haza was a national hero in Israel and performed in Oslo when
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Foreign Minister
Shimon Peres and
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat won the Nobel Peace Prize in
1994.
After her death, Prime Minister Ehud Barak told
reporters: "Ofra
emerged from the Hatikvah slums to reach the peak of Israeli
culture. She has left a mark on us all."
She was married to businessman Doron Ashkenazi and had no
children.
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