Ishay Ribo

Ishay Ribo (; born February 3, 1989) is an Israeli singer-songwriter. A Sephardic Orthodox Jew, he has gained popularity in Israel among Haredi, national-religious, and secular Jewish audiences. He has released five studio albums, two of which have been certified gold and one which went platinum.

Early life Ishay Ribo, born on February 3, 1989 to a traditional Sephardi Jewish family in Marseille, France.

Career Ishay Ribo performing at Binyanei HaUma in Jerusalem, Israel, on April 17, 2025.

Music career Ribo began singing at age eight; at age thirteen, he began writing, composing, and recording songs at home. Four years later, having composed 100 songs, he learned to play the guitar. He had no formal music education.

In 2012, Ribo was the first religious singer to take part in the Idan Raichel Project, He performed "Tochu Ratzuf Ahavah" at one of Raichel's concerts. He was also featured on the album Achakeh Lo ("I Will Await Him"), which highlights songs from the Holocaust by The Heart and The Spring band.

In August 2019, Ribo performed Amir Benayoun's "Nitzacht Iti HaKol" ("You Won Everything With Me") alongside Benayoun at a concert in Sultan's Pool, Jerusalem; the music video received more than one million views in its first week of release.

In December 2019, Ribo performed Akiva Turgeman's song "Al Ta'azvi Yadayim" (Don't Let Go) alongside Akiva at a concert in the Roman amphitheater of Caesarea.

On September 3, 2023, (18 Elul, 5783) Ribo became the first Israeli artist to headline Madison Square Garden. The sold-out concert featured appearances from fellow Israeli artists Akiva (Turgeman) and Amir Dadon, as well as a surprise appearance from veteran American Hassidic artist, Avraham Fried. Ribo returned to Madison Square Garden on September 15, 2024.

On November 14, 2023, Ribo was one of two Israeli performers who sang at the March for Israel rally in Washington, DC. The event attracted close to 300,000 people, making it the "largest pro-Israel gathering in history".

Solo singles and albums

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salign=right The songs on the album [Tocho Ratzuf Ahavah], all of them by Ribo, are endlessly mature and sensitive; the melodies sometimes sound like a familiar synagogue tune, sometimes like rock classics — Ashdod Performance Arts Center The third single from the album, "Kol Dodi" ("The Voice of My Beloved"), earned second place at the 2013 Israel Song Festival. The album was certified gold. In 2016, he released his second album, Pachad Gevahim ("Fear of Heights"). That album too was certified gold. One of the singles on the album, "Lashuv HaBaita" ("Coming Home"), easily became Ribo's biggest song in Israel, with its music video logging more than 49 million views on YouTube. Atop this, the song has over 17 million streams on Spotify as of 2023.

In 2018, he released "Nafshi" ("My Soul"), a duet sung with Hasidic singer Motty Steinmetz. Ribo sings his part in traditional Hebrew pronunciation while Steinmetz sings with Hasidic pronunciation.

Musical style

Ribo's songs focus exclusively on spirituality, faith, and God, a decision he says he made at the age of 14.

My music has reached the broadest audience possible, from the most chasidic people who I would never have expected to listen to it, to complete atheists who write to me and say, "I don't believe in anything, but your songs awaken something in my soul". — Ishay Ribo For his debut single ("Tocho Ratzuf Ahavah") he was named Singer of the Year, Discovery of the Year, and Song of the Year by Radio Galei Israel and Maariv.

In 2017, he performed at the torch-lighting ceremony on Israel's 69th Independence Day.

In 2019, he was awarded the Israel Minister of Education's Uri Orbach Prize for Jewish Culture in the field of music.

In 2019, Ribo won first place for the Most Views On YouTube In 2019 by an Orthodox Jewish Artist. He won the award by a high margin for the second year in a row. Ribo's official YouTube channel had 224 million views and 212,000 subscribers. This is the second year in the row that Ribo doubled the number of views on his channel within a year.

Personal life

Ribo is married to Yael, daughter of Rabbi Avner Tonic, and they have five children. They live in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Discography Studio albums Title Year Sof Chama Lavo 2024 Elul Taf Shin Ayin Tes ("Elul 5779") 2019 Shetach Afor ("Gray Area") 2018 Hatishma Koli - Galgalatz ("Would You Hear My Voice - Galgalatz, in tribute to the album 'The High Windows'") 2017 Pachad Gevahim ("Fear of Heights") 2016 Tocho Ratzuf Ahavah ("He Is Filled With Continuous Love") 2014