He arrived at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center unconscious after he collapsed at his home earlier in the day. On 26 November 2013, Einstein died age 74 after a ruptured thoracic aortic aneurysm. In 2009, Haaretz columnist Ariel Hirschfeld wrote: "Arik Einstein's well-known reclusiveness, his ordinariness, his averseness to pomposity and grandiosity, his modest way of belonging to this place – these should not hide from those living here the fact that he is a very great and profound artist, with an acute artistic conscience, perfect and totally unique."Ī prominent music critic, Yoav Kutner, described Einstein stating "Arik Einstein is more than the greatest Israeli artist of all time. The beautiful and charming Israel that we all grew up to adore." Fans of Hapoel's basketball team started a petition for the team's new arena, which was inaugurated in 2015, to be named after Einstein.īenjamin Netanyahu said of Einstein "Arik, you are Israel. Several of his songs mention his love for sports in general and the Hapoel Tel Aviv clubs in particular. He was an avid fan of Hapoel Tel Aviv sports club, for which he competed in his youth, particularly Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. Following the accident Einstein's eyesight, which was already myopic, got worse and he spent less and less time in public.Įinstein was also well known for his love of sports and his deep knowledge of sports trivia, for which he jokingly nicknamed himself "world champion in unimportant information".
His wife was also hurt, and another friend lost her life. In 1982 he was hurt in a major car accident. For this reason he ceased to perform public concerts from the year of 1981 and on, despite many attractive offers which in the late 1990s even reached seven figures. In a candid interview that was shown on TV, he said that performing in front of big crowds was difficult for him (without the help of a few glugs of cognac beforehand). In one of his songs he sang that his greatest pleasure was staying home with a cup of lemon tea and his books, and in this he was sincere. They had a daughter and a son: Dina and Amir.ĭespite a successful career of acting and singing, Einstein was the shy type and a homebody.
Arik Einstein's second wife was Sima Eliyahu, whom he met shortly before filming the movie Metzitzim in 1972. After four years of marriage, during which their daughter Shiri was born, the couple divorced. In 1963, Arieh Einstein married Alona Shochat in the hall of Habima Theater (where he was onstage in a production of Irma La Douce). His father urged him to audition for an army entertainment troupe, and he was accepted into the Nahal Brigade troupe. Einstein was Israel's junior high jump and shot put champion, and also played basketball for Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C. His father, Yaakov, was an actor with the Ohel theater. Einstein wrote many of his own songs and was a vocalist with The Churchills, Green Onion and The High Windows.Īrieh Leib Einstein was born and raised in Tel Aviv. Through the years collaborated with many well-known Israeli singers and songwriters, including Shalom Hanoch Yoni Rechter, and Shmulik Kraus. Through both high public and critical acclamation, Einstein is regarded as the greatest, most popular, and the most influential Israeli artist of all time.Īn illustrious musical career that has spanned over 50 years saw Einstein recording over 500 songs and releasing, collaborating, and featuring in 34 albums, far more than any other Israeli musician.
He was a pioneer of Israeli rock music and was named "the voice of Israel". Arieh Lieb "Arik" Einstein (Hebrew: אָרִיק אַייִנְשְׁטָייִן, pronounced 3 January 1939 – 26 November 2013) was an Israeli singer, songwriter, actor, and screenwriter.