Eddie Butler (born October 2, 1971) ( he, אדי בטלר) is an

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

singer. He was born in

Dimona Dimona ( he, דִּימוֹנָה, ar, ديمونا) is an Israeli city in the Negev desert, to the south-east of Beersheba and west of the Dead Sea above the Arava valley in the Southern District of Israel. In its population was . The Shi ...

to a family of

Black Hebrew Israelites Black Hebrew Israelites (also called Hebrew Israelites, Black Hebrews, Black Israelites, and African Hebrew Israelites) are groups of African Americans who believe that they are the descendants of the ancient Israelites. Some sub-groups believ ...

from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Butler started performing at the age of eight. In the 1990s he sang with wedding bands, and in 1992 worked as a backing singer for

Zehava Ben Zehava Ben (born Zehava Benisti; he, זהבה בן; November 8, 1968) is an Israeli singer. Ben is one of the most popular Israeli female vocalists in the Mizrahi music genre; the Middle Eastern-style of singing rising from Israel's Mizrahi Jewi ...

. In 1999 Butler represented Israel at the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

as part of the Eden group which consisted of Eddie, Eddie's older brother Gabriel Butler, Rafael Dahan and Doron Oren. Their song "Happy Birthday" finished 5th with 93 points. Eden broke up in 2001, and after the group's breakup, Butler launched a solo career. He has performed throughout

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In 2002 he got the Special Audience Prize of the international music competition New Wave in

Jūrmala Jūrmala (; "seaside") is a state city in Latvia, about west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a stretch of white-sand beach, and a population of 49,325 in 2019 ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. He represented his home country as a soloist at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2006 The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Athens, Greece, following the country's victory at the with the song "My Number One" by Helena Paparizou. Organised by the European Broadcasti ...

in Athens with the song "Together We Are One" but finished in second-last place. Eddie proposed to his wife Orly Burg at the

Dudu Topaz Dudu Topaz ( he, דודו טופז; September 20, 1946 – August 20, 2009) (born David Goldenberg) was an Israeli TV personality, comedian, actor, screenwriter, playwright, author and radio and television host. In August 2009 he committed suicid ...

show on Channel 2. He performed for her his new song ''At HaHalom'' (You Are the Dream) written for her during his long performance tours. He has officially converted to

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

in order to be able to have an Orthodox wedding with Orly.

References

External links

Butler's biography on the Official Website of ESC 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Eddie 1971 births Living people Black Hebrew Israelite people Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1999 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2006 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Israel 20th-century Israeli male singers Israeli Orthodox Jews Jewish singers People from Dimona Converts to Orthodox Judaism Black Jewish people Israeli people of African-American descent 21st-century Israeli male singers