Biography:

Haim Adam Cohen ( May 1 , 1960 – June 27, 2024 ), known by the stage name Adam , was an Israeli singer and actor .

Adam was born, raised and educated in Acre by the name of Haim Adam Cohen .[1]As a child he attended the “HaTomer” school and in his youth he attended the “Darski” school. Already from his youth he was attracted to dance and theater.[1]After his military service he moved to Haifa and later moved to Tel Aviv to study dance and acting (among other things at ” Beit Zvi “).

Career

In the early 1980s, he founded the rock band “Katam” with Rafi Persky . The two performed in clubs in the central area, including ” The Penguin ” and recorded several songs at the Sound School . At that time, he used to participate in the productions of the Rocky cult film show in Tel Aviv clubs.[2][3][1]

Adam gained exposure in the pre-Eurovision competition in 1985 , when he was a dancer and backup singer for Yizhar Cohen in the song ” Oleh Oleh “. The song was chosen to represent Israel in Eurovision 1985 .

Adam began his career as an independent singer in France at the beginning of 1986 , accompanied by producer Shlomo Tzach and under the stage name ” Chris Life “. He recorded three songs there in English : “Gypsy Lady”, “Living Alone” and “No More Light”, which in the Hebrew version became ” In Moza “.[1]But the songs did not attract much attention.

After his return to Israel, he began recording his first album “ Sud “. It was published in April 1987 , and was produced by Yizhar Ashdot , who also arranged and composed seven of the nine songs in it and played all the instruments on the recordings . The words to the songs were written by Ashdot’s partner , Alona Kimchi . The songs “Photos”, ” Moss Farah “, ” There is no way ” and the theme song stood out in it . The album was a great success, and in a short time more than 45,000 copies were sold. Following the success of the album, Adam overnight became a huge star, a youth idol and a sex symbol. In December of the same year, he participated for the first time in Festigal with the song ” No Takes Easy ” (lyrics: Alona Kimchi, music and arrangement: Yizhar Ashdot), and won first place.

In the summer of 1988, his second album ” From Far Away ” was released with musical arrangements and production by Yizhar Ashdot. Among the songs on the album stood out: ” From far away ” (lyrics: Alona Kimchi, music: Yizhar Ashdot), “Addicted to love” (lyrics: Ehud Menor, music: Nava Baruchin and Ken Burgess) “One sunset” (lyrics: Alona Kimchi, Composer: Yizhar Ashdot) with vocals by the singer Tamna Brauer, “She Dances Alone” (Lyrics: Rachel Shapira , Composer: Korin Alel ), and especially “Regret” (Lyrics: Rachel Shapira, Composer: Yizhar Ashdot), which won the title “Song of the Year In the 2018 Reshet C song parade , Adam also won the station’s ” Singer of the Year ” title for the second time in a row, and won first place with the song “Don’t Forget” (lyrics: Ehud Manor , arrangement: Henry Barter). ).

At the end of 1989, his third album “Free” was released with arrangements and musical production by Mati Caspi , who also played the piano, keyboards, percussion, and sang background vocals. In the album, an attempt was made to appeal to a more mature audience with writers such as Ehud Manor, Meir Goldberg , and Esther Shamir . The album was less successful than his first two albums. Among the album’s songs stood out “No One Yet Knew Me”, “The Role of My Life”, and “There is Love”. In December of that year, he participated and won for the third time in a row at the Festival with the song “Like a cartoon hero” (lyrics: Ehud Menor, music and arrangement: Henry Barter).

In December 1990, he participated and won for the fourth time in a row at Festigal, with the song “Kissing in French” (lyrics: Shamrit Or , music: Dan Shaul, arrangement: Ran Bagno ).

In March 1991, he participated for the first time in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Yached Namud” written by Uri Sela, composed and arranged by Henry Barter , and came in second place. In the same year, he released the album ” Twice a Day “, which consisted mainly of the outstanding songs from his first three albums, and a few new songs, including the theme song (lyrics: Yankel’a Rotblit , music: Gidi Stern, arrangement: Ran Bagno), which reached the 37 in the annual hymn parade 5791 of Reshet C.

In the years 1992 – 1995, Adam played the role of himself in the TV show ” Plai Kalaim “. In the years 1994-1995 , he played in the musical ” The Magician! “, in the role of “Pahfah” the tin man , alongside Michal Yanai and Tzachi Noi .

On April 1, 1993, she competed a second time in the pre-Eurovision song “Ad” (lyrics: Ehud Manor, music and arrangement: Kobi Osherat ) and came in third place in the competition.

In 1994, the album “The days we are together” was released, and the songs from it were successful: “It doesn’t work out for me”, “Love nights”, “against fate” and a cover of the song ” Cypress “.

In December 1995 he appeared again at Festigal, in the song “In the Wild”[4](Words: Ehud Menor, Music: Nurit Hirsch , Arrangement: Yoram Tzdok).

In 1999 , “Adam – Ha’Osef” – 2 CDs , with 29 songs with the best hits – was released by the Had-Artzi company. In the same year he played in the children’s show ” The King’s New Clothes ” alongside Hanan Goldblatt .

In 2000, he acted in the children’s play ” Gulliver ” alongside Sharon Tzur , Gadi Yigil , Uri Gabriel , and Keren Shemesh.

In the years 2006-2008 he served as cruise manager on the ship.

In 2009 he released three singles : “Winter”, “Don’t take away my love” and “Señorita”.

In February 2010 he released the album “Small Moments” which included “No More Demons”, the theme song from the documentary “Haim and Adam” directed by Miri Ben-Haim-Perlman. The song was written by Yoni Zichholz , and composed by Itai Perelman Nsikh. The album also included the singles “Winter”, “Don’t Take My Love” and Senorita” released in 2009.

In May 2011 Adam participated in the reality show ” Hall of Fame ” broadcast on Channel 24 . He qualified for the finals of the program and finished in fifth place.

In 2014, Adam released the concert album “Live Zappa”, which included, in addition to his greatest hits, two new songs.

In 2017, he voiced Balthazar Bratt in the film ” Stolen on the World “.

In May 2018 , after a long stay in hospital, Adam released the single “In the end everyone wants love”[5]. At Hanukkah that year, he acted in the play The Wizard of Oz alongside Rinat Gabbai in the role of the Tin Man .

In June-July 2019, he played in the musical “Lazarus” at the Enav Center, in the role of Thomas Newton.

In 2020 he participated in Festigal for the sixth time.

In September 2023, during the medical treatments for cancer , he recorded with Ilanit a duet written by Yoav Ginai and composed and arranged by Yonatan Perlman , “Learn to fly again”[6].

Awards and recognition

• 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 – first place in Festigal
• 2018 – Singer of the Year with Song of the Year on Channel 3
• 2010 – Documentary “Life and Adam” (directed by Miri Ben-Haim-Perlman)

Personal life

In 1981 Adam married Michal Batsheva Danino (later Shuli Rand ‘s wife ), but they divorced nine months later. In October 2007 , a man came out of the closet[7][8]. After his death, producer Shimon Shirazi revealed that they had previously been partners for 8 years.[9]

In 2010, the documentary by the director Miri Perlman, “Haim and Adam” was screened . The film follows Adam for four years, including his work on an entertainment ship, parting with his partner Yanir, and visiting the grave of his mother, Chava.

Adam was the owner of two cafes called “Adam’s” – one in Tel Aviv and the other in Herzliya Pituach , where young artists perform , and sometimes he used to perform himself.

In September 2017, he arrived at the Ichilov Hospital for surgery to remove the gallbladder . The surgery got complicated, leading to inflammation of the pancreas and it caused damage to nearby organs[10]. On January 2, 2018 , it was learned that his condition had worsened and he was transferred to surgical intensive care[11]. On February 8, 2018 he was released from the hospital.

After living for about thirty years in Tel Aviv, he moved to Haifa .

A person who was a heavy smoker, suffered from COPD[12]And later he was diagnosed with lung cancer and announced this in May 2023[13]. Died of his illness on June 27 , 2024[14]. He was buried at Sde Yehoshua Cemetery in Haifa.

On the day of his death, the movie “Ballad for Life” was also released on Network 13 in his memory.

Credits:

Wikipedia