Ishay Ribo becomes first Israeli to perform at Madison Square Garden

History was made for Israeli musical artists after Ishay Ribo became the first Israeli artist to perform at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday.

The Orthodox singer Ishay Ribo, whose music has attracted a diverse audience of religious and secular Israeli fans, was the first Israeli artist to headline a concert at the world-famous venue, beating Noa Kirel to the punch after it was announced that she would also be headlining the venue.

“I’ve been keeping this inside for a long time and more than once I pinched myself to check if I was dreaming or if this is real,” Ribo wrote on his Facebook page on Monday. “It seems that both answers are correct, thank God.”

First ever israeli concert at msg! ishay ribo! pic.twitter.com/BwsW3rwg7N

— Ronn Torossian (@RTorossian5wpr) September 4, 2023

Born in Marseille, France, to parents from Algeria and Morocco, Ribo’s family moved to the Israeli West Bank settlement of Kfar Adumim when he was 8. He grew up in a haredi Orthodox family and was first exposed to secular music when it played over the speakers during bus rides to school. 

Ribo self-released his first album in 2014, and four of his five albums have reached gold certification, each selling more than 15,000 copies in the Israeli music market. He has performed alongside popular Israeli musicians such as Shlomo Artzi and Idan Raichel, and has drawn some backlash from Orthodox Israelis.

The poster for Ribo’s show at the iconic 20,000-seat New York City venue, which was scheduled for Sept. 3, highlights his religious identity. The concert is advertised with a photo of Ribo in silhouette, performing in front of a crowd full of flashing phone cameras. Block letters spell out his name in gold, above Hebrew text reading “Elul 5783,” — the month and year of the show on the Jewish calendar. One of the sponsors of the show is Bnei Akiva, the religious Zionist youth group.

Beating Noa Kirel to the venue

Eurovision finalist Noa Kirel is scheduled to perform at Madison Square Garden in June 2024.

Kirel’s management had reportedly been in talks with the venue in recent months in an effort to book the prestigious arena and now an advance payment has been paid and a date has been agreed upon for Kirel’s debut in the US.