Ishay Ribo, center, performing on stage. Photo: אביחי ג’רפי via Wikimedia Commons

Israeli Orthodox singer Ishay Ribo announced this week that he will headline his first concert in New York City’s Madison Square Garden in September.

Ribo, 34, posted on Instagram a flyer for his Sept. 3 concert and wrote in part in the caption, “I’ve been holding this inside for a long time, and more than once I’ve pinched myself to check if I was dreaming or if this is true. Thank God, it appears that both responses are accurate!”

“In my life I never dreamed that I would appear on such an important and central stage as Madison Square Garden!!!” he added in the Instagram post. “I feel endless gratitude … Wow I am excited to the max! God knows how much I can’t wait to share this with you.”

 

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The religious Zionist youth organization Bnei Akiva United States and Canada is co-sponsoring the performance along with the international production company Live Nation. The concert will include guest performances by Akiva and Amir Dadon and tickets are currently on sale through Ticketmaster.

Ribo is not the first Israeli to take to the stage at MSG. Rock musician Shlomo Artzi performed at the theater in 2017 as part of an event celebrating Israel’s 69th Independence Day and Gene Simmons, who was born in Israel, has held concerts there in the past with his American rock band Kiss.

Born in Marseille, France, Ribo’s family made aliyah to Israel when he was eight years old and moved to the West Bank settlement of Kfar Adumim. His parents are of Algerian and Moroccan descent and Ribo grew up in a Haredi family, according to JTA. The publication added that the singer self-released his first album in 2014 and four of his five albums achieved gold certification, with each selling more than 15,000 copies in Israel.

His track Sibat Hasibot was the most-played song on Israel’s radio stations in 2021, according to a recent New York Times profile about the singer.