Avi Peretz (in Hebrew ÃÂÃÂàäèÃÂ¥) sometimes transliterated Avi Perez (born 9 December 1966) is an Israeli singer of Jewish Mizrahi music (in Hebrew ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂçàÃÂÃÂèÃÂÃÂê i.e., Muziqa mizrahit, meaning Oriental music).
Perez grew up in Bat Yam, Israel. His grandfather was a famous poet in Morocco.
From a young age Peretz learned to play the keyboard, and began his music career at age 13. In 1992, he had his great break with "çéàÃÂÃÂ" which became an immediate hit. Based on that success, he released his debut album "ÃÂÃÂÃÂàÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ" (Lit. "Wheel of time") and even a bigger hit with tens of thousands of albums sold and a big launch through Israeli radio. It also resulted in a new hit for Peretz, a cover interpretation of Natan Yonatan song "éÃÂè ÃÂÃÂÃÂàÃÂéÃÂ" (Lit. "Old love song").
In 1993, he released his follow-up album, "ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ" (Lit. "To you"). The most famous single from the album was yet another cover interpretation version of the song "âèàâèÃÂ" (Lit. "Every night") a song by Aris San, a Greek singer with huge popularity in Israel in the 1950s and 1960s.
In 1995 came the third album "ÃÂàéèêÃÂ", an album successful due to the iconic rendition "ÃÂÃÂèÃÂÃÂàÃÂ" by prominent Israeli singer Rivka Zohar and "éÃÂè éàÃÂÃÂàÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ" as a duo with Yardena Arazi.
In 1997, Peretz released the album "éÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ" (Lit. "Peacefulness"), which included cover versions of songs composed by Yair Rosenblum. Successful tracks from the album included "ÃÂÃÂèÃÂÃÂàÃÂ" and the duet "éÃÂè éàÃÂÃÂàÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ" as a return hit of the duet with Arazi. Other famous tracks included "ÃÂÃÂàÃÂàÃÂÃÂè ÃÂÃÂàÃÂàÃÂÃÂ" (Lit. "Be my friend be my brother") and "ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ", a song written by Rosenblum's companion shortly before the artist's death.
In 1998, came a double CD collection album including his best songs with a bonus of four new songs: "ÃÂàÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ" (Lit. "In love with you") and "ÃÂÃÂè éÃÂâê ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ" (Lit. "light of the seven days") as well as duet "ÃÂàÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ" (Lit. "This night") and "ÃÂêÃÂààÃÂÃÂèÃÂÃÂÃÂê", the latter performed with Margalit Tzan'ani. The album also contained bonus videos, and a remixed new performances of his debut hit "çéàÃÂÃÂ".
In 2001 came the studio album "ÃÂàäâàÃÂÃÂÃÂé" (Lit. "Each time anew"), an album that brought the hits "éÃÂàÃÂéÃÂÃÂ" (Lit. "Back again") wrote by Yossi Gispan (ÃÂÃÂáàÃÂÃÂáäÃÂ), and a duet with singer Uriel Shlomi (ÃÂÃÂèÃÂÃÂàéÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ) called "ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ" (Lit. "My love") and "ÃÂàäâàÃÂÃÂÃÂé", a song that won the second place in the Israel Song Festival. The distinction of this album was that unlike most previous albums, it was self-composed in nine of the ten tracks included.
Peretz in addition to being a successful Mizrahi artist has written songs for many artists, including Margalit Tzan'ani and Eli Luzon (ÃÂÃÂÃÂ ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ).
After a hiatus of five years, amidst speculations he released in 2006 his new album "çÃÂàÃÂàÃÂ" (Lit. "Smallest") that has kept his popularity live.
In 2012, he returned to celebrate his 20-year career.