Farewell to the maestro: the musician Zvika Peak is laid to rest

Hundreds of people came to the Ramat Hasharon cemetery to pay their last respects to Zvika Pick, one of the most important creators in the history of the country, who passed away yesterday at the age of 72. The funeral is closed to the media and only family members and close friends attend

Maor Ben Harosh

08/15/2022

Monday, August 15, 2022, 10:00 a.m

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Live broadcast (photo: Niv Aharonson):

Hundreds of people came to the Ramat Hasharon cemetery to pay their last respects to Zvika Pick, one of the most important creators in the country's history, who passed away yesterday at the age of 72. The funeral is closed to the media and only family members and close friends attend.

Pick, one of the pioneers of Israeli pop, who was active for five decades, was responsible for dozens of well-known hits such as "Nasef Tishrei", "Love at the end of summer", "There is no country for love", "Music (Ma'ale Ma'ale)" and "Diva", which won the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest. Four years ago he had a stroke.

Before entering the funeral, the actor Tzachi Noi told about Zvika, whom he knew on the set of the show "Golstar".

"He was soft inside like a child," said Lavala!

culture.

"When I heard about his death yesterday I was shocked. I stopped the car on the side and called my friends to make sure it was really true. Very sad."

Prime Minister Yair Lapid paid tribute to him yesterday: "Zvika Peak sang 'Music for the heart is penetrating' - a sentence that describes with great precision his songs and melodies that penetrated the heart and Israeli culture and became an asset of the Iron Sheep. Zvika was a revolutionary artist of his generation, one of the pillars of Israeli pop. Tzvika passed away today to his death, but the songs and melodies he left behind will continue to be played for many years to come. Sending warm condolences to his family and all his fans."

President Herzog also paid tribute: "His extraordinary talent as a creator yielded beautiful pearls to Israeli culture. He was so Israeli, and deeply connected to our rich Hebrew roots, and at the same time reflected the beauty of the face of the State of Israel in the entire world."

Zvika and Mirit, his first wife (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Pick was born in Wroclaw, Poland, as Henrik Pick.

He was 8 years old when he immigrated to Israel with his family, and already as a child he studied music regularly at the Ramat Gan Conservatory.

In his youth, he served as a keyboardist, guitarist and singer in the bands "Telstar", "The Fat and the Thin" and "The Chocolat".

His breakthrough into consciousness occurred in 1970, when he was chosen to portray the character of Claude in the musical "Hair".

For this role Peak won the title of actor of the year.

Pick's enigmatic character, which included colorful clothing and overt sexuality, made him a favorite of the Israeli media of those years.

His debut album, "This is my way" from 1972, included a number of hits such as "Two Apples" and "The Leader" by Ehud Manor, "I Go to the Anywhere" and "There is no country for love" by Yonatan Geffen, and included a combination of pop and rock .

The song "One more and one more" was even disqualified for broadcast due to what was defined as "excessive sexuality".

In the later seventies, he recorded some of his biggest hits, including "Love at the end of summer", "Nasef Tishrei" (which won song of the year), "Living with him", "Hom Blood", "The Automatic Dancer", "I can't do without you", " I love you Leah", "There is no country for love", "Maale Maale" and more.

He won many awards for these songs.

At the same time, the biography "Angel or Satan" was published, written about him by the journalist Dodo Oren, which became a bestseller.

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Tzvika Peak (Photo: Maged Gozani)

The official stamp on the comeback was brought to mind by the song "Diva", which he composed for Dana International.

The song won the first place in Eurovision, worked for many versions around the world and created a lot of international interest around Peak.

In 2003 he composed another song for a Eurovision singer, this time for the Ukrainian representative Alexander Ponomayrov, called "Hasta La Vista".

The song only reached number 14 that year.

Pick is the Israeli artist who appeared the most times in the pre-Eurovision - 7 times - when the highest place he reached was the second place in 1979, when he lost the first place to "Hallelujah".

Peake's entertainment career also included successful television appearances.

Among other things, he starred in the series "City Tower", served as a judge in the third and seventh seasons of the reality show "Kohav Nold", and starred in a reality show about him called "The Maestro", which followed his private life and the relationship with his partner, Shira Manor.

Peak also starred in the reality show "Golstar".

In 2009, he appeared in a guest role in the mini-series "Always the same dream", the plot of which was based on his songs.

In addition, he starred in many advertising campaigns over the years.

Pick was previously married to singer Mirit Shem Or, who collaborated with him on most of his hits.

The two have three children: Ben Lee, Daniela and Sharona.

The latter put together the musical duo "Pick Sisters", best remembered for the single "This song" released in 2003.

Pick and Shem Or divorced in 1995.

He also left two children from his second partner, Shira Manor.

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