Shlomo Artzi (Hebrew: שלמה ארצי‎) is an Israeli folk rock singer-songwriter and composer. He was born on November 26, 1949 in Moshav Alonei Abba. In the course of his career, he has sold over 2 million records in Israel, making him the most successful male singer in the country's music scene. br br After enjoying success in the Israeli Naval Corps Entertainment Group (Lahakat Kheil Ha'Yam) and winning the 1970 Israeli Song Festival, Artzi's singing career had some ups and downs, which culminated in a string of records that failed to sell well in the late 70's. br br In 1975 he was selected to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest. The selected song was At Va'Ani (You and Me), written by the legendary Israeli songwriter Ehud Manor, and composed by Artzi himself. To seize the moment, Artzi's record label preassured him to record a completely new record in less than 2 weeks. br br In 1977, almost ready to give up on singing, he wished to make one last record "the way a record should be made", and was allowed to do so by the record company. The success of this album, "A Man Losing His Way" (Gever Holekh Le'ibud), persuaded Artzi to continue with his singing career, which rose throughout the 1980's and reached unprecedented peaks for a musical artist in Israel with the release of the albums "Dance" (Tirkod) and "Restless Night" (Layla Lo Shaket) which sold tens of thousands, and with the live shows that accompanied these albums, which would sell out the largest parks and theatres in Israel. His later album sales, in excess of a hundred-thousand per album, and the immensely popular live shows that followed each album, made him the most popular artist in Israel; Based on album sales and gross income from live shows, he is the most successful singer in Israel. Artzi has sold a total of over a million and a half albums, an unprecedented achievement in the Israeli music industry. He is well known for his marathon live shows, some of which last over two or even three hours..