A very hearty mazel tov is in order for Israeli music icon Noga Erez and her partner in life and music, Ori Rousso, who just welcomed their first child, a daughter. Erez shared a photo of the two of them holding their little one’s tiny hand with the simple caption “3” on her Instagram. It’s heart-meltingly sweet.
Erez, 35, hasn’t shared the name of her first child, but she will have some great stories to tell her one day, like how she opened for pop legend Pink while seven months pregnant, dancing and singing her lungs out to a packed arena. And how she released an album that same year featuring a track with Robbie Williams, one of the world’s biggest pop stars. Or how a video of her rapping her song “A+” from her most recent album “The Vandalist” with an over-enthused fan went mega-viral just hours before her birth. Or how both “Wonder Woman” actress Gal Gadot and “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” star Alex Borstein welcomed her birth on Instagram with sweet wishes of “mazel tov” and emoji hearts.
One thing Erez might wait a little longer to tell her daughter is how she lost many gigs in the lead-up to her birth because of where she comes from.
“Today I got a call from my management saying that many of the festivals and media appearances that booked me have canceled my participation because I’m an Israeli,” Erez shared on stage in Tel Aviv last month. “I really wish it was just one case, but the list kind of keeps growing. It’s not for anything that I said, it’s simply because I was born where I was born. I believe that boycotting artists will not bring a solution. I believe that banning songs, movies, plays, books… is not going to fix the world’s problems. The world is full of so much suffering. The amount of pain happening right now is devastating. I’ve seen some of it with my own eyes. Maybe right now would be the best time for us to try and find common ground, and not add to how shi**y it already is.”
We hope this year for Erez, Rousso and their growing family is filled with a lot of light, joy, music and finding common ground. Mazel tov!
