Joe Amar (1930-2009) was a singer and composer, Paytan (liturgical poet/singer), and Cantor. In the history of Israeli music, he is widely regarded as the architect of the genre we know today as "Mizrahi music."

Most of his life he didn't live in Israel, but in the few years he did live there, he introduced unique, innovative sounds into Israeli music, in a style that was familiar to Jews who immigrated from Islamic countries ("Mizrahim") and was foreign to Israelis who immigrated from European countries ("Ashkenazim").

 

Joe Amar wasn't the first Mizrahi singer.

When he arrived in Israel in the mid-1950s, there were already Mizrahi singers here. Above all was Shoshana Damari, The undisputed Queen Mother of Israeli song. Shoshana Damari, who was born in Yemen and immigrated with her family to Israel, sang songs in a mixed style, European and Yemeni. Songs written for her by Israeli artists and also traditional songs of Jewish communities in Asia. She also outwardly expressed her Mizrahi identity – through colorful, Yemeni attire, and in the pronunciation of words with guttural CHET and 'Ayin'. This was her calling card, and that's how Israelis from all strata and sectors loved her.

Joe Amar followed a similar path, but faced a far steeper climb. While Shoshana was the beloved darling of the establishment, Joe had to blaze his own trail—writing, composing, and performing his own material at a time when the doors to the mainstream were often bolted shut.

He arrived in Israel as a new immigrant from Morocco, in the chaotic early years of the state—a whirlwind of cultures, languages, and musical tastes clashing in a national 'melting pot'. In a short time, he managed to break through cultural barriers and become a star admired by masses of Israelis.

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Joe Amar's professional career was meticulously managed by him alone throughout his adult life, led the life of a modern-day 'Wandering Jew – from his birthplace in Morocco, where he moved from city to city until he immigrated to Israel, left it after 13 years and immigrated to the United States. After about two decades he returned to Israel for a short period, attempted a musical comeback, but the tides of the industry had changed, and returned to America.

In his last years he returned to live in Israel, to die and be buried there, and to remain a Jewish-Israeli musical symbol.