Farhi was born in Jaffa, the southern, oldest part of Tel Aviv - Jaffa, an ancient port city in Israel. Modern Jaffa has a heterogeneous population of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. At a young age Farhi discovered oriental and world music through his family, which was mixed with his rebellious love for Heavy metal music. He created ‘Orphaned Land’ in 1991 with his then High School friends. Since then, Farhi dedicated his life to the band, writing and singing songs. His main mission is to bring people and hearts together, from all countries and sectors of "the bleeding middle east". Apart from ‘Orphaned Land’, Farhi founded a record label called ‘MDMA’, which distributed heavy metal and electronic music records to stores in Israel. In 2001 he left the Label, as Orphaned Land was growing bigger, playing its first show overseas, in Turkey. Until now, the band has played more than 45 countries worldwide, earning the title ‘Oriental Metal Pioneers’. Today, Farhi is considered one of the most beloved Israeli artists in Arab countries. Farhi received three honorary awards for peace. From the Istanbul Commerce University, from the Mayor of Çankaya in Ankara, Turkey, and from the Turkish government’s official advisor, after a show the band played in the country, donating all incomes for the people affected by the 2011 Van earthquake. In 2014, Farhi won the 'Global Metal Award' for Orphaned Land, given by Metal Hammer Magazine at the Golden Gods awards. In September 2018, Orphaned Land won the 'Video Of The Year’ award At the Progressive Music Awards 2018 in London, for their video, “Like Orpheus". Farhi went on stage to receive the award. After being asked by couples to conduct their wedding ceremony, Farhi sometimes takes the role of an official wedding Officiant. Besides his work with ‘Orphaned Land’, Farhi functioned as a musical editor at ‘Century Media Records’, the label where Orphaned Land is signed, editing a compilation titled 'Oriental Metal'. He also made guest vocal appearances on albums of similar bands like ‘Arkan’, ‘Amaseffer’, Magor, Subterranean Masquerade, Melted Space, musician Enzo Donnarumma and singer Moran Magal. Along with 'Orphaned Land', Farhi collaborated with Steven Wilson, Erkin Koray and Yehuda Poliker. Farhi participated in the highly acclaimed 'Rise Up ' musical project. He also recorded a cover of 'Jeremy' by 'Pearl Jam' with fellow musicians, as a part of a campaign to get the band to perform in Israel. In 2017, former Genesis’ Guitarist, Steve Hackett called Kobi Farhi. He was looking for artists that work for peace between people, and unsurprisingly, he chose ‘Orphaned Land’. The two sides immediately clicked and started collaborating. Together with highly acclaimed Israeli-Arab singer, Mira Awad, Farhi sings on Hackett’s album, “The Night Siren” and on the song, “West to East”. Later on, Hackett continued to work with Orphaned Land and recorded a guitar solo on "Chains Fall To Gravity", a song from Orphaned Land's 2018 album "Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs".
Discography (With Orphaned Land)
1. Sahara 2. El Norra Alila 3. Mabool 4. The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR 5. The Road to OR-Shalem 6. All Is One 7. KNA'AN 8. Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs
