Sami Levi

Sami Levi — Biography

Sami Levi is a singer best known as the soloist of Sefarad, a band that blends Sephardic music with pop. Of Jewish descent, he grew up in Istanbul and carried onto the stage the Ladino songs he heard from older relatives. He has pursued solo work alongside the group, and in 2026 he drew attention again with a reworked song.

He met music at five in kindergarten, and his primary-school teacher alerted his family to his voice. At home he grew up hearing Ladino songs from his grandmothers. In 1996, through his friend Cem Stamati, he met Sefarad, founded that same year, and became its soloist. The group released its first album, Sefarad, in 2003, and consolidated its place with Sefarad II, released in July 2005 and a long-time chart leader. Songs from the albums such as "Osman Aga", "Ne fark eder?" and "Yastayım" were popular. The third album, Evvel Zaman, followed in 2007. Levi then released solo work under his own name: Hade Hade Duke Duke (2008), Disco Kolbastı ve Balkan Havaları (2009) and Seve Seve (2011), still working with Sefarad's Ceki Benşuşe.

He also appeared on television: in 2019 he was named among the Survivor contestant candidates, and in 2022 he was a guest on Şarkılar Bizi Söyler. He married in 2013. In April 2026 he re-recorded Azer Bülbül's "İyi Değilim" about twenty-two years after its release. He graduated from Göztepe Lisesi in 1998.