Sami Levi

Sami Levi — Biography

Born on 13 April 1981 in Istanbul, Sami Levi is a Turkish singer of Jewish descent who graduated from Göztepe Lisesi in 1998. He first encountered music at the age of five in kindergarten, and it was a primary-school teacher who noticed his voice and urged his family to nurture it. Levi grew up listening to Sephardic songs in Ladino, a language now rarely spoken within the Jewish community, learning the tradition from his grandparents.

A friendship with Cem Stamati in 1996 led him to join the group Sefarad, of which he soon became the soloist. He has since made a number of television appearances, including as a candidate contestant for Survivor in 2019 and as a guest on the show Şarkılar Bizi Söyler in 2022. In April 2026 he drew renewed attention with a cover of Azer Bülbül's song "İyi Değilim," recorded 22 years after its original release.