Veteran Israeli musician Matti Caspi — a composer, arranger, producer and singer who left Israel an immense musical legacy over six decades — died overnight between Saturday and Sunday at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv. He was 76.
Caspi collaborated with many of Israel’s leading songwriters and performers and left behind an unforgettable body of work that continues to accompany listeners to this day. He is survived by his wife and their four children.
“With aching hearts and deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our beloved husband and dear father. The light of our lives has gone out,” his family said in a statement. “His love and his creativity, which he always gave, will remain a part of us forever. You were and will remain the essence of our existence.”
In May 2025, Caspi revealed that he was coping with advanced metastatic cancer and canceled his performances in order to “focus on treatments as part of the healing process.” In a subsequent interview with the Israeli news site ynet, he also spoke about the financial difficulty of dealing with the treatments and appealed to the public for help through a fundraising campaign.
“The doctors are focused on extending life, but I am determined not to give up — and to win,” he said at the time. “It’s not easy to admit that you need help,” he added. “It’s also quite frustrating that in the Israeli reality, in order to receive treatment you have to look for sources of funding. There are trips abroad for treatments that don’t exist in Israel, and those things cost a lot of money. I chose an alternative path that includes things that aren’t in the health basket at all. In my situation, if I had to rely only on royalties and the money I have, I wouldn’t be able to manage.”
Matti Caspi preforms at the studio
Over the course of a rich and prolific career, Caspi worked with many writers, composers and performers, including Sasha Argov, Shlomo Gronich, Riki Gal, Yehudit Ravitz, Danny Robas and others. In 2005, he received the ACUM Lifetime Achievement Award. Music critics praised his “miraculous sense of timing and unconventional harmonies,” which opened doors for generations of creators.
Above all, Caspi will be remembered as an artist who raised the harmonic bar of Hebrew song, fused local pop with Brazilian jazz and paved the way for a rich, multilayered Israeli musical language.