Yosi Piamenta

In August 2014, Piamenta, together with Avi Piamenta and Naftali Kalfa, released a single, "Yaancha," calling it a "prayer for Piamenta's recovery". On April 14, 2015, Piamenta's Facebook page disclosed that "Yosi is not doing well" and asked fans to "Please pray your hearts out". On April 17, 2015 Piamenta fell into a coma; he woke up from the coma two days later. Piamenta underwent surgery for cancer at the Sheba Medical Center. He died in New York on August 23, 2015.

In addition to being an original songwriter, Piamenta covered others' music in the religious Jewish music category – his album Songs of the Rebbes includes various Lubavitch, Belz, and Sephardi nigunim and zemirot – as well as secular American music, such as Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, and Jimi Hendrix. Piamenta described his music style saying, "I do klezmer with electric guitar".

In his 20s, Piamenta moved to New York together with his brother, Avi Piamenta, with the intention of working on a joint album with American saxophone player Stan Getz. The album was a success, but Piamenta disapproved of the entertainment industry lifestyle and turned to religion, joining the Orthodox Jewish community. He married his 16-year-old cousin, Vivian, and they raised six children together; the couple separated in 2005.

In 1974, Piamenta formed a band with his brother Avi, a flutist. By 1976, the brothers had been discovered by Getz, who invited them to record with him in New York. Piamenta was 26 years old when he arrived in New York and embarked on a tour with Getz throughout the United States. After the tour, the Piamentas joined Getz on tour in Israel. After recording an album with Getz, Piamenta became a baal teshuva (observant Orthodox Jew).

Yosi Piamenta (Hebrew: יוסי פיאמנטה; November 29, 1951 – August 23, 2015) was an Orthodox Jewish singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for introducing the electric guitar to Jewish music. Piamenta played rock and roll tunes, often infused with heavy rock licks and extended guitar solos – all while dressed in Orthodox Jewish religious clothing and singing Biblical Hebrew lyrics. Piamenta was widely acknowledged by rock critics as a guitar virtuoso.

Piamenta was born in Jerusalem in 1951 to Yehuda and Genia Piamenta. In 1962, when he was 12 years old, Piamenta moved with his family to Tel Aviv. There, he received his first guitar from his uncle, Albert Piamenta, an Israeli saxophonist. Growing up, he practiced traditional Judaism.