After 50 years: The handsome singer from the Kiryat Eliezer neighborhood who became a legend that will never fade – the late Mike Burnett

At the old Hof Carmel cemetery in Haifa, a moving memorial service was held for the Haifa boy who shook the hearts of his fans and overnight became an idol of the masses and an admired international singer. • Half a century has passed, 50 years since the death of the late singer Mike Burnett. • At the peak of his career and success, Burnett took his own life. His voice died away and he was only 28 years old. • The story of Burnett was a legend in his own life and a legend many years after his death. • His grave continues to be a pilgrimage site for his fans from all over the world. • Mike Burnett – the legend that never fades. • "Live Here, the News Corporation" brings you an extensive and exclusive overview of the never-ending legend.

Still in the shadow of the war that has been going on for over a year and a half, the annual and moving memorial service was held at the old Hof Carmel Cemetery in Haifa earlier this week (Monday, May 12.5.2025, 50) to mark the XNUMXth anniversary of the tragic death of singer Mike Burnett. This year, due to the ongoing war, many large groups of fans from France, Belgium and Canada, who come every year to the memorial service to visit the grave of singer Burnett, did not arrive. The Haifa boy who moved the hearts of fans and overnight became an idol of the masses and a revered international singer.

Half a century has passed - 50 years since Mike Brent took his own life at the height of his career and success. His voice fell silent and he was only 28 years old. The story of the late Mike Brent, the legend that is still full of magic, was a legend in his lifetime and in fact, and this is a fact, a great legend 50 years after his death. Every day of the year, his grave still continues to be a pilgrimage site for his fans from Israel and all over the world. These fans continue to make history every year in the city of Haifa. Mike Brent is truly, without a shadow of a doubt, the legend that never fades!

The "Haifa News Corporation" website brings you, the readers of the site, a special and exclusive extensive review of the memorial held earlier this week (Monday, May 12.5.2925, 50) in the old cemetery next to the military cemetery in the Neve David neighborhood in Haifa. The moving memorial in memory of Moshe Brand is the international Haifa singer Mike Burnett, who exactly XNUMX years ago jumped to his tragic death from the sixth floor of a building in downtown Paris, France, from the heights of his successful and soaring career. Singer Mike Burnett, who ended his life.

Many came to the memorial to pay their respects to him even though exactly 50 years had passed, including his brother Zvika Brand, who came from Tel Aviv and also said "Kaddish" in his memory, dozens of his longtime fans who came from the north and south of various cities in the country, including Kiryat Gat, Kfar Saba, Ness Ziona, Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Kiryat Bialik, Kiryat Ata and more, cherishing his memory, and all this even though half a century had passed, because to them and for them, and as if it were only yesterday, the late singer Mike Brandt remained as loved and admired as he always was.

During the memorial service, his fans, who have been connected and coordinated for five decades, read moving things in his memory, playing over his grave some of his timeless and beloved songs, as Brent's untimely death cut short a glorious international career. At the end of the memorial service, his fans also held a bar mitzvah meal in his memory and brought up nostalgic memories of his time in life.

50 years have passed.

Also during the memorial service, Zvika Brand, Mike's brother, said: "50 years have passed since the death of my brother Mike. A big thank you to each and every one of you who came from all over the country to the cemetery today to honor the memory of my brother Mike Brand, and this is not at all taken for granted even these days. May we all be healthy and come here to commemorate his memory next year as well."

About two years ago, the exhibition "Mike Brent to the End of the Body" about the life and character of the international and Israeli legend - Mike Brent, closed at the Haifa City Museum. The exhibition was held following the donation of a rare collection by Zvika Brent, Mike's younger brother, and her daughter Yona Brent, Mike's niece, to the Haifa City Museum. Today, all of the exhibition's exhibits are locked away somewhere in the Haifa Municipality's museum warehouses.

The exhibition featured rare video clips from his performances, rare photos from private family albums, rare clothing items, fan albums, local and international magazine and newspaper covers dedicated to him, collectibles, souvenirs, notes and letters in Mike's handwriting, and more. The exhibition shed light on the complex character and turbulent life of Brent, along with the other story of Israel in those years and the Israeli music and entertainment hierarchy of those decades.

Places where Brent grew up and performed were his parents' house during his childhood and adolescence, including his house at 10 Sara Street in the lower city and at 8 Partizanim Street in the Kiryat Eliezer neighborhood, where at the entrance to the house today - a small, neglected, faded and almost erased sign, the sign reads: "Mike Brent, the most successful Israeli singer abroad ever." A few meters away, from the singer's house on Partizanim Street, is Mike Brent Street, which was inaugurated in his name in August 2020 in the Kiryat Eliezer neighborhood.

The structure of the mythological "rondo"

The "Rondo" building is the round, mythological hall inside the "Dan Carmel" hotel on Mount Carmel. The "Rondo" was both a restaurant and a dance hall, where singer Mike Burnett performed almost every day from 1965 to 1967, along with the members of his band "Artists of the Sky". During these performances, and just before he moved abroad and went to conquer France, he decided to change his name from Moses to Mike, so that he would have a catchy and comfortable stage name.

Moshe (Michael) Brand

Mike Brent was born Moshe (Michael) Brand on February 1.2.1947, 5, to Bronia and Fischel, parents of poor Holocaust survivors from Poland who fled Europe because of the Nazis in a Holocaust survivor internment camp in Famagusta, Cyprus. When the family immigrated to Israel a few months after his birth, they settled in Kibbutz Gvat in the Galilee and later lived in Haifa, where his younger brother, Zvi, was also born. Until the age of XNUMX, the child Moshe did not speak a single word.

The soft hymns and piyyutim of the synagogue

Moshe grew up in Haifa and as a child he always loved to sing. As a child he was drawn to music through the psalms and hymns of the neighborhood synagogue in the Kiryat Eliezer neighborhood. He used to sing at family events, at weddings of relatives, at bar mitzvahs and at any casual event. The boy always sang and never stopped.

Performed in the Carmelite School Choir

As a little boy, Moshe's big dream was to become a famous singer and at the age of 11 he performed in the Carmelite School choir and became the only boy in the choir. Moshe Brand did not finish his studies and was sent by his parents to work on a kibbutz in the north. Later, he joined the drama classes of the Haifa Theater. At the age of 15, Mike underwent stomach surgery and was forced to give up his military service for these health reasons. Later, among the odd jobs that Mike Brand worked for a living were selling ice, portering, mechanics, working at the Haifa Port, a refrigerator technician and even working in security as a guard at the Haifa Maritime Museum.

The road to Paris

In 1962, he joined a band that also included his brother Zvika, and later changed his name to Mike Brent and began performing as a singer in hotels in Haifa and Tel Aviv. In 1967, his beloved father died, leaving him heartbroken. At the age of 19, Mike joined the Carmon band, with which he also traveled to concerts around the world. Two years later, he returned to perform at the Sheraton Hotel in Tel Aviv and was also invited to perform at the Baccarat Club in the Hilton Hotel in Tehran, Iran, where he met the French singer Sylvie Vertan, who invited him to visit her in the city of lights, Paris, France.

Huge hit

Brent began performing in Paris and became friends with the renowned composer Jean Renard. Renard was the one who wrote Brent the song "Laisse Moi Taimer" (Let Me Love You) which instantly became a huge hit that was played all over the world, his famous song, which also made him famous and brought him immense and immense fame throughout the world. Renard immediately signed him to a 5-year recording contract.

He wrote the lyrics in Hebrew letters.

Many do not know, and we can reveal to you that on the song "Laisse Moi Taimer" (Let Me Love You) alone, Mike Brent and the songwriter worked on it for over two months, and this was because Mike Brent did not know a single word in the French language. Mike wrote the lyrics in Hebrew letters with punctuation so that he could read them and learn them with the correct pronunciation of each syllable in the French language. The song was recorded over 250 times, until it was finally perfect.

Music Award

In 1970, singer Mike Burnett made his first appearance on French television, causing the entire television telephone system to crash. He performed his song "Mais Dans La Lumiere" and won the RTL Music Award, becoming an overnight star. His albums sold hundreds of thousands of copies, and tickets were almost impossible to get for all of his shows.

In 1971, after recovering from a serious car accident, Brent made his debut at the prestigious Olympia Hall in Paris. A year later, at the San Remo Festival in Italy, he also discovered and adopted the song "Qui Saura" performed by the blind Puerto Rican singer José Feliciano. Brent sang the song in a new arrangement by Michel Jordan that made it to the top of the French charts.

Brent also wrote the lyrics to his first song, "Cest Ma Priere," written by Richard Saff, and this album also took first place in all the charts and sales. In 1973, the Yom Kippur War broke out and Brent did not hesitate for a moment to return to Israel to perform for IDF soldiers at the front and also visited our wounded soldiers who were hospitalized in Israel. After that, he returned to France at the end of 1974 as a different person.

Many do not know that on November 22.11.1974, 1.2.1975, Mike Brent attempted to commit suicide by jumping from the fifth floor of the "HaShalom" Hotel in Geneva, Switzerland, but his fall, which was very powerful, was stopped by a balcony on the third floor of the building, resulting in a broken leg and he survived. Brent said at the time: "I thank God for saving my life." He also said from the hospital where he was hospitalized, "It was complete nonsense. I think it was the last time, I hope and I am sure of it." The singer Dalida and Charles Aznavour, who were his good friends, visited him in the hospital where he was hospitalized in an attempt to lift his spirits. Mike came out with a concussion and broken legs, but mainly with melancholy, a type of severe depression. On February 28, XNUMX, he celebrated his XNUMXth birthday in his hospital room.

Mike had a moving and unique voice, and in addition to that, he was handsome and had an extraordinary appearance. He also had a kind of charm and charisma, audacity and impressive stage performance ability, which was not seen on the stages in Israel at that time. He had "sex appeal" and phenomenal talent. All of these unique qualities brought him to dizzying meteoric success, like a fireworks display that exploded in one day.

His records sold millions of copies, films were made about him, musicals were made, which incorporated his famous hits. During his performances, thousands of girls and women would scream and jump on Burnett, and there were also many who fainted. Even if he was surrounded by dozens of bodyguards, he had hundreds of thousands of fans and especially female fans who worshipped him all over the world. It should be noted that even after the performances, hysterical female fans would surround his carriage, trying their luck to pull on his shirt and clothes or to take and tear a hair from his hair, in any case they always did so but without success.

While recovering from his suicide attempt, Mike recorded another song that became a huge hit and hit – "Dis Lui" ("Tell Her"). Brent continued to perform and record as usual, but his mental state continued to deteriorate. Five months after his suicide attempt on April 5, 25.4.1975, the terrible tragedy occurred, when he was only 28 years old, where Brent ended his life by jumping from the balcony of his sixth-floor home at 6 Rue Erlanger in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France.

Mike Burnett was laid to rest on May 7.5.1975, 50, when a crowd of thousands of male and female fans came to accompany him on his final journey to the Hof Carmel Cemetery in Haifa. A funeral in which heartbreaking scenes were seen above his grave, his female fans refused to say goodbye to him forever. It should be noted that to this day, on the anniversary of his memory, his grave adjacent to the cemetery fence has become a pilgrimage site for many fans from Israel and around the world. Even today, after XNUMX years, we are left with the great secret of his silent death and with the longing for Mike Burnett, which has not passed over the years, but has only grown stronger and stronger.

At the beginning of 2020, the Haifa City Naming Committee decided to commemorate the memory of singer Mike Burnett by naming a street after him "Mike Burnett Ave." In August 2020, the street was inaugurated, just a few meters from the house where Burnett's parents lived, at 8 Partizanim Street in the Kiryat Eliezer neighborhood of Haifa.

Indeed, even today, 50 years after Mike Burnett's tragic death, he is still a man whom many around the world admire and whose songs they take care to preserve his memory in every way possible. Indeed, the legend of the magic of the Haifa crowd idol is over!

One of Mike Burnett's oldest and most well-known fans who comes every year to his memorial service at the Haifa cemetery is Ms. Marcel Itzhaky-Ohayon, 68, who lives in Tirat Carmel. For five decades, and in fact to this day, she has been connected to the fan community club and the "Mike Burnett Forum" in Israel, and throughout the world through social networks.

Marcel returned about two weeks ago from the big event "50 Years in Memory of Mike Burnett" held in Paris, France, which was attended by many fans of the singer, as well as people from the music world in France, as well as Yona Burnett, Mike Burnett's niece, and the daughter of Zvika, Mike's brother, who was born a year after his death, crowds of fans of the singer from different countries around the world, famous singers from France, the singer Enrico Macias, Orly Agostini, who was Mike's backing singer. It should be noted that the Haifa singer Athaliah Komornik also took part in this evening, singing some of Mike Burnett's best songs, and more.

In a moving interview with the news reporter of "Hai Fe News Corporation", Ms. Marcel Ohayon-Yitzhaky said:

"I was a little girl at the time, 13 years old. You could say I've been living and breathing Mike Burnett for 50 years. My private archive is full and my memories of Mike Burnett are packed and full at home. I have hundreds of photos, articles and many newspaper clippings that I saved from that nostalgic period and of course dozens of Mike's original records and CDs from back then, including various compilations that were released in France last year as well. I was at many of his concerts when he performed in Israel.

I can say that so many people and fans of Mike come to the cemetery here in Haifa today, even though 50 years have already passed, it only proves how much everyone loved him so much and never forgot him, and probably and I'm sure they won't either. There are many people, especially from the city of Haifa, who claim that they were the ones who discovered Mike Burnett, who were good friends of his for many years. In truth, it's all one big bluff! Mike Burnett shouldn't have been discovered at all because everyone knows that he was simply born a singer.

Mike was the most famous representative of the State of Israel and was its best ambassador. His true friends and admirers of his memory are the ones we meet here every year at the cemetery on his annual memorial day. And it is usually always the same people. May they all be blessed and honored. In addition to remembering to come and honor Mike's memory, each of them also takes care of bringing refreshments of cakes and cookies, borax and drinks, and at the end of the memorial service at the cemetery, they also hold a dignified bar mitzvah meal in his memory. These are his true friends. There will never be another great singer like Mike Burnett. He will always remain in my heart forever, a legend who is completely full of magic, and will always remain so forever and ever. May his memory be blessed!"

Another of Mike Brent's longtime and well-known fans that we met, who comes every year and attended the memorial service at the Haifa cemetery with her daughter, is Mika Kate, 65, from the city of Kiryat Gat in southern Israel, who said: "On the day that singer Mike Brent jumped to his tragic death from the balcony of his home in Paris, I was actually an XNUMXth grader in Kiryat Gat, where I still live today."

We should note that Mika was born Mary Kate when she was two years old when she immigrated to Israel with her family to Kiryat Gat. To this day, she sleeps in her room at home with the walls covered with large and small pictures of the singer Mike Burnett. She was 14 years old at the time when she heard the nightingale voice of Mike, who was considered one of the greatest and most beloved singers in Israel and in the world. She also has a large tattoo of Mike's image on her shoulder.

In her home, Mika has a huge collection of records, various newspaper clippings from Israel and around the world, and we should add that even at the age of 18 she changed her name to Mika, she is a mother of 3 children and a grandmother to grandchildren, and as she says, she will always be and always remain a fan forever of the late Mike Burnett.

Another longtime fan of Mike Burnett who came to take part in the memorial service at the cemetery was Oshik Cohen, 45, from Kiryat Ata, who said: "I have loved Mike Burnett for many years. Every year I come here to the cemetery on his annual memorial day, but not only that, but throughout the year I come here to his grave in Haifa often."

Next year will mark the 51st anniversary of the tragic death of Mike Brent, the Haifa boy who became the idol of the masses who ended his life at only 28 years old. Mike Brent was indeed a legend in his life and a legend in his death as well. This is a legend full of special magic that never ends, even if 50 years have passed to this day. A jubilee of years has passed, but his thousands of fans in Israel and around the world and hundreds of fan clubs that still remain loyal to him throughout the countries of the world and his many songs - will probably live forever. May the memory of Mike Brent be blessed!

Mike Burnett is considered the most successful Israeli artist outside the State of Israel, the great heartthrob of the 70s. Burnett, whose death is still shrouded in mystery, committed suicide on April 25, 1975, at the age of 28, by jumping from the balcony of a sixth-floor apartment at 6 Rue Erlanger in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. He went from being a legend to a tragic hero and a symbol of the cruelty of the entertainment world.