Rising star

Yoav Sadan (29) grew up in Constantia, Cape Town, and is now a rising star in the music world. A cousin gave his demo CD to Paul Rappaport, who was senior vice-president of Columbia Records. He was invited to New York and given a development deal. Rappaport became Yoav's manager and mentor. Rappaport has been named by Billboard as one of the most influential people in the music business. Amongst his stars are Bruce Springsteen and Pink Floyd. Yoav's single, Club Thing, went to No. 1 in Denmark and is also popular in Canada. He was tipped as a star for 2008 in Music Week, the UK's music paper.

Yoav was born in Tel Aviv in 1975, to an opera singer mother, Patricia, and violinist father, Jacques. Jacques, a Romanian Jew, fought in the wars that led to the establishment of Israel. He was an architect who became a tank commander. Soon after Yoav's birth, the family moved to South Africa. At the age of four, he started piano and cello lessons. At age 13, he started playing guitar. While at Bishops in Cape Town, Yoav played in a band with IT billionaire Mark Shuttleworth. Last year he was the supporting act for Tori Amos' US tour.