Zeritu Kebede

Born and raised in Addis Ababa, Zeritu is a true Addis native. Her father was an architect and her mother chose to be a housewife. Zeritu has two younger siblings as well as older step-siblings from her father’s first marriage and previous relationships. Her parents valued the importance of school and Zeritu divided her time between home and school. Growing up, Zeritu wasn’t allowed to do much besides study. Visiting her grandparents was a fun escape from the strict household of her parents and they were a great influence in Zeritu’s life, giving her a broader taste of Ethiopian society.

Zeritu fell in love with music at an early age. Her parents were great music lovers and had a diverse collection that included Ethiopian and American artists. Zeritu began to explore the collection, discovering amazing artists and different styles and sounds. It was through this collection that Zeritu realized she wanted to be a singer. She began to sing at school in her music classes and starting writing her own music. Zeritu had many favorite musicians at this time, but says Celine Dion was the one that played a pivotal role in her musical development.

During these years, Zeritu decided to keep her singing ambitions to herself as she knew that it would not be accepted by society as a career. Her singing debut came in eighth grade, where she performed at a parent’s day event with the Yared Music School students’ band. It was the first time her parents saw her perform and they were proud.

Zeritu began her career in music, singing with The Express Band. She released her first album Zeritu in 2005.Zeritu decided to take her music on ‘Guzo Zeritu’, a national tour across Ethiopia, an unusual step in the pop music culture of Ethiopia.
She overcame many obstacles to bring her vision to reality and gained the gratitude of her fans and the admiration of fellow artists. Zeritu personally financed her national tour, bringing an all-star quality to each of her performances. After her Ethiopian tour, she took her music on tour to the United States and Europe.

As a musician, Zeritu doesn’t like to be categorized or labeled. Her music is a reflection of her life and experiences and she doesn’t identify it with one particular genre or style. Since the release of her album, Zeritu has collaborated with several bands and artists recording songs and performing locally and internationally. She has worked in a variety of different musical styles, from rock, funk, acoustics to jazz. Zeritu may just be ready for her second album and while we can be sure that there will be similarities to the first album, there will also be exciting additions that reflect her continuing journey.