On February 8, 2015, the all-female Jewish pop-rock group, HAIM was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. The group consists of three sisters: Este Haim, born March 14, 1986; Danielle Haim, born February 16, 1989; and Alana Haim; born December 15, 1991. The Haim sisters grew up in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California with musician parents. Their Israeli born father, Mordecai, and their mother, Donna, were musically talented in their own right and together the family formed their own cover band called Rockinhaim. Mordecai and Donna taught the girls how to play musical instruments as children. Their father kept a drum set in their living room and taught all three girls how to play. In the band’s current formation, all three sisters sing vocals with Danielle as the lead vocal and guitar, Este on bass, and Alana on guitar and keyboard.

HAIM’s first EP entitled, Forever, was released in February, 2012, reaching great success with the leading single, also titled Forever, hitting the top Billboard charts. The band released their first album, Days Are Gone, on September 27, 2013. This album was considered one of the top 100 albums of 2010-2014 by Pitchfork. Their debut single off the Days Are Gone album reached # 6 on the Billboard top 100 charts on October 19, 2013. The successes of their album led to a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist, but they ultimately lost to Sam Smith. They later created a second album, entitled Something to Tell You, released on July 7, 2017. The album’s single, also named Something to Tell You, reached #7 on the Billboard 200 chart.

The sisters are proud of their Jewish identity and often post about Jewish holidays and events on their social media accounts. In December of 2017, HAIM released a short Hanukkah song on their Facebook page. In November 2018, the sisters launched a holiday-themed clothing line including Hanukkah-themed apparel and donated a portion of the profits to the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh following the shooting.

This entry was created for This Week in History as part of a course on the history of American Jewish women taught by Karla Goldman at the University of Michigan, Winter 2019.

Sources: “Haim (Band).” Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Jan. 2019; “Haim Chart History.” Billboard, Billboard; “Haim.” GRAMMY.com, Recording Academy, 15 Feb. 2019; HelloCanada. “10 Things to Know about GRAMMY-Nominated Band HAIM.” HOLA, HELLO!, 4 Feb. 2015; Spiro, Amy. “Haim (Band).” Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Jan. 2019; “Band Haim Selling Hanukkah Merch to Benefit Pittsburgh Synagogue.” The Jerusalem Post, 22 Nov. 2018; Weiner, Jonah. “How Haim Became the Year's Coolest New Band.” Rolling Stone Magazine, 25 June 2018.