Dotan Harpenau, better known by his stage name Dotan, is a Dutch-Israeli singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer.
Biography
Personal life
Dotan was born in Jerusalem and moved to Amsterdam at the age of 1. He currently lives in Amsterdam.
7 Layers
On 31 January 2014, Dotan released his self-produced studio album7 Layers at Paradiso, Amsterdam. The album quickly reached number 2 on the Dutch Top 100 Charts according to Dutch news website NU.nl. The first single, "Fall", was released on 17 January 2014. The second single from the album is called "Home"'. "Home" was nominated SuperCrazyTurboTopHit, 3FM Megahit, and Alarmschijf on Dutch Radio. After several weeks at number one in the Dutch iTunes top 100, "Home" entered the Dutch MegaTop50 at number 1 and remained there for 4 weeks. "Home" also became number 1 in Belgium on 22 August. It peaked at number 9 on the German iTunes top 100. The album 7 Layers achieved Gold status on 25 August, and "Home" reached Double Platinum status. It also went Gold in Belgium. The album reached Double Platinum on 15 October 2015 in the Netherlands, and "Home" achieved Triple Platinum status on 23 December 2014. The single also reached number 2 on the Next Big Sound chart on the American entertainment website Billboard. The album is in the top 5 most streamed albums in the Netherlands on Spotify and number 10 in the Top 1,000 best albums in the Netherlands of all time. The song "Hungry" reached number 2 on the annual list of 2015 on Belgium's radio station Studio Brussel.
Scores and TV shows
The song "Home II" was used in the last episode of season 2 of the TV Show The 100.
The song "It Gets Better" was featured in the sixth episode of season 6 of Pretty Little Liars.
The song "Waves" was used in the tenth episode of season 3 of The Originals.
7 Layers Sessions
In January 2016, Dotan launched his own concert series titled "7 Layers Sessions", at Bitterzoet, Amsterdam, where he promotes talented new national and international musicians. After some sold-out sessions at Bitterzoet, 7 Layers also added a Festival Edition in 2016. Dotan announced a second season in 2017.
Shadow Wind and Numb
Dotan released his single "Shadow Wind" on 4 August 2016, and this was chosen as the 2016 Olympic Games anthem. "Shadow Wind" was nominated as a 3FM Megahit, as well as a 538 Alarmschijf and Radio 2 Topsong in The Netherlands, and peaked on the airplay chart at number 1. On 22 May 2020, Dotan released the EP Numb.
Tours
After several sold-out tours through Europe, Dotan sold out the music stadium Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam. He also toured across the USA twice with Ben Folds in 2015 and 2016.
Controversy
In April 2018, after several months of research, Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant revealed that Dotan had enlisted the aid of at least 140 troll accounts to boost his online reputation and following. These accounts disparaged other musicians and made up feel-good stories about chance encounters with fans. de Volkskrant also revealed that Dotan's management had repeatedly tried to alter Dotan's Dutch Wikipedia page. The singer later confirmed the existence of these accounts, apologised, and terminated all his social media activities.
