Bagayoko and his spouse, the blind duo Amadou and Mariam, grew to become one in every of Africa’s best-selling and beloved music business performers.
Grammy-nominated Malian musician Amadou Bagayoko, who gained world fame by moulding conventional West African sounds with Western rock and pop influences as one half of the blind duo Amadou and Mariam, has died aged 70.
The Malian Ministry of Tradition “realized with concern of the passing of artist Amadou Bagayoko this Friday,” it stated in an announcement learn on state tv on Saturday.
“Amadou was a blind man who made his mark on the Malian and worldwide scene.”
Bagayoko died within the metropolis of Bamako, his birthplace. His stepson Youssouf Fadiga instructed AFP information company the musician “had been ailing for some time” however didn’t specify what the ailment was. He’s survived by Mariam, who was additionally his spouse, and son, Sam, additionally a musician.
‘The blind couple from Mali’
Dubbed “the blind couple from Mali”, Amadou and Mariam grew to become one in every of Africa’s best-selling and beloved {couples}, enjoying alongside the likes of Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz, and Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour – a childhood idol.
Born in 1954, Bagayoko went blind when he was 15 due to a congenital cataract. He studied music at Mali’s Institute for the Younger Blind the place he met his future spouse, Mariam Doumbia. The couple shaped their band Mali’s Blind Couple in 1980, making their mark regionally and internationally.
Initially, they sang songs to boost consciousness of the issues going through their friends residing with blindness and disabilities earlier than their mix of conventional African influences with components of rock, blues and pop gained them a world following.
They produced greater than 10 award-winning albums, together with France’s Victoire de la Musique, in 2005 for Dimanche a Bamako and once more in 2013 for Folila. Dimanche a Bamako additionally gained them one of many BBC Radio Awards for World Music in 2006.
Their 2008 album, Welcome to Mali, was nominated for Greatest Up to date World Music Album on the Grammy Award for Greatest Up to date World Music Album.
They opened for British band Coldplay in 2009, and carried out on the Nobel Peace Prize live performance that very same 12 months when US President Barack Obama was awarded the prize.
Bagayogo’s final world-class efficiency with Doumbia was on the closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Video games.
French-born Spanish musician Manu Chao, who produced the album Dimanche a Bamako, provided his condolences on-line, alongside different worldwide artists. “Amadou! We’ll at all times be collectively … with you wherever you go,” he stated.
“I’ll always remember his friendship,” stated Senegalese singer-songwriter Youssou N’Dour. “My ideas are with my pricey Mariam.”
