Youssou N'Dour

Youssou NDour also known as Youssou Madjiguène Ndour born 1 October 1959 is a Senegalese singer songwriter musician composer occasional actor businessman and politician In 2004 Rolling Stone described him as perhaps the most famous singer alive in Senegal and much of Africa and in 2023 the same publication ranked him at number 69 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time From April 2012 to September 2013 he was Senegals Minister of Tourism NDour helped develop a style of popular Senegalese music known by all Senegambians including the Wolof as mbalax a genre that has sacred origins in the Serer music njuup tradition and ndut initiation ceremonies He is the subject of the awardwinning films Return to Gorée 2007 directed by PierreYves Borgeaud and Youssou NDour I Bring What I Love 2008 directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi which were released around the world In 2006 NDour was cast as Olaudah Equiano in the film Amazing Grace Ethnically NDour is Serer born to a Serer father and a Toucouleur mother However culturally NDour is Wolof He was born in Dakar He started performing at age 12 and would later perform regularly with the Star Band Dakars most popular group during the 1970s Despite NDours maternal connection to the traditional griot caste he was not raised in that tradition which he learned instead from his sibling Although patrilineally from the noble NDour family his parents worldview encouraged a modern outlook leaving him open to two cultures and thereby inspiring NDours identity as a modern griot As a Mouride disciple taalibé in Wolof a Muslim of the Mouride brotherhood one of the large four Sufi orders in Senegambia he often incorporated aspects of Islamic music and chants into his work At the age of 15 Youssou NDour joined Super Diamono and in 1975 toured with the band in West Africa In 1976 when NDour was 16 years old he signed a contract to sing with Ibra Kasses Star Band at Kasses Miami club in Dakar where he would become a sensation In 1978 NDour would follow as several members of the Star Band left to form Étoile de Dakar a band that made important contributions to Senegals newly evolving musical style called mbalax which incorporated traditional Senegalese music into the Latin styles that had dominated Senegalese popular music Although they quickly became one of the citys most popular bands the group was shortlived due to internal problems Étoile de Dakar split into two groups Étoile 2000 and Super Étoile de Dakar The latter group included NDour guitarist Jimi Mbaye bassist Habib Faye and tama talking drum player Assane Thiam Super Étoile de Dakar produced four albums on cassette in just a few months and eventually evolved into NDours backing band By 1991 he had opened his own recording studio and by 1995 his own record label Jololi Source Article Youssou NDour from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30