Dennis Osadebe
Song Correspondent
Getty Images1000’s of folk accrued in Mali on Sunday for the funeral of musician Amadou Bagayoko, of the world-renowned duo Amadou & Mariam.
Buddies, kin, enthusiasts and fellow artists flocked to the rite within the capital, Bamako – together with musician Salif Keita and previous top minister Moussa Mara.
Some of the a success African musical acts of the 2000s, husband and spouse duo Amadou & Mariam completed international repute by way of combining West African influences with rhythm and blues.
Their leap forward book, 2004’s Dimanche à Bamako, bought part 1,000,000 copies international and ended in collaborations with Blur’s Damon Albarn, in addition to appearances on the Glastonbury and Coachella gala’s.
Mali’s tradition minister, Mamou Daffé, stated on order TV that Bagayoko had died on Friday in Bamako on the while of 70.
The musician’s society showed the scoop, including that he “had been ill for a while”.
Negative additional knowledge used to be given on the reason for dying, however his widow, Mariam Doumbia, described her husband’s closing moments.
“I took his hand and tried to make some movements with it, but it didn’t move,” she stated.
“I said, ‘Amadou, don’t do this, speak to Mariam… but he didn’t speak any more.”
The musician used to be taken to health center, the place he due to this fact died.
“I thought that, if Amadou went just like that, then me, I’m alone,” Doumbia added.
“I was alone and I will remain alone in life.”
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Getty ImagesFranco-Spanish big name Manu Chao, who produced Dimanche à Bamako, led tributes to Bagayoko in a submit on Instagram, pronouncing: “We will always be together… Wherever you go.
“Mariam, Sam, the entire society, your ache is my ache. I really like you,” he added.
Young Malian singer Sidiki Diabate lamented “some other large loss for Malian track”.
Youssou N’Dour said he considered Amadou & Mariam to be “the ambassadors of African track virtually far and wide on this planet”.
Speaking to France’s TV5 Monde, he said Bagayoko had pursued his career with “a dignity and some way of day that impressed us all… and inspired us in what we had been doing”.
Inventor of ‘Afro-rock’
Born in Bamako in 1954, Bagayoko went blind when he was 15 because of a congenital cataract.
He subsequently enrolled at Mali’s Institute for the Young Blind, where he met his future wife, Mariam, who had lost her vision at the age of five after contracting measles.
They formed a band called Mali’s Blind Couple in 1980, and moved to the neighbouring Ivory Coast in 1986, having realised that Mali’s under-developed music industry would be a hindrance to their career.
There, they recorded a series of cassettes, pairing Doumbia’s soulful voice with Bagayoko’s powerful guitar style, inspired by British acts like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.
The aim, Bagayoko said, was to “discover a hyperlink between the two of them and our Bambara tradition”. He christened the sound “Afro-rock”.
Getty ImagesTheir lives were changed when Manu Chao heard one of their songs on the radio and offered to produce their next album.
He ended up co-writing and singing on the record, adding eccentric rhythmical touches to their brand of desert blues.
The result was Dimanche à Bamako, which won both the Victoire de la Musique – France’s equivalent to a Grammy Award – and the BBC Radio World Music Award in 2005.
Their follow-up, 2008’s Welcome to Mali, was nominated for best contemporary world music album at the Grammys.
That record was produced by Albarn, who had invited the duo to take part in his Africa Express project in 2007, and invited them to tour with Blur during their 2009 reunion shows.
Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters was also a fan, and took Amadou & Mariam on the road with his band in 2012.
“What they do hearkens again to vintage rock and actual musicianship,” he told the Times as the tour kicked off.
“Now with all bands, whilst you’re enjoying are living, everyone’s were given backing tracks happening. Everybody’s running with a web. They’re a correct old-school rock band.”
Getty ImagesIn 2009, they played in Oslo as Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; and in 2011 staged a series of concerts in the dark to show audiences how they experienced music.
A year later, they decided to record two versions of their sixth album Folila – one in New York and one with traditional musicians in Bamako.
The idea was to release each separately but, in the end, the duo decided to combine the recordings, mixing different takes of the same song together in a third studio in Paris.
Featuring contributions from Santigold, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and TV On The Radio, it earned the group a second Grammy nomination in 2012.
2017’s La Confusion, addressed the political turmoil in their homeland, where Islamic extremists had imposed Sharia law and banished music.
Songs like Bofou Safou offered messages of strength, resistance and optimism amidst the turmoil. Bagayoko said he hoped the music was universal
“We began to paintings at the issues that had been going down in our fatherland, however next realised that they may well be implemented to a dozen of alternative nations on this planet,” he told OkayAfrica.
“There’s a lack of certainty in all places the realm, and it’s past to keep in touch, to speak and proportion concepts for a greater while and working out.”
The duo had been due to go on a European tour in May and June, including UK dates in Cheltenham in Brighton.
Bagayoko’s final performance came at the closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
He is survived by his wife and a son, Sam, also a musician.
Bagayoko “will likely be buried in society intimacy within the yard of his house”, his spokesman Djiby Sacko advised the AFP information company.
