Amadou & Mariam

Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia are a couple in life and on stage, known as Amadou & Mariam, formed in 1980 in Bamako, Mali. Both artists lost their sight in their youth, and both began playing music very early. She sang at weddings from the age of 6 and he started playing percussion at a very young age, before learning the guitar at 10. They met while playing in the orchestra of the Institute for Blind Youth in Bamako in 1975 and began making music together in 1980. They moved to Abidjan in 1986 and, between 1989 and 1993, released a series of cassettes: five volumes entitled Le Couple Aveugle du Mali. This allowed them to establish their reputation during numerous tours in West Africa. Their career took an international turn in the mid-1990s when they recorded the album Sou Ni Tilé (1998) and its hit "Je pense à toi." In November 2004, Dimanche à Bamako was released, recorded in collaboration with Manu Chao. The chorus of "Beaux dimanches" was on everyone's lips and "Sénégal Fast Food" was listened to hundreds of millions of times. The album was certified platinum and won multiple awards. In France and around the world, the duo headlined major festivals, including Coachella in the United States. Success continued with subsequent recordings, including Welcome to Mali in 2008 and the hit produced by Damon Albarn, "Sabali." Other collaborations include those with Keziah Jones and Matthieu Chedid. In 2010, Amadou & Mariam presented their first concert in the dark, Eclipse, which was released as an album in 2022, with the participation of Oxmo Puccino and Damon Albarn. Their eighth album, Folila, was released in 2012 with the main single "Oh Amadou", a trio with Bertrand Cantat. In 2017, La Confusion was released. The couple can be found on record more sporadically, notably on the single "Sete" with Blond:ish and Francis Mercier in 2022. The same year, they appeared on Tiken Jah Fakoly's album, Braquage de Pouvoir and in 2024, Major Lazer remixed their track "Mogolu". After performing at the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games in the summer of 2024, for a cover of Serge Gainsbourg's "Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais", the death of Amadou Bagayoko, on April 4, 2025 at the age of 70, puts an end to a half-century adventure.