Tinariwen

Tinariwen are possibly the only international group or musicians whose founding members can claim to have been trained as part of an elite desert fighting force by the late Colonel Gaddafi. Loosely translated, the band's name means 'Desert Boys', an apt name for a group of wandering Tuareg musicians whose home has been the deserts of Mali, Libya and Algeria.

The Tuareg culture and famously nomadic lifestyle means Tinariwen by definition has a fluid roster of personnel with a continually evolving line-up of members. The band was formed by Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, a Mali born Tuareg who tragically witnessed his father killed in a rebel uprising in 1963. In the late 1970s Ag Alhabib formed a band with friends in the rebel Tuareg community and, when Libya's ruler invited all Tuareg rebels living illegally in Libya to join his army and obtain a legitimate right to stay in the country, the Desert Boys joined up.

The band have enjoyed a colourful history, both as musicians and rebel fighters, and by the end of the millennium had begun to become established on the world music stage, primarily through the efforts of their French manager Philippe Brix. Sadly, in recent years the band have been targeted by Islamic extremists and some members have been forced to resettle in the USA to avoid persecution.