Youssou N'Dour

Youssou N'Dour (Template:IPA, Template:Langx Template:IPA; also known as Youssou Madjiguène Ndour;<ref>Xalima, Youssou « Madjiguéne » devenu l’ennemi des hommes sénégalais... (28 November 2019) [1]</ref> 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<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and in 2023, the same publication ranked him at number 69 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> From April 2012 to September 2013, he was Senegal's Minister of Tourism.

N'Dour 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<ref name="Sturman"/><ref name="coonnol"/> music njuup tradition and ndut initiation ceremonies.<ref name="Sturman">Sturman, Janet, The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture, SAGE Publications (2019), p. 1926, Template:ISBN. Retrieved 13 July 2019.</ref><ref name="coonnol">Connolly, Sean, Senegal, Bradt Travel Guides (2009), p. 27, Template:ISBN [2] (Retrieved 13 July 2019)</ref> He is the subject of the award-winning films Return to Gorée (2007) directed by Pierre-Yves Borgeaud and Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love (2008) directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, which were released around the world.

In 2006, N'Dour was cast as Olaudah Equiano in the film Amazing Grace.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life

File:YoussouNDour08TIFF.jpg

N'Dour at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival

Ethnically,<ref>In the Senegambia region as well as many African cultures, a person's ethnicity is determined by their father's line or surname. N'Dour and its variation Ndure or Ndour is a typical Serer surname. See - Mwakikagile, Godfrey, The Gambia and Its People: Ethnic Identities and Cultural Integration in Africa, New Africa Press (2010), p. 136, 141. Template:ISBN</ref> N'Dour is Serer, born to a Serer father and a Toucouleur mother.<ref name="Sturman"/><ref name="mus me port"/> However, culturally, N'Dour is Wolof.<ref name="mus me port">Template:Cite news</ref> He was born in Dakar.<ref name="Sturman"/> He started performing at age 12 and would later perform regularly with the Star Band, Dakar's most popular group during the 1970s.

Despite N'Dour's 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 N'Dour family, his parents' world-view encouraged a modern outlook, leaving him open to two cultures and thereby inspiring N'Dour's 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Music career

At the age of 15, Youssou N'Dour joined a band called Diamono and, in 1975, toured with the band in West Africa.<ref name="Hardy">Hardy, Phil, The Da Capo Companion to 20th-century Popular Music, Da Capo Press (1995), p. 682, Template:ISBN</ref><ref name="Appiah and Gates">Appiah, Anthony, Gates, Henry Louis, Encyclopedia of Africa, Volume 1, Oxford University Press (2010), p. 562, Template:ISBN [3]</ref>

In 1976 when N'Dour was 16 years old, he signed a contract to sing with Ibra Kasse's Star Band at Kasse's Miami club in Dakar where he would become a sensation.

In 1978, N'Dour would follow as several members of the Star Band left to form Étoile de Dakar, a band that made important contributions to Senegal's newly evolving musical style called mbalax which incorporated traditional Senegalese music into the Latin styles that had dominated Senegalese popular music.<ref>Hudson, Mark, essay in liner notes of "Once Upon a Time in Senegal", Etoile de Dakar, Sterns Music 2010, p. 14</ref> Although they quickly became one of the city's most popular bands,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the group was short-lived due to internal problems. Étoile de Dakar split into two groups: Étoile 2000 and Super Étoile de Dakar. The latter group included N'Dour, 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 N'Dour's backing band.

By 1991, he had opened his own recording studio, and, by 1995, his own record label, Jololi.

N'Dour is one of the most celebrated African musicians in history. His mix of traditional Senegalese mbalax with eclectic influences ranging from Cuban rumba to hip hop, jazz, and soul has won him an international fan base of millions. In the West, N'Dour has collaborated with Peter Gabriel,<ref name="G150608">Template:Cite web</ref> Axelle Red,<ref name="I290598">Template:Cite news</ref> Sting,<ref name="T121202">Template:Cite news</ref> Alan Stivell,<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Bran Van 3000,<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Neneh Cherry,<ref name="I211004">Template:Cite news</ref> Wyclef Jean,<ref name="T121202"/> Paul Simon,<ref name="I211004"/> Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman, James Newton Howard, Branford Marsalis, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Dido, Lou Reed, Bruce Cockburn, and others.

The New York Times described his voice as an "arresting tenor, a supple weapon deployed with prophetic authority".<ref name="NYT231100">Template:Cite news</ref> N'Dour's work absorbed the entire Senegalese musical spectrum, often filtered through the lens of genre-defying rock or pop music from outside Senegalese culture.

In July 1993, Africa Opera composed by N'Dour premiered at the Opéra Garnier for the French Festival Paris quartier d'été.<ref name="Polar Music Prize">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1994, N'Dour released his biggest international hit single, the trilingual "7 Seconds", a duet sung with Neneh Cherry.

He wrote and performed the official anthem of the 1998 FIFA World Cup with Axelle Red "La Cour des Grands (Do You Mind If I Play)".<ref name="I290598"/>

Folk Roots magazine described him as the African Artist of the Century. He toured internationally for thirty years. He won his first American Grammy Award (best contemporary world music album) for his CD Egypt in 2005.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

He is the proprietor of L'Observateur, one of the widest-circulation newspapers in Senegal, the radio station RFM (Radio Future Medias) and the TV channel TFM.

In 2002, N'Dour was honoured with a Prince Claus Award, under that year's theme "Languages and transcultural forms of expression".

In 2006, N'Dour played the role of the African-British abolitionist Olaudah Equiano in the movie Amazing Grace, which chronicled the efforts of William Wilberforce to end slavery in the British Empire.<ref name="G210307">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2008, N'Dour offered one of his compositions, Bébé, for the French singer Cynthia Brown.Template:Citation needed

In 2011, N'Dour was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in music from Yale University.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2013, N'Dour won a share of Sweden's $150,000 Polar music prize for promoting understanding between faiths as well as for his music.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Activism

N'Dour was nominated as Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on 16 October 2000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In Senegal, N'Dour became a powerful cultural icon, actively involved in social issues. In 1985, he organized a concert for the release of Nelson Mandela. He was a featured performer in the 1988 worldwide Amnesty International Human Rights Now! Tour collaborating with Lou Reed on a version of the Peter Gabriel song "Biko" which was produced by Richard James Burgess and featured on the Amnesty International benefit album The Secret Policeman's Third Ball. He worked with the United Nations and UNICEF, and he started Project Joko to open internet cafés in Africa and to connect Senegalese communities around the world.

In 2003, N'Dour cancelled an upcoming American tour in order to publicly deny support for the upcoming American invasion of Iraq. In a public statement explaining his decision, N'Dour said:

It is my strong conviction that the responsibility for disarming Iraq should rest with the United Nations. As a matter of conscience I question the United States government's apparent intention to commence war in Iraq. I believe that coming to America at this time would be perceived in many parts of the world--rightly or wrongly--as support for this policy, and that, as a consequence, it is inappropriate to perform in the US at this juncture.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

He performed in three of the Live 8 concerts (in Live 8 concert, London, Live 8 concert, Paris and at the Live 8 concert, Eden Project in Cornwall) on 2 July 2005, with Dido.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He covered John Lennon's "Jealous Guy" for the 2007 CD Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. N'Dour appeared in a joint Spain-Senegal ad campaign to inform the African public about the dramatic consequences of illegal immigration.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He participated in the Stock Exchange of Visions project in 2007.<ref name="TDO130609">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2008, he joined the Fondation Chirac's honour committee.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The same year, Youssou N'Dour's microfinance organization named Birima ("Birima" is also a song's title) was launched with the collaboration of United Colors of Benetton.

In 2009, he released his song "Wake Up (It's Africa Calling)" under a Creative Commons license to help IntraHealth International in their IntraHealth Open campaign to bring open source health applications to Africa. The song was remixed by a variety of artists including Nas, Peter Buck of R.E.M., and Duncan Sheik to help raise money for the campaign.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

N'Dour is a supporter of the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation which advocates for democratic reformation of the United Nations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

N'Dour is a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Political career

At the beginning of 2012, he announced plans to stand as a candidate in the 2012 Senegalese presidential election, competing against President Abdoulaye Wade.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, he was disqualified from running in the election over the legitimacy of the signatures he had collected to endorse his campaign.<ref name="BBC-Wade-run-court">Template:Cite news</ref> N'Dour backed the opposition candidate Macky Sall, who defeated Wade in a second round of voting in March 2012. N'Dour was appointed as Minister of Culture and Tourism in April 2012 as part of the cabinet of new Prime Minister Abdoul Mbaye.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The story of N'Dour's presidential campaign was filmed for the PBS TV program Sound Tracks: Music Without Borders.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Later his portfolio was modified and he was appointed as Minister of Tourism and Leisure. He was dismissed from that post on 2 September 2013, when a new government under Prime Minister Aminata Touré was appointed.<ref>"Sénégal : un nouveau gouvernement formé, sans le chanteur Youssou Ndour", Agence France-Presse, 2 September 2013 Template:In lang.</ref> N'Dour was instead appointed as Special Adviser to the President, with the rank of minister,<ref>"C’est officiel : Youssou N'dour nommé Conseiller spécial, avec rang de ministre", Dakaractu, 9 September 2013 Template:In lang.</ref> and tasked with promoting the country abroad.<ref>Benjamin Roger, "Yasmina Khadra, Youssou N’Dour, George Weah… Ces personnalités qui rêvaient d’être président", Jeune Afrique, 8 November 2013 Template:In lang.</ref>

Awards and nominations

Award	YearTemplate:Efn	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Template:Abbr
Brit Awards	1995	International Male Solo Artist	Himself	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Danish Music Awards	1995	Best International Song	"7 Seconds"	Template:Won	<ref>[4] Template:Dead link</ref>
Edison Award	1994	Best Pop International	The Guide (Wommat)	Template:Won	<ref>"POP 1994", Edisons.nl</ref>
Grammy Awards	1993	Best World Music Album	Eyes Open	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	1995		The Guide (Wommat)	Template:Nom
	2001		Joko: The Link	Template:Nom
	2004	Best Contemporary World Music Album	Nothing's In Vain (Coono du Réér)	Template:Nom
	2005		Egypt	Template:Won
	2009		Rokku Mi Rokka	Template:Nom
Ivor Novello Awards	1995	International Hit of the Year	"7 Seconds"	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
La Mar de Música Awards	2020	Festival Award	Himself	Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Lunas del Auditorio	2004	Espectaculo Alternativo		Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
MOBO Awards	2000	Best World Music Act		Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	2001			Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	2003			Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	2004			Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	2005	Best African Act		Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
MTV Europe Music Awards	1994	Best Song	"7 Seconds"	Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
Montreal International Jazz Festival	2011	Antonio Carlos Jobim Award	Himself	Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Polar Music Prize	2013	Polar Music Prize		Template:Won	<ref name="Polar Music Prize" />
Praemium Imperiale	2017	Music		Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Victoires de la Musique	2001	World Music Album of the Year	Joko	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	2011		Dakar – Kingston	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Urban Music Awards	2023	Artist of the Year (Africa)	Himself	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Discography File:Photo - Festival de Cornouaille 2010 - Youssou N'Dour en concert le 25 juillet - 010.JPG N'Dour at the 2010 Festival de Cornouaille at Quimper, France. Early cassettes This numbered series of cassettes was released in Senegal between 1982 and 1988, and was credited to Youssou N'Dour & Le Super Etoile de Dakar.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Vol 1 Tabaski Vol 2 Ndakarou Vol 3 Independence Vol 4 Banjoly N'Diaye Vol 5 Yarou Vol 6 Marguedy Vol 7 Daby Vol 8 Immigres Vol 9 Africa Vol 10 Ndobine Vol 11 Bekoor Vol 12 Jamm Vol 13 Kocc Barma Vol 14 Gainde Vol 15 Set Albums Ndiadiane Ndiaye (1982) Mouride (1982) Independance Vol. 3 (1982) Show!!! A Abidjan (1983) Immigrés (1984) Djamil Inédits 84-85 (1985) Nelson Mandela (1985) The Lion (1989) Set (1990) Eyes Open (1992) The Guide (Wommat) (1994) Gainde – Voices from the Heart of Africa (1995) Djamil (1996) – anthology Lii (1996) St. Louis (1997) Special Fin D'annee Plus (1998) Le Grand Bal a Évry (1999) Rewmi (1999) Joko: From Village to Town (2000) Joko: The Link (2000) Le Grand Bal (2000) Ba Tay (2001) Le Grand Bal a Bercy (2001) Nothing's in Vain (Coono Du Réér) (2002) Kirikou Et La Sorciere (2004) Egypt (2004) Jigeen Gni (2005) – single Alsaama Day (2007) Rokku Mi Rokka (2007) – No. 30 in Rolling StoneTemplate:'s Top 50 Albums of 2007.<ref>CHRISTGAU, ROBERT; FRICKE, DAVID; HOARD, CHRISTIAN; SHEFFIELD, ROB, "The Top 50 Albums of 2007" RollingStone.com, 17 December 2007</ref> I Bring What I Love (2008) – film soundtrack Special Fin D'annee: Salagne-Salagne (2009) Dakar – Kingston (2010) Mbalakh Dafay Wakh (2011) Fatteliku (2014) #Senegaal Rek (2016) Africa Rekk (2016) Seeni Valeurs (2017) Respect (2018) History (2019) Mbalax (2021) Compilation albums Diongoma (1983) Special Noël (1993) The Best Of Youssou N'Dour (1995) Euleuk Sibir with Omar Pene (You et Pene) (1996) Immigrés/Bitim Rew (1997) Inedits 84–85 (1997) Best of the 80's (1998) Hey You: The Essential Collection 1988–1990 (1998) Birth Of A Star (2001) Youssou N'Dour and His Friends (2002) The Rough Guide To Youssou N'Dour & Etoile de Dakar (2002) Céy You (2003) Le Grand Bal: Paris-Bercy (2003) 4.4.44 (2004) Bercy 2004 vol. 1 & 2 (2004) 7 Seconds: The Best Of Youssou N'Dour (Remastered) (2004) Bercy 2005 (2005) Le Grand Bal: Bercy 2008 (2008) From Senegal to the world (2012) Le Grand Bal: Bercy 2013 (2013) Africa Rekk (Réédition) (2017) Raxas Bercy 2017 (2017) Le Grand Show (2019) Collaborations 1986: So by Peter Gabriel – backing vocals on "In Your Eyes". 1989: Passion by Peter Gabriel – backing vocals on "A Different Drum", "Passion". 1990: Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats by Peter Gabriel – "Mercy Street" and "Shaking the Tree". 1990: Le mani e l'anima by Italian singer Claudio Baglioni – "Oltre" album. 2000: Album Solidays – song "Qui sait?" for the association Solidarité sida, with Anggun, Patrick Bruel, Stephan Eicher, Faudel, Peter Gabriel, Lââm, Lokua Kanza, Nourith, Axelle Red & Zucchero. 2003: Hit by Peter Gabriel – backing vocals on "In Your Eyes". 2005: Live 8: One Day, One Concert, One World DVD – N'Dour sings "7 Seconds" with Dido. 2005: Live 8 Paris DVD – N'Dour sings at the end of the concert "New Africa/Lima Weesu". 2006: An Other Cup by Yusuf – backing vocals on "The Beloved". 2007: Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign To Save Darfur – N'Dour sings "Jealous Guy". 2008: Bord Ezanga Kombo by Koffi Olomide – N'Dour on "Festival". 2009: Les Amis Du Monde with the Lebanese diva Majida El Roumi for the Francophone Games Opening 2009 in Beirut. 2020: Twice as Tall by Burna Boy – on track 4<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2020: L'Ours with Christophe Maé Singles Single Year Peak chart positions Album UK <ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">Template:Cite book</ref> AUS <ref name=aus>Australian chart peaks: Top 50 peaks: Template:Cite web "Undecided": Template:Cite web</ref> FRA <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> BEL (WAL) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> SWI <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> GER <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> US <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> US Alt Rock <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> "The Rubberband Man / Nelson Mandela" 1985 — — — — — — — — Nelson Mandela "Shango Affair" 1988 — — — — — — — — Black Mic Mac 2 OST "Shakin' the Tree" (with Peter Gabriel) 1989 61 — — — — — — 9 The Lion "The Lion / Gaïende" — — — — — — — — "Toxiques" 1990 — — — — — — — — Set "Africa Remembers" 1992 — — — — — — — — Eyes Open "7 Seconds" (with Neneh Cherry) 1994 3 3 1 — 1 3 98 — The Guide (Wommat) "Mame Bamba" — — — — — — — — "Undecided" 1995 53 145 — — — 92 — — "Chimes of Freedom" — — — — — — — — "How Come" (with Canibus) 1998 52 — — — — — — — Bulworth OST "La Cour Des Grands (A Ton Tour De Jouer)" (with Axelle Red) — — 16 31 — — — — official hymn of 1998 FIFA World Cup "My Hope Is in You" 1999 — — — — — — — — Joko - From Village to Town "Birima" 2000 — — — — — — — — "So Many Men" (with Pascal Obispo) 2002 — — 35 27 85 — — — Nothing's in Vain (Coono Du Réér) "#Senegaal rekk" (with Le Super Etoile) 2016 — — 189 — — — — — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. Films Amazing Grace (2006) As Olaudah Equiano. "A central figure in the abolitionist movement in Great Britain, Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745–97) wrote an eyewitness account of his life as a slave and of his work in the anti-slavery movement: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano." As a musician on the film's soundtrack. Retour à Gorée (2007) As himself, journeying from the island of Gorée to the USA and back, exploring the origins of jazz, which go back to the era of slave trade in Africa, through a concert performed by an international group of artists.<ref name=monde>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Curiel, Jonathan, "Return to Gorée" (review), San Francisco Chronicle, 19 September 2008.</ref> Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love (2008) As himself, through the recording of the Egypt album and its repercussions. Released in the US on DVD by Oscilloscope Laboratories. Notes References External links Template:Official website – official site Template:In lang Template:Discogs artist Youssou N'Dour at African Music Encyclopedia Youssou N'Dour interview at Afropop Worldwide, May 2004 Youssou N'Dour World Music Legends at GlobalRhythm.net Template:Usurped article Senegal Superstar Wins Grammy for "Egypt" at World Beat Planet, 16 February 2005 Youssou N'Dour article Youssou N'Dour, "Egypt" and Islam on National Public Radio Template:IMDb name Youssou N'Dour film Youssou N'Dour: I bring what I love at IMDb Youssou N'Dour role in the film Amazing Grace Youssou N'Dour video interview Visions of Youssou N'Dour on Stock Exchange of Visions Youssou N'Dour at IntraHealth Open, featuring N'Dour's track "Wake Up (It's Africa Calling)"