On The Cover: Youssou N’Dour

Youssou N’Dour was born 1 October 1959. He is a Senegalese singer, percussionist and occasional actor. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, in Senegal and much of Africa, “perhaps the most famous singer alive.He helped develop a style of popular music in Senegal, known in the Serer language as mbalax. Youssou N’Dour began performing at the age of 12. Within a couple of years he was performing regularly with the Star Band, Dakar’s most popular group in the early 1970s. Although N’Dour has connections to the traditional griot caste on his mother’s side, he wasn’t raised in that tradition, learning it instead from his siblings. His parents encouraged him to look at things in a more modern manner, leaving him open to two cultures, with the result that he refers to himself as a modern griot. Youssou N’Dour is one of the most celebrated African musicians in history. A renowned singer, songwriter, and composer, Youssou’s mix of traditional Senegalese mbalax with eclectic influences ranging from Cuban samba to hip hop, jazz, and soul has won him an international fan base of millions. His 1994 duet with Neneh Cherry ‘7 Seconds’, sold three million copies and opened the doors to collaborations with the usual suspects, including Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman, Paul Simon and Ryuichi Sakamoto. In 2009 N’Dour released his song “Wake Up (It’s Africa Calling)” under 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 and Duncan Sheik to help raise money for the campaign. He married Mamie Camara in 1990. They have four children and live in the Senegalese capital, where N’Dour runs what can only be called a musical empire. In 2011; he was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in Music from Yale University. Ends