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Gabon's music includes several folk styles and pop. Gabonese pop artistPatience Dabany, who now lives in the US, produces albums recorded in Los Angeles with a distinctively Gabonese element; they are popular throughout Francophone Africa.[citation needed] Other musicians include guitaristsGeorges Oyendze,La Rose Mbadou andSylvain Avara, and the singerOliver N'Goma.[citation needed] Imported rock and hip hop from the US and UK are popular in Gabon, as arerumba,makossa andsoukous.[citation needed]
The national anthem of Gabon is "La Concorde", written and composed by Georges Aleka Damas and adopted in 1960 upon independence.[citation needed]
Gabon's population, estimated at 1,640,286, of whom 42% are minors (July 2013 est.), include four major Bantu groupings; theFang, thePunu, theNzebi and theObamba.[1]
Gabon, to the French ethnographer Barabe, "is to Africa what Tibet is to Asia, the spiritual center of religious initiations",[2] due to thesacred music of theBwiti, the dominant religious doctrine of the country, variously ascribed to the Fang and the Mitsogho, which involves the use ofiboga.[3]
Gabonese folk instruments include thebalafon.
The history of modern Gabonese music did not begin until about 1974, when the blind guitarist and singerPierre Akendengué released his first album. He was classically trained in Europe, and his compositions reflect the influence ofWestern classical music. Akendengué's European career started after being treated foreye disease at a hospital in Paris. He stayed, and studied at thePetit Conservatoire. By the 1970s, he was at the forefront of a wave of popular Francophone African music stars, beginning with the release ofNandipo in 1974. Akendengué was supported byPierre Barouh, a powerful man in the French music industry, responsible for launching the careers ofBrigitte Fontaine andJacques Higelin, among others. Akendengué came to be seen as a spokesperson for the Gabonese people, and for the poor and dispossessed of all Africa.[1] After spending twenty years in France, Akendengué returned to Gabon despite concerns over governmentcensorship of his music. He wound up being appointed a government advisor.
The 1980s saw the formation ofAfrica No. 1, a radio station devoted to African music, and the opening of the first Gabonese recording studio,Studio Mademba. Musicians from across Africa and even in the Caribbean travelled toLibreville to record.[citation needed]