Youssou N'Dour | |
|---|---|
 N'Dour in 2009 | |
| Minister of Tourism of Senegal | |
| In office 5 April 2012 – September 2013 | |
| Prime Minister | Abdoul Mbaye |
| Preceded by | Thierno Lo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1959-10-01)1 October 1959 (age 66) |
| Musical career | |
| Also known as | Youssou Madjiguène Ndour |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1970s–present |
| Labels |
|
| Formerly of | |
Musical artist | |
Youssou N'Dour (French:[jusu(ɛ)nduʁ],Wolof:Yuusu Nduur[juːsuⁿd̺uːɾ]; also known asYoussou Madjiguène Ndour;[4] born 1 October 1959) is aSenegalese singer,songwriter, musician, composer, and politician. N'Dour helped develop a style of popularSenegambian music known asmbalax, a genre that has sacred origins in theSerer musicnjuup tradition andndut initiation ceremonies.[5][6] From April 2012 to September 2013, he was Senegal's Minister of Tourism.
Rolling Stone described him in 2004 as "perhaps the most famous singer alive" in Senegal and much of Africa,[7] and ranked him in 2023 at number 69 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.[8] N'Dour is the subject of the award-winning filmsReturn to Gorée (2007) directed byPierre-Yves Borgeaud andYoussou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love (2008) directed byElizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi. In 2006, N'Dour portrayedOlaudah Equiano in the filmAmazing Grace.[9]
Ethnically,[10] N'Dour isSerer, born to a Serer father and aToucouleur mother.[5][11] However, culturally, N'Dour isWolof.[11] He was born inDakar.[5] He started performing at the age of 12 and would later perform regularly with theStar Band, Dakar's most popular group during the 1970s.
Despite N'Dour's maternal connection to the traditionalgriot 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, aMuslim of theMouride brotherhood, one of the large fourSufi orders inSenegambia, he often incorporated aspects ofIslamic music and chants into his work.[12][13]
At the age of 15, Youssou N'Dour joined a band calledDiamono and, in 1975, toured with the band inWest Africa.[3][14]
In 1976 when N'Dour was 16 years old, he signed a contract to sing with Ibra Kasse'sStar 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 formÉtoile de Dakar, a band that made important contributions to Senegal's newly evolving musical style calledmbalax which incorporated traditional Senegalese music into the Latin styles that had dominated Senegalese popular music.[15] Although they quickly became one of the city's most popular bands,[16] 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, guitaristJimi Mbaye, bassistHabib Faye, andtama (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 celebratedAfrican musicians in history. His mix of traditional Senegalese mbalax witheclectic influences ranging fromCuban rumba tohip hop,jazz, andsoul has won him an international fan base of millions. In the West, N'Dour has collaborated withPeter Gabriel,[17]Axelle Red,[18]Sting,[19]Alan Stivell,[20]Bran Van 3000,[21]Neneh Cherry,[22]Wyclef Jean,[19]Paul Simon,[22]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".[23] 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 theOpéra Garnier for the French Festival Paris quartier d'été.[24]
In 1994, N'Dour released his biggest international hit single, the trilingual "7 Seconds", a duet sung withNeneh Cherry.
He wrote and performed the official anthem of the1998 FIFA World Cup withAxelle Red "La Cour des Grands (Do You Mind If I Play)".[18]
Folk Roots magazine described him as the African Artist of the Century. He toured internationally for thirty years. He won his first AmericanGrammy Award (best contemporary world music album) for his CDEgypt in 2005.[25][26][27]
He is the proprietor ofL'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 aPrince Claus Award, under that year's theme "Languages and transcultural forms of expression".
In 2006, N'Dour played the role of the African-British abolitionistOlaudah Equiano in the movieAmazing Grace, which chronicled the efforts ofWilliam Wilberforce to end slavery in theBritish Empire.[28]
In 2008, N'Dour offered one of his compositions,Bébé, for the French singerCynthia Brown.[citation needed]
In 2011, N'Dour was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in music fromYale University.[29]
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.[30]
He got a 2026 Grammy Awards nomination for his albumEclairer le monde - Light the World in theBest Global Music Album category.[31][32]
N'Dour was nominated asGoodwill Ambassador of theFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on 16 October 2000.[33]
In Senegal, N'Dour became a powerful cultural icon, actively involved in social issues. In 1985, he organized a concert for the release ofNelson Mandela. He was a featured performer in the 1988 worldwideAmnesty InternationalHuman Rights Now! Tour collaborating withLou Reed on a version of the Peter Gabriel song "Biko" which was produced byRichard James Burgess and featured on the Amnesty International benefit albumThe Secret Policeman's Third Ball. He worked with the United Nations andUNICEF, and he started Project Joko to openinternet 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 upcomingAmerican 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.[34]
He performed in three of theLive 8 concerts (inLive 8 concert, London,Live 8 concert, Paris and at theLive 8 concert, Eden Project in Cornwall) on 2 July 2005, withDido.[35] He coveredJohn Lennon's "Jealous Guy" for the 2007 CDInstant 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.[36] He participated in theStock Exchange of Visions project in 2007.[37]
In 2008, he joined theFondation Chirac's honour committee.[38] The same year, Youssou N'Dour's microfinance organization named Birima ("Birima" is also a song's title) was launched with the collaboration ofUnited Colors of Benetton.
In 2009, he released his song "Wake Up (It's Africa Calling)" under aCreative Commons license to helpIntraHealth International in theirIntraHealth Open campaign to bringopen source health applications to Africa. The song was remixed by a variety of artists includingNas,Peter Buck ofR.E.M., andDuncan Sheik to help raise money for the campaign.[39]
N'Dour is a supporter of theCampaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation which advocates for democratic reformation of the United Nations.[40]
N'Dour is a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism.[41]
At the beginning of 2012, he announced plans to stand as a candidate in the2012 Senegalese presidential election, competing against PresidentAbdoulaye Wade.[42][43] However, he was disqualified from running in the election over the legitimacy of the signatures he had collected to endorse his campaign.[44] N'Dour backed the opposition candidateMacky 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 MinisterAbdoul Mbaye.[45] The story of N'Dour's presidential campaign was filmed for thePBS TV programSound Tracks: Music Without Borders.[46] 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 MinisterAminata Touré was appointed.[47] N'Dour was instead appointed as Special Adviser to the President, with the rank of minister,[48] and tasked with promoting the country abroad.[49]
| Award | Year[a] | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brit Awards | 1995 | International Male Solo Artist | Himself | Nominated | [50] |
| Danish Music Awards | 1995 | Best International Song | "7 Seconds" | Won | [51] |
| Edison Award | 1994 | Best Pop International | The Guide (Wommat) | Won | [52] |
| Grammy Awards | 1993 | Best World Music Album | Eyes Open | Nominated | [53] |
| 1995 | The Guide (Wommat) | Nominated | |||
| 2001 | Joko: The Link | Nominated | |||
| 2004 | Best Contemporary World Music Album | Nothing's In Vain (Coono du Réér) | Nominated | ||
| 2005 | Egypt | Won | |||
| 2009 | Rokku Mi Rokka | Nominated | |||
| Ivor Novello Awards | 1995 | International Hit of the Year | "7 Seconds" | Nominated | [54] |
| La Mar de Música Awards | 2020 | Festival Award | Himself | Won | [55] |
| Lunas del Auditorio | 2004 | Espectaculo Alternativo | Nominated | [56] | |
| MOBO Awards | 2000 | Best World Music Act | Nominated | [57] | |
| 2001 | Nominated | [58] | |||
| 2003 | Nominated | [59] | |||
| 2004 | Nominated | [60] | |||
| 2005 | Best African Act | Won | [61] | ||
| MTV Europe Music Awards | 1994 | Best Song | "7 Seconds" | Won | [62] |
| Montreal International Jazz Festival | 2011 | Antonio Carlos Jobim Award | Himself | Won | [63] |
| Polar Music Prize | 2013 | Polar Music Prize | Won | [24] | |
| Praemium Imperiale | 2017 | Music | Won | [64] | |
| Victoires de la Musique | 2001 | World Music Album of the Year | Joko | Nominated | [65] |
| 2011 | Dakar – Kingston | Nominated | [66] | ||
| Urban Music Awards | 2023 | Artist of the Year (Africa) | Himself | Nominated | [67] |
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.[68]
| Single | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [71] | AUS [72] | FRA [73] | BEL (WAL) [74] | SWI [75] | GER [76] | US [77] | US Alt Rock [78] | |||
| "The Rubberband Man / Nelson Mandela" | 1985 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Nelson Mandela |
| "Shango Affair" | 1988 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Black Mic Mac 2 OST |
| "Shakin' the Tree"(withPeter Gabriel) | 1989 | 61 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 9 | The Lion |
| "The Lion / Gaïende" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Toxiques" | 1990 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Set |
| "Africa Remembers" | 1992 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Eyes Open |
| "7 Seconds"(withNeneh Cherry) | 1994 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 98 | — | The Guide (Wommat) |
| "Mame Bamba" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Undecided" | 1995 | 53 | 145 | — | — | — | 92 | — | — | |
| "Chimes of Freedom" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "How Come"(withCanibus) | 1998 | 52 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Bulworth OST |
| "La Cour Des Grands (A Ton Tour De Jouer)"(withAxelle Red) | — | — | 16 | 31 | — | — | — | — | official hymn of1998 FIFA World Cup | |
| "My Hope Is in You" | 1999 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Joko - From Village to Town |
| "Birima" | 2000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "So Many Men"(withPascal 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. | ||||||||||
Amazing Grace (2006)
Retour à Gorée (2007)
Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love (2008)
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