Record

CodeDS/UK/5435
NameN'Dour; Youssou (1959-); Senegalese singer-songwriter, percussionist, composer, businessman, politician
Dates1959-
GenderMale
BiographyYoussou N'Dour (b. 1 October 1959) is a Senegalese singer, percussionist, songwriter, composer, occasional actor, businessman and a politician. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, "perhaps the most famous singer alive" in Senegal and much of Africa. In April 2012 he was appointed Senegal's Minister of Tourism and Culture.

N'Dour helped to develop a style of popular Senegalese music known in the Serer language as mbalax, which derives from the conservative Serer music tradition of "Njuup". He is the subject of the award-winning films Return to Goree directed by Pierre-Yves Borgeaud and Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, which were released around the world.

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