Babayoko and his wife, the blind duo Amadou and Mariam, have become one of Africa’s best-selling and beloved performers in the music industry.
Grammy-nominated Marian musician Amadu Babayoko died at the age of 70 as half of blind duo Amado and Mariam, infusing the traditional West African sound with Western rock and pop influences.
The Mali Ministry of Culture said in a statement read on Saturday on “I learned with concern about the passing of artist Amadou Bakayoko this Friday,” according to a statement read on the state television.
“Amadow was the blind man who made his mark on the international scene with Mali.”
Babayoko died in his birthplace, Bamako city. His son-in-law Youssouf Fadiga told AFP news agency that the musician was “sick for a while” but did not specify what the illness was. He is survived by his wife, Mariam, and his son, Sam, who is also a musician.
“A blind couple from Mali”
Called “The Blind Couple from Mali,” Amadow and Mariam have become one of Africa’s best-selling and beloved couples, playing with Brule and Gorillaz’s Damon Albarn, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmore and more.
Born in 1954, Babayoko became blind at the age of 15 due to congenital cataracts. He studied music at the Mari Institute for Young Blinds and met his future wife, Mariam Dumbia. The couple formed the blind couple of the band Mari in 1980, setting local and international marks.
First, they sang songs and raised awareness of the problems faced by their peers living with blindness and disability before merging traditional African influences with elements of rock, blues and pop.
In 2005, he produced over 10 award-winning albums, including the French Victor de La Musikh. Dimanche a Bamako won one of the BBC Radio Awards in 2006.
The 2008 album, Welcome To Mali, was nominated for Best Contemporary World Music Album for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album.
They opened in the British band Coldplay in 2009 and performed in the same year at the Nobel Peace Prize concert, which was awarded by US President Barack Obama.
Bagayogo’s final world-class performance with Doumbia took place at the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Palim Games.
Manu Chao, a French-born Spanish musician who produced the album Dimanche a Bamako, expressed his sadness online, along with other international artists. “Amadu! We’re always together… I’ll be with you wherever we go,” he said.
“I will never forget his friendship,” said Yousou n’dour, a Senegalese singer-songwriter. “My thoughts are the same as my beloved Mariam.”
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