Amadou & Mariam

(ML)

They met at the Institute for Blind Young People in Mali, when both played in the institution's orchestra, where they had joined very young, after becoming blind due to complications related to measles. But what at first appeared to be a curse for life turned out to be an opportunity when, in 1983, they started playing together, three years after they got married.The success of the “Blind Couple from Mali”, as they were initially known, quickly crossed borders, first in the city of Abidjan, in Côte d'Ivoire, where they settled and for the first time aroused international attention. But it was only when the duo moved to Paris, in the mid-90s, that they got real worldwide success by mixing traditional West African sounds with R&B. Mainly after the partnership with the French musician Manu Chao, who produced the album Dimanche à Bamako (2005), with which they were nominated for the Grammy for best world music album, in 2009 and 2012, respectively with the albums Welcome to Mali (2008) and Folila (2012), which featured a luxury group of international collaborators, including Somali-born rapper K'Naan and members of American band TV on the Radio.