Amadou Bagayoko – thousands attend funeral of Malian musician

Thousands of people gathered in Mali on Sunday for the funeral of musician Amadou Bagayoko, of the world-renowned duo Amadou & Mariam.

Friends, relatives, fans and fellow artists flocked to the ceremony in the capital city of Bamako – including the musician Salif Keita and former prime minister Moussa Mara.

One of the most successful African musical act of the 2000s, husband and wife duo Amadou & Mariam achieved global fame by combining West African influences with rhythm and blues.

Their breakthrough album, 2004’s Dimanche à Bamako, sold half a million copies worldwide and led to collaborations with Blur’s Damon Albarn, as well as appearances at the Glastonbury and Coachella festivals.

Mali’s culture minister, Mamou Daffé, said on state TV that Bagayoko had died on Friday in the city of Bamako, aged 70.

The musician’s family confirmed the news, adding that he “had been ill for a while”.

No further information was given on the cause of death, but his widow, Mariam Doumbia, described her husband’s last moments.

“I took his hand and tried to make some movements with it, but it didn’t move,” she said.

“I said: ‘Amadou, don’t do this, speak to Mariam… but he didn’t speak any more.”

The musician was taken to hospital, where he subsequently died.

“I thought that, if Amadou went just like that, then me, I’m alone,” Doumbia added.

“I was alone and I will remain alone in life.”

Franco-Spanish star Manu Chao, who produced Dimanche à Bamako, led tributes to Bagayoko in a post on Instagram, saying: “We will always be together… Wherever you go.

“Mariam, Sam, the whole family, your pain is my pain. I love you,” he added.

Young Malian singer Sidiki Diabate lamented “another immense loss for Malian music”.

Youssou N’Dour said he considered Amadou & Mariam to be “the ambassadors of African music almost everywhere in the world”.

Speaking to France’s TV5 Monde, he said Bagayoko had pursued his career with “a dignity and a way of life that inspired us all… and encouraged us in what we were doing”.

Born in Bamako in 1954, Bagayoko went blind when he was 15 because of a congenital cataract.

He subsequently enrolled at Mali’s Institute for the Young Blind, where he met his future wife, Mariam, who had lost her vision at the age of five after contracting measles.

They formed a band called Mali’s Blind Couple in 1980, and moved to the neighbouring Ivory Coast in 1986, having realised that Mali’s under-developed music industry would be a hindrance to their career.

There, they recorded a series of cassettes, pairing Doumbia’s soulful voice with Bagayoko’s powerful guitar style, inspired by British acts like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.

The aim, Bagayoko said, was to “find a link between them and our Bambara culture”. He christened the sound “Afro-rock”.

Their lives were changed when Manu Chao heard one of their songs on the radio and offered to produce their next album.

He ended up co-writing and singing on the record, adding eccentric rhythmical touches to their brand of desert blues.

The result was Dimanche à Bamako, which won both the Victoire de la Musique – France’s equivalent to a Grammy Award – and the BBC Radio World Music Award in 2005.

Their follow-up, 2008’s Welcome to Mali, was nominated for best contemporary world music album at the Grammys.

That record was produced by Damon Albarn, who had invited the duo to take part in his Africa Express project in 2007, and invited them to tour with Blur during their 2009 reunion shows.

Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters was also a fan, and took Amadou & Mariam on the road with his band in 2012.

“What they do hearkens back to classic rock and real musicianship,” he told The Times as the tour kicked off.

“Now with all bands, when you’re playing live, everybody’s got backing tracks going on. Everyone’s working with a net. They are a proper old-school rock band.”

In 2009, they played in Oslo as Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel peace prize; and in 2011 staged a series of concerts in the dark, to show audiences how they experienced music.

A year later, they decided to record two versions of their sixth album Folila – one in New York and one with traditional musicians in Bamako.

The idea was to release each separately but, in the end, the duo decided to combine the recordings, mixing different takes of the same song together in a third studio in Paris.

Featuring contributions from Santigold, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and TV On The Radio, it earned the group a second Grammy nomination in 2012.

2017’s La Confusion, addressed the political turmoil in their homeland, where Islamic extremists had imposed Shariah law and banished music.

Songs like Bofou Safou offered messages of strength, resistance and optimism amidst the turmoil. Bagayoko said he hoped the music was universal

“We started to work on the things that were happening in our homeland, but then realised that they could be applied to a lot of other countries in the world,” he told OkayAfrica.

“There is a confusion all over the world, and it’s time to communicate, to talk and share ideas for a better future and understanding.”

The duo continued to record and tour until last year. Bagayoko’s final performance came at the closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

As of Sunday, the duo’s website still listed dates for a European tour in May and June.

He is survived by his wife and a son, Sam, also a musician.

Bagayoko “will be buried in family intimacy in the courtyard of his home”, his spokesman Djiby Sacko told the AFP news agency.