“Je pense à toi, mon amour, ma bien-aimée, Ne m’abandonne pas, Je pense à toi, Mon amour Ma chérie” … [“I am thinking of you, my love, my beloved. Do not abandon me, my love, my dear …“]

Those are the words of the song that propelled the blind Malian duo Amadou & Mariam onto the international scene, beyond West Africa. Those words rocked the lives of millions of African children as a lullaby in some cases. Sadly, Amadou, from the duo, is no longer. 

The duo Amadou & Mariam was made up of singer and guitarist, Amadou Bagayoko, and his wife Mariam Doumbia. The Grammy-nominated duo Amadou & Mariam was a blind duo from Mali. They both met at the Institute for the young blind in Bamako in 1976, in the capital of Mali. Bagayoko became blind at the age of 15, while Mariam was at age 5. Mariam started singing at weddings from a young age, while Amadou played instruments. At the institute, they joined the Eclipse Orchestra and quickly became a couple both on stage and in real life. They got married in 1980. Their music blend their traditional Malian sounds emanating from the kora or balafon, with the rock guitars and Western blues. This iconic couple became a source of inspiration to countless artists from Bamako to Dakar, to Abidjan or Conakry. Their music has been anchored in the rich tradition of griots of West Africa [The Griot, the Preserver of African Traditions].

Amadou & Mariam went on to sell millions of albums across the world. They composed the official song for the 2006 football World Cup in Germany, and played at the closing ceremony concert for the 2024 Paris Olympics. They even played for Barack Obama, at the concert marking the US president’s Nobel Peace prize award, and were nominated for a Grammy award in 2010. So long Amadou, and courage to Mariam and the family. Please check out this really good eulogy from Seneweb.com