尤苏·恩多尔

Youssou "Madjiguène" N'Dour (also Ndour, French: [jusu (ɛ)nduʁ]; Wolof: Yuusu "Maajigéen" Nduur [juːsu ⁿd̺uːɾ]; born 1 October 1959) is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, and politician. N'Dour helped develop a style of popular Senegambian music known as mbalax, a genre that has sacred origins in the Serer music njuup tradition and ndut initiation ceremonies. From April 2012 to September 2013, he was Senegal's Minister of Tourism.

Rolling Stone described him in 2004 as "perhaps the most famous singer alive" in Senegal and much of Africa, and ranked him in 2023 at number 69 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. N'Dour is the subject of the award-winning films Return to Gorée (2007) directed by Pierre-Yves Borgeaud and Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love (2008) directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi. In 2006, N'Dour portrayed Olaudah Equiano in the film Amazing Grace.

Early life

Ethnically, N'Dour is Serer, born to a Serer father and a Toucouleur mother. However, culturally, N'Dour is Wolof. He was born in Dakar. He started performing at the age of 12 and would later perform regularly with the Star Band, Dakar's most popular group during the 1970s.

Despite N'Dour's maternal connection to the traditional griot caste, he was not raised in that tradition, which he learned instead from his sibling.……

Music career

1970s: Beginnings with joining the "Star Band" and its spin-offs

At the age of 15, Youssou N'Dour joined a band called Diamono and, in 1975, toured with this band in West Africa.

In 1976 when N'Dour was 16 years old, he signed a contract to sing with Ibra Kasse's Star Band at Kasse's "Miami club" in Dakar where he would become a sensation.……

1990s: Continued mainstream success as eclectic and genre-crossover artist

By 1991, he had opened his own recording studio, and, by 1995, his own record label, Jololi.

N'Dour is one of the most celebrated African musicians in history.……

Activism

N'Dour was nominated as Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on 16 October 2000.

In Senegal, N'Dour became a powerful cultural icon, actively involved in social issues. In 1985, he organized a concert for the release of Nelson Mandela. He was a featured performer in the 1988 worldwide Amnesty International Human Rights Now!……

Political career

At the beginning of 2012, he announced plans to stand as a candidate in the 2012 Senegalese presidential election, competing against President Abdoulaye Wade. However, he was disqualified from running in the election over the legitimacy of the signatures he had collected to endorse his campaign. N'Dour backed the opposition candidate Macky Sall, who defeated Wade in a second round of voting in March 2012.……

Discography

Early cassettes

This numbered series of cassettes was released in Senegal between 1982 and 1988, and was credited to Youssou N'Dour & Le Super Etoile de Dakar.

• Vol 1 Tabaski
• Vol 2 Ndakarou
• Vol 3 Independance
• Vol 4 Banjoly N'Diaye
• Vol 5 Yarou
• Vol 6 Marguedy
• Vol 7 Daby
• Vol 8 Immigres
• Vol 9 Africa
• Vol 10 Ndobine
• Vol 11 Bekoor
• Vol 12 Jamm
• Vol 13 Kocc Barma
• Vol 14 Gainde
• Vol 15 Set

Albums

Ndiadiane Ndiaye (1982)

Mouride (1982)

Independance Vol. 3 (1982)

Show!!! A Abidjan (1983)

Diongoma (1983)

Immigrés (1984)

Djamil Inédits 84-85 (1985)

Nelson Mandela (1985)

Compilation albums

Special Noël (1993)

Films

Amazing Grace (2006)

As Olaudah Equiano. "A central figure in the abolitionist movement in Great Britain, Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745–97) wrote an eyewitness account of his life as a slave and of his work in the anti-slavery movement: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano."

As a musician on the film's soundtrack.

Retour à Gorée (2007)