Grammy Award nominee Amadou Bagayoko has died at the age of 70 after a "long illness". His son-in-law confirmed the sad news that the Malian singer had died. His manager Yannick Tardy confirmed Amadou had been taken to hospital feeling drained, dying later that day in his hometown Bamako. Mali’s Minister of Culture Mamou Daff was among those to pay tribute to the music legend on TV.
Amadou’s bandmate Mariam was also his wife – the pair were both blind and became known as the “blind couple from Mali”. Amadou lost his vision when he was 16, while Mariam went fully blind aged just five after battling measles, which went untreated. Along with winning awards from the BBC for their Malian blues music, the pair were also responsible for recording the official 2006 FIFA World Cup anthem Celebrate the Day, and even performed at US music festivals Coachella and Lollapalooza, along with Glastonbury in the UK.
Their album Welcome to Mali was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album at the 52nd awards ceremony.
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