Amadou bagayoko biography of williams

Malian musical duo

"Amadou Bagayoko" redirects here.

Born with milky eyes, Amadou suffered from congenital cataracts and his limited vision gradually deteriorated through his childhood.

Born with milky eyes, Amadou suffered from congenital cataracts and his limited vision gradually deteriorated through his childhood.

The Malian couple Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia, who met at an institute for the blind in , broke big performing and recording as Amadou and Mariam.

Amadou Bagayoko was born in Bamako, Mali in , six years before the country declared independence from France.

In their hands, the Malian blues is nothing but life-affirming celebration, powered by Bagayoko's sonorous guitar playing and the magnetic union.

The story of Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia is modern music history – a love affair that led to two blind visionaries from Mali climbing up singles charts.

For the Sierra Leonean footballer, see Amadou Bakayoko.

Amadou & Mariam are a musical duo from Mali, composed of the Bamako-born couple Amadou Bagayoko (guitar and vocals) (born 24 October 1954) and Mariam Doumbia (vocals) (born 15 April 1958).

Their album Welcome To Mali (2008) was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album in 2010.

Amadou lost his vision at the age of 16, while Mariam became blind at age 5 as a consequence of untreated measles.

Known as "the blind couple from Mali", they met at Mali's Institute for the Young Blind, where they both performed at the institute's Eclipse Orchestra, directed by Idrissa Soumaouro, and found they shared an interest in music.

Style

The duo's early recordings in the 1980s and 1990s featured sparse arrangements of guitar and voice. Since the late 1990s Amadou & Mariam have produced music that mixes traditional M