The duo Amadou & Mariam presented a song to mark the final extinguishing of the Paralympic flame this Sunday, September 8, during the closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
This pair of artists, trained at the Bamako Institute for Blind Youth in 1976, were accompanied by a string quartet in the empty Tuileries Garden. They performed an appropriately titled piece: I came to tell you that I’m leavingcomposition by Frenchman Serge Gainsbourg inspired by the poet Paul Verlaine.
Collaborations with Damon Albarn, Coldplay or Stevie Wonder
The Malian duo became known in France in 1998 with I’m thinking about youbefore achieving international success in 2004 with the album Sunday in Bamako (and its refrain “Sundays in Bamako are wedding days”, an experience for the couple in 1980).
A collaboration with Damon Albarn, leader of Blur and Gorillaz, will remain on the title sabali in 2008, opening act for Coldplay in 2009 and U2 in 2011, charity evenings with Stevie Wonder in the Ivory Coast or David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) in London.
The duo also played in honour of Barack Obama when he received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo in 2009. “There were many musicians, many artists there (Lang Lang, the internationally renowned Chinese pianist, Wyclef Jean of the Fugees or even megastar Will Smith, ed.). And Barack Obama welcomed us,” Amadou Bagayoko, 69, recently recalled to AFP.
“We talked a little bit. Barack Obama said he liked our music. Malian music too. We were very, very happy,” added Mariam Doumbia, 66.
After more than a million albums sold, numerous awards (Victoires de la musique in France, BBC Radio Awards in Great Britain, etc.) and a nomination for the American Grammy Awards in 2010, Amadou & Mariam also released their best album on Friday. life is beautiful.
Source: BFM TV
