N'Dour, Youssou (1959– )

Senegalese singer, songwriter, and musician. His fusion of traditional mbalax percussion music with bluesy Arab-style vocals, accompanied by African and electronic instruments, became popular in the West in the 1980s on albums such as Immigrés (1984) with the band Le Super Etoile de Dakar.

N'Dour's first international album releases of The Lion (1989) and Set (1990) were met with critical acclaim. In 1992 he released Eyes Open, which won a Grammy Award nomination. Soon after, N'dour was made an ambassador for UNICEF. In 1993, an African opera composed by N'Dour premiered at the Paris Opera. He has also collaborated with such artists as Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Neneh Cherry, and Branford Marsalis.