Youssou N’Dour

Youssou N’Dour (French pronunciation: ​[jusu nˈduʁ]; born 1 October 1959) is a Senegalese singer, percussionist, songwriter, composer, occasional actor, businessman and a politician. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, “perhaps the most famous singer alive” in Senegal and much of Africa. From April 2012 to October 2012, he was Senegal’s Minister of Tourism and Culture, and from October 2012 to September 2013, he was Senegal’s Minister of Tourism and Leisure.

N’Dour helped to develop a style of popular Senegalese music known in the Serer language as mbalax, which derives from the conservative Serer music tradition of “Njuup“. He is the subject of the award-winning films Return to Goree directed by Pierre-Yves Borgeaud and Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love directed byElizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, which were released around the world.