Youssou N’Dour

Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour was already a widely celebrated innovator in his home country by the time global audiences first heard his soaring multi-octave voice on Peter Gabriel’s 1986 hit “In Your Eyes.” With his longtime band Super Étoile de Dakar, N’Dour was a key figure in the multicultural mbalax musical style of the late ’70s and early ’80s, and thanks in part to pop stars like Gabriel and Paul Simon, he gained an international following in the late ’80s that further blossomed with releases like 1994’s The Guide (Wommat) — which yielded his biggest hit, the Neneh Cherry collaboration “Seven Seconds” — and 2004’s Egypt, which earned him a Grammy Award. He was the subject of the 2010 documentary I Bring What I Love, as well as numerous recorded anthologies. In addition to his blending of various musical cultures, N’Dour also became known as a cultural and political icon to the point that he was nominated a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador and eventually served as Senegal’s Minister of Culture and Tourism, all the while continuing to maintain his career as a prominent recording and touring artist with albums like Africa Rekk and 2019’s History.