Grammy Award nominee Amadou Bagayoko has died at the age of 70 after a “long illness”. His son-in-law confirmed the sad news that the Malian singer had died. His manager Yannick Tardy confirmed Amadou had been taken to hospital feeling drained, dying later that day in his hometown Bamako. Mali’s Minister of Culture Mamou Daff was among those to pay tribute to the music legend on TV.

Amadou’s bandmate Mariam was also his wife – the pair were both blind and became known as the “blind couple from Mali”. Amadou lost his vision when he was 16, while Mariam went fully blind aged just five after battling measles, which went untreated. Along with winning awards from the BBC for their Malian blues music, the pair were also responsible for recording the official 2006 FIFA World Cup anthem Celebrate the Day, and even performed at US music festivals Coachella and Lollapalooza, along with Glastonbury in the UK.

Their album Welcome to Mali was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album at the 52nd awards ceremony.

The pair were even recognised by US president Barack Obama, with Amadou gushing in 2024: “There were many musicians, many artists there. And Barack Obama came to meet us.” Mariam added: “We talked a bit. Barack Obama told us that he liked our music. Malian music, too. We were very, very happy.”

Born in 1954, Amadou went blind in his teenage years due to a congenital cataract. He went on to study music at Mali’s Institute for the Young Blind, where he met Mariam and the pair formed a band together in 1980. The pair welcomed three children together, including their son Sam who is also a musician.

The Ministry of Culture said in a statement that it “learned with concern of the passing of artist Amadou Bagayoko this Friday. Amadou was a blind man who made his mark on the Malian and international scene.”

Other tributes have flooded in for the star, with one social media user tweeting: “Rip Amadou Bagayoko, thanks for some great live experiences. Now I know what we listening to all day.”

Another echoed: “Amadou Bagayoko from Amadou and Mariam died. I saw them perform in Dublin a few years ago and the gig was electric – all sorts of people at it, dancing in their seats in the National Concert Hall.” As someone else added: “Sad to hear on #r4today that Amadou Bagayoko has died. Was looking forward to next month’s Amadou & Mariam Brighton Dome show.”