Ousmane Toure

Ousmane Touré’s international career was born of a tragedy. His elder brother Amadou collapsed onstage in 1983 and died at the age of 40. It orphaned the Senegalese duo Touré Kunda but 28-year-old Ousmane stepped up and, thanks to his accomplished singing and refined compositions, the legendary band continued to dazzle audiences worldwide. Their three albums sold 400,000 copies in France alone. After the group split up in 1990 Ousmane settled in the US where he co-wrote “Africa Bamba”, a song interpreted by Carlos Santana which sold 18 million copies in 1999. Yet success did not make Ousmane forget his roots: the composer returned to Dakar and then settled down in France to pursue his solo career. He celebrated his fifty years in 2005 with an album full of maturity and diversity, “Avenue du monde”.