Youssou N'Dour

Youssou N'Dour (born 1 October 1959 ) is a Senegalese singer, percussionist, songwriter, composer, occasional actor and a candidate in the 2012 campaign to be President of Senegal. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, "perhaps the most famous singer alive" in Senegal and much of Africa. N'Dour helped to develop a style of popular Senegalese music known in the Serer language as mbalax, which traces from the conservative Serer music tradition of "Njuup" (the progenitor of Mbalax). 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 by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, which were released around the world.