Amadou & Mariam were a husband-and-wife duo from Mali, and one of Africa's most beloved musical acts. Amadou Bagayoko played guitar and sang, while Mariam Doumbia sang alongside him. Both were blind, and they first met as young musicians at the Institute for the Young Blind in the capital, Bamako, where they discovered a shared love of music.
They married in 1980 and began performing together, blending Malian melodies with blues, rock, and pop into a warm, sunny sound. Their 2005 album Dimanche à Bamako made them international stars, and later work earned a Grammy nomination. Amadou passed away in 2025, but their joyful songs remain ambassadors for the music of Mali.