Youssou N'Dour
Youssou N'Dour is known for Kirikou and the Sorceress (1998), Amazing Grace (2006), Xala (1975).
Biography
Youssou N'Dour (also known as Youssou Madjiguène Ndour; born 1 October 1959) is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, occasional actor, businessman, and politician. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, "perhaps the most famous singer alive" in Senegal and much of Africa and in 2023, the same publication ranked him at number 69 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. From April 2012 to September 2013, he was Senegal's Minister of Tourism.
N'Dour helped develop a style of popular Senegalese music known by all Senegambians (including the Wolof) as mbalax, a genre that has sacred origins in the Serer music njuup tradition and ndut initiation ceremonies. He is the subject of the award-winning films Return to Gorée (2007) directed by Pierre-Yves Borgeaud and Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love (2008) directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, which were released around the world.
In 2006, N'Dour was cast as Olaudah Equiano in the film Amazing Grace.
Ethnically, N'Dour is Serer, born to a Serer father and a Toucouleur mother. However, culturally, N'Dour is Wolof. He was born in Dakar. He started performing at age 12 and would later perform regularly with the Star Band, Dakar's most popular group during the 1970s.
Despite N'Dour's maternal connection to the traditional griot caste, he was not raised in that tradition, which he learned instead from his sibling. Although patrilineally from the noble N'Dour family, his parents' world-view encouraged a modern outlook, leaving him open to two cultures and thereby inspiring N'Dour's identity as a modern griot. As a Mouride disciple, taalibé in Wolof, a Muslim of the Mouride brotherhood, one of the large four Sufi orders in Senegambia, he often incorporated aspects of Islamic music and chants into his work.
At the age of 15, Youssou N'Dour joined Super Diamono and, in 1975, toured with the band in West Africa.
In 1976 when N'Dour was 16 years old, he signed a contract to sing with Ibra Kasse's Star Band at Kasse's Miami club in Dakar where he would become a sensation.
In 1978, N'Dour would follow as several members of the Star Band left to form Étoile de Dakar, a band that made important contributions to Senegal's newly evolving musical style called mbalax which incorporated traditional Senegalese music into the Latin styles that had dominated Senegalese popular music. Although they quickly became one of the city's most popular bands, the group was short-lived due to internal problems. Étoile de Dakar split into two groups: Étoile 2000 and Super Étoile de Dakar. The latter group included N'Dour, guitarist Jimi Mbaye, bassist Habib Faye, and tama (talking drum) player Assane Thiam. Super Étoile de Dakar produced four albums on cassette in just a few months and eventually evolved into N'Dour's backing band.
By 1991, he had opened his own recording studio, and, by 1995, his own record label, Jololi. ...
Source: Article "Youssou N'Dour" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Questions about Youssou N'Dour
How many Youssou N'Dour films are in the catalogue?
The CineQuiz catalogue has 18 films with Youssou N'Dour, from 1975 to 2024.
What is the best rated Youssou N'Dour film?
The best rated Youssou N'Dour film in the catalogue is Kirikou and the Sorceress (1998), rated 7.4.
What was the first Youssou N'Dour film?
The first Youssou N'Dour film in the catalogue is Kirikou and the Sorceress, from 1998.
People data: TMDb.
Known for
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7.4 Kirikou and the Sorceress
1998
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6.9 Amazing Grace
2006
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6.9 Xala
1975
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5.8 The Children's Republic
2012
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7.4 Live 8
2005
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Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame: In Concert 2014-2017
2018
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7.0 Lest We Forget
1991
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7.5 The Secret Policeman’s Third Ball
1987
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7.5 Africa Rising
2019
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5.4 8
2008
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7.8 Peter Gabriel: Live in Athens 1987
2013
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6.5 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute
1988
Full filmography
27 films — 18 in the catalogue
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Le meilleur des Francofolies
2026 · Self
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8.0 Taratata fête les 40 ans de Bercy
2024 · Self
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Praise Song
2021 · Self
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7.5
Africa Rising
2019 · Self - Musician (archive footage)
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6.0 Omar Sy, c'est ta chance
2018 · Self
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Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame: In Concert 2014-2017
2018 · Self
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7.8
Peter Gabriel: Live in Athens 1987
2013 · Self
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5.4
8
2008 · Himself
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8.0 Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
2008 · Self
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9.0 Retour à Gorée
2007 · Self
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6.9
Amazing Grace
2006 · Olaudah Equiano
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7.4
Live 8
2005 · Self
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7.7 Cirque du Soleil: Midnight Sun
2004 · Self
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8.0 Live for Love United
2002 · Self
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The Paris Concert for Amnesty International
1998 · Self
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5.4 Picc Mi
1992
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7.0
Lest We Forget
1991 · Self (segment "Pour Augustine Eke, Nigeria")
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8.0 Peter Gabriel - POV
1991 · Self
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8.0 Bruce Springsteen - Human Rights Final - Buenos Aires
1988 · Self
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Human Rights Now 25th Anniversary
1988 · Self - Musician
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6.5
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute
1988 · Self
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7.5
The Secret Policeman’s Third Ball
1987 · Self
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9.0 Mosaïque
1976 · Self
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6.9
Xala
1975 · Star Band de Dakar
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Dreadtown: The Steel Pulse Story
no date · Self
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7.4
Kirikou and the Sorceress
1998
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5.8
The Children's Republic
2012
Series and TV shows
2 titles
5.7
6.4
People data: TMDb.
Cast
