Kabyle singer Idir is dead

Text by: RFI Follow

The singer Idir, who was one of the main ambassadors of Kabyle song around the world, died on Saturday May 2 at the age of 70, his family announced on social media.

Publicity

“  We regret to announce the death of our father (to all), Idir, on Saturday May 2 at 9:30 pm. Rest in peace Dad,  "said a message posted on the singer's official Facebook page, based in France. The family, contacted by AFP, did not wish to speak. From his real name Hamid Cheriet, Idir was born on October 25, 1949 in Aït Lahcène, near Tizi-Ouzou, capital of Grande-Kabylie. While he intended to be a geologist, a passage in 1973 on Radio Alger changed the course of his life: he replaced at short notice the singer Nouara and her song in Berber language "Vava Inouva" goes around the world without her knowledge while doing military service.

The songs that "  needed  "

"  I arrived at the right time, with the right songs  ", told AFP Idir in 2013, imbued with childhood songs that punctuated all the moments of everyday life. He joined Paris in 1975 to produce his first album, also entitled Vava Inouva . He disappeared from the scene for ten years from 1981 to 1991, but his career was then relaunched. In 1999, he published the album Identités , on which he sang with Manu Chao, Dan Ar Braz, Maxime Le Forestier, Gnawa Diffusion, Zebda, Gilles Servat, Geoffrey Oryema and the Orchester national de Barbès.

Multicolored France ...

In 2007, he had published the album La France des couleurs , in the middle of the campaign for the French presidential election marked by debates on immigration and identity. In January 2018, he returned to sing in Algiers for the Berber New Year "Yennayer" after an absence of 38 years.

( with agency )

Listen to a meeting with the musician: Idir's mosaic , in the “Bandwidth”, with Alain Pilot

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