Portal:Senegal/Selected biography/6
Youssou N'Dour (French pronunciation: [jusu nduʁ]; born 1 October 1959) is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, composer, occasional actor, businessman, and politician. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine described him as, "perhaps the most famous singer alive" in Senegal and much of Africa. 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 Senegambians as mbalax, a genre that have sacred origins in the njuup and ndut traditions of the Serer. 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.