NPR Names Youssou N'Dour Among the World's 50 Great Voices

Journal

Browse by:
Year
Browse by:
Publish date (field_publish_date)
Publish date (field_publish_date)
Submitted by nonesuch on
Article Type
Artist News
Radio
Publish date
Excerpt

Youssou N'Dour has been named among the world's 50 Great Voices according to NPR, a diverse list that also includes Björk, Asha Bhosle, Billie Holiday, Maria Callas, Robert Plant, and dozens of others—"awe-inspiring vocalists from around the world and across time." On NPR's All Things Considered, contributor Banning Eyre says that throughout his long and varied career, "N'Dour has remained on top, without question Senegal's most beloved singer."

Copy

Youssou N'Dour has been named among the world's 50 Great Voices according to NPR, a diverse list that also includes Björk, Asha Bhosle, Billie Holiday, Maria Callas, Robert Plant, and dozens of others—"awe-inspiring vocalists from around the world and across time." N'Dour's was the last of the artists to be revealed in 2010, last week on NPR's All Things Considered.

"Rolling Stone called him the most famous African singer alive. The U.K. magazine Folk Roots dubbed him African Artist of the 20th Century," recounts host Robert Siegel. "He's a musical chameleon capable of a seductive whisper or a siren's cry."

NPR contributor Banning Eyre tracks N'Dour back to his earliest performances with his band Etoile de Dakar and the creation of mbalax, a new type of music that "would allow N'Dour's voice to soar with a whole new freedom," and over his long and varied career, through all of which "N'Dour has remained on top, without question Senegal's most beloved singer."

You can listen to the complete piece, which includes excerpts from N'Dour's Grammy-winning Nonesuch album Egypt, at npr.org.

featuredimage
Youssou N'Dour
Featured Image Width
no
  • Tuesday, January 4, 2011
    NPR Names Youssou N'Dour Among the World's 50 Great Voices
    Galilea Nin

    Youssou N'Dour has been named among the world's 50 Great Voices according to NPR, a diverse list that also includes Björk, Asha Bhosle, Billie Holiday, Maria Callas, Robert Plant, and dozens of others—"awe-inspiring vocalists from around the world and across time." N'Dour's was the last of the artists to be revealed in 2010, last week on NPR's All Things Considered.

    "Rolling Stone called him the most famous African singer alive. The U.K. magazine Folk Roots dubbed him African Artist of the 20th Century," recounts host Robert Siegel. "He's a musical chameleon capable of a seductive whisper or a siren's cry."

    NPR contributor Banning Eyre tracks N'Dour back to his earliest performances with his band Etoile de Dakar and the creation of mbalax, a new type of music that "would allow N'Dour's voice to soar with a whole new freedom," and over his long and varied career, through all of which "N'Dour has remained on top, without question Senegal's most beloved singer."

    You can listen to the complete piece, which includes excerpts from N'Dour's Grammy-winning Nonesuch album Egypt, at npr.org.

    Journal Articles:Artist NewsRadio
    no

Enjoy This Post?

Get weekly updates right in your inbox.
terms

X By submitting my information, I agree to receive personalized updates and marketing messages about Nonesuch based on my information, interests, activities, website visits and device data and in accordance with the Privacy Policy. I understand that I can opt-out at any time by emailing privacypolicy@wmg.com.

Thank you!
x

Welcome to Nonesuch's mailing list!

Customize your notifications for tour dates near your hometown, birthday wishes, or special discounts in our online store!
terms

By submitting my information, I agree to receive personalized updates and marketing messages about Nonesuch based on my information, interests, activities, website visits and device data and in accordance with the Privacy Policy. I understand that I can opt-out at any time by emailing privacypolicy@wmg.com.

Related Posts

  • Wednesday, January 8, 2025
    Wednesday, January 8, 2025
    David Longstreth’s 'Song of the Earth,' Performed by Dirty Projectors and s t a r g a z e, Due April 4

    David Longstreth’s Song of the Earth, a song cycle for orchestra and voices, is due April 4. Performed by Longstreth with his band Dirty Projectors—Felicia Douglass, Maia Friedman, Olga Bell—and the Berlin-based chamber orchestra s t a r g a z e, conducted by André de Ridder, the album also features Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie), Steve Lacy, Patrick Shiroishi, Anastasia Coope, Tim Bernardes, Ayoni, Portraits of Tracy, and the author David Wallace-Wells. Longstreth says that while Song of the Earth—his biggest-yet foray into the field of concert music—"is not a ‘climate change opera,’” he wanted to “find something beyond sadness: beauty spiked with damage. Acknowledgement flecked with hope, irony, humor, rage.”

    Read more
    Journal Topics: Album ReleaseArtist NewsVideo
  • Tuesday, January 7, 2025
    Tuesday, January 7, 2025
    Watch: Steve Reich on Composing 'Drumming'

    Composer Steve Reich talks about creating his 1970–71 piece Drumming—which the Village Voice hailed as “the most important work of the whole minimalist music movement"—in a new video from his publisher Boosey & Hawkes. Steve Reich and Musicians gave the world premiere performance of Drumming at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC in December 1971. Their 1987 Nonesuch recording is included in the forthcoming Steve Reich Collected Works, a twenty-seven disc box set, due March 14.

    Read more
    Journal Topics: Artist NewsVideo
View All