African music lost one of its titans last week with the death of Amadou Bagayoko, a guitarist who recorded with American rock stars, performed at the Nobel concert for Barack Obama, and became a national icon in his home, Mali.
With his wife, the singer Mariam Doumbia, Mr. Bagayoko composed the duo Amadou & Mariam, which rose to international fame in the 2000s and 2010s with hits like “Beautiful Sundays.”
Mr. Bagayoko was 70 when he died last week, of complications from a malaria infection. He and his wife, who is 66, were scheduled to perform across Europe next month. And while their fame has faded in the United States since the peak of their global success, they remained huge celebrities in Europe and in West Africa, where their music inspired generations of artists.
We asked relatives and friends of Mr. Bagayoko for their favorite songs by Amadou & Mariam, and the significance of the guitarist and his music — a blend of blues riffs, guitar solos, and djembe — to them.
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‘Toubala Kono’
Cheick Tidiane Seck, a keyboard player who knew Mr. Bagayoko since the guitarist was 14, was in neighboring Ivory Coast for a concert last week when Mr. Bagayoko died.
Mr. Seck opened the concert with “Toubala Kono,” a song he wrote with Mr. Bagayoko, whom he called a “brother.”
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