Cheb Mami

In 1997, "Saïda" pursued his world conquest (Japan, Brazil, Scandinavia). Meanwhile, on cinema screens, he was to be seen co-starring with Khaled in "100% Arabica", a musical comedy by Mahmoud Zemmouri. He flew to New York and Los Angeles to sing at the 14th July celebrations there, events sponsored by the French government. At the "Vive la World" concert, in Central Park in New York, crowds flocked in tens of thousands to see the ambassadors of French coloured music, Cheb Mami, Alabina and Lokua Kanza. In September, Mami provided a moment of high emotion on stage at the Fête de l’Humanité, by singing "No Woman no Cry" in Arab, with Bob Marley’s legendary group, the Wailers.

In 98, he appeared for the second time at the Zenith in January, again during Ramadan, to premier songs from his new album, "Meli Meli" (What’s happening to me?). While forever remaining faithful to the "tarab" (the shrill Bedouin chants and rhythms of the original raï musicians), the istikhbar (sinuous vocal preludes) and the derbouka (percussion) in "Trab", the Kid continued to experiment with different fusions in eleven raï-rap-techno-ska-funk-reggae-gypsy numbers. Guest artists included his Kabyle singer friend, Idir, on "Azwaw2", and the sound architect of IAM, Imhotep and the rapper K.mel on "Parisien du Nord".

Cheb Mami, a raï singer who has ceaselessly declared that his only combat is artistic, nevertheless paid silent tribute in Oran to his friend Cheb Hasni, assassinated in 1994. On such occasions in Oran, as a symbol of the people’s submission to mektoub (destiny), the raw vitality of rai music is inevitably absent. Even though he has never received any personal death threat, Mami, whose heart has always remained in Algeria and who hopes to return to sing in his home country one day, declines to do so. He refuses to play with the lives of people who would come in droves to hear him. Whatever happens, his unforgettable velvet voice is universal.

Cheb Mami finally got the chance to play in his homeland on 5 July '99 when he returned to Algeria to perform a special concert in Algiers at the foot of the "Sanctuaire des Martyrs" (on the Esplanade des Arts). The concert, of huge symbolic and political importance, attracted a massive turn-out, 100,000 of Mami's Algerian fans flocking to the Esplanade to support him.

Later that same year Sting invited Cheb Mami to record a duet on his new album, instantly catapulting the young Rai star into the international spotlight. After performing a series of highly popular concerts with Sting in New York in December '99, Mami went on to team up with disco star Gloria Gaynor for a New Year's Eve concert at the Tozeur oasis in the Tunisian desert. On 10 January 2000 Mami brought the house down when he joined Sting and the Burundi diva Khadja Nin, performing a special one-off concert at Bercy Stadium in Paris.

By the end of 1999, Cheb Mami had taken a few more steps up the celebrity ladder. On 31st December the Algerian Raï star was invited to perform a special one-off concert with legendary American disco star Gloria Gaynor. The pair gave a memorable performance in a truly unique setting, singing right out in the middle of the Tunisian desert at the Tozeur Oasis.

Meanwhile, Sting had invited Cheb Mami to join him in the studio to record a duet for his new album. When the album was released in 2000, the pair's duet, "Desert Rose", went rocketing to the top of singles charts around the world, fulfilling Mami's long-held dream of internationalising Raï sounds. Following the phenomenal success of "Desert Rose", Mami accompanied Sting on an extensive tour, earning himself rave reviews in the British and American media.

After bringing the house down across Europe and the United States, Sting and Mami went on to play in Dubai, Cairo and Amman (Jordan). But the highlight of the tour was when the pair played to a 20,000-strong audience in Tunis in April 2001.