Sangaré was born in 1968 to singer Aminata Diakité and Sidiki Sangaré, both of whom originated from the Wassoulou region.[3][4][5] In 1970, her father took a second wife and moved to Abidjan, leaving Sangaré, her mother and her siblings behind in Bamako.[4] She began singing in the streets to help her mother, leaving school at an early age to do so.[3][4] Her career began in 1973 when, at the age of five, she won an inter-kindergarten singing competition in Bamako, going on to perform before an audience of several thousand at the Omnisport stadium.[5][6][7] At 16, she went on tour with the percussion group Djoliba, touring in France, Germany, the Netherlands, the Caribbean, and elsewhere.[6] Inspired by her reception on tour, Sangaré returned to Bamako and established her own musical group.[6]
Sangaré performing at the Cambridge Folk Festival in 2009AtWOMEX, 2017
Sangaré recorded her first album, Moussoulou ("Women"), with Amadou Ba Guindo, a renowned maestro of Malian music. The album was very successful in Africa,[8] with more than 200,000 copies sold.
With the help of Ali Farka Touré, Sangaré signed with the English label World Circuit. They re-released the album Moussoulou.[9] At the age of 21, she was already a star.
Oumou Sangaré is considered an ambassador of Wassoulou; her music has been inspired by the music and traditional dances of the region. She writes and composes her songs, which often include social criticism, especially concerning women's low status in society.
Many of Sangaré's songs concern love and marriage, especially freedom of choice in marriage. Her 1989 album Moussoulou was an unprecedented West African hit. In 1995, she toured with Baaba Maal, Femi Kuti, and Boukman Eksperyans. Other albums include Ko Sira (1993), Worotan (1996), and a 2-CD compilation Oumou (2004), all released on World Circuit Records. Sangaré supports the cause of women throughout the world. She was named an ambassador of the FAO in 2003 and won the UNESCO Prize in 2001 and was made a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters of France in 1998.
Sangaré is featured prominently in Throw Down Your Heart, a 2008 documentary about world-renowned American banjo player Béla Fleck, and his exploration of the relatively unknown relationship between his instrument and the musical traditions in Africa.
Sangaré is also involved in the world of business, including hotels, agriculture, and automobiles. She has launched a car, the "Oum Sang", manufactured by a Chinese firm and marketed in conjunction with her own company Gonow Oum Sang.[13] She is the owner of the 30-room Hotel Wassoulou in Mali's capital, Bamako, a haven for musicians and her own regular performing space. "I helped build the hotel myself. I did it to show women that you can make your life better by working. And many more are working these days, forming co-operatives to make soap or clothes."
[edit]With her award at WOMEX 2017 in Katowice, Poland
IMC-UNESCO International Music Prize (2001, performers category, jointly awarded to Gidon Kremer)[16] for her contribution to "the enrichment and the development of music as well as for the cause of peace, for the understanding among peoples and international cooperation".
^Manuh, Takyiwaa; Sutherland-Addy, Esi (2013). Africa in Contemporary Perspective: A Textbook for Undergraduate Students. Sub-Saharan Publishers. doi:10.2307/jj.8085387. ISBN978-9988-647-37-7.