Iconic Algerian Singer Idir, Voice of Kabyle Music, Dies at 70

Idir had been hospitalized on Friday in Paris, where he succumbed to "a lung disease and should be buried in the Paris region, according to his entourage". Following the announcement of the family, the Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune paid tribute in a tweet to a renowned singer, "an icon of Algerian art". Algeria "loses one of its monuments". It is a great loss, he affirms.

Even if his discography is composed of only seven studio albums since A Vava Inouva, released in 1976, bearing the name of his most famous title, broadcast in 77 countries and translated into fifteen languages, plus a compilation and a public recording, Idir has managed to conquer the hearts of his thousands of fans by becoming "one of the ambassadors of the Kabyle community".

From the testimonies paid to him, we can retain that he was so adored "that he filled the halls, wherever he went. His popularity went beyond his community. Of him, the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu said: "He is not a singer like the others. He is a member of every family," says Le Monde.

But who is Idir? His real name is Hamid Cheriet, he is the son of a shepherd, born on October 25, 1949 in Aït Lahcène, a village in Kabylia. Idir was carried in triumph very early on by his community whose "identity and culture" he energetically defended, wherever his steps and his voice took him. According to Le Monde, Idir saw himself as a geologist, but a passage in 1973 on Radio Alger changed the course of his life. "He replaces at short notice the singer Nouara and her song in the Berber language Vava Inouva goes around the world without his knowledge while he was doing his military service".

What made Idir an impressive artist, loved by all, is that beyond his intrinsic qualities, he said he was "imbued from his childhood, by the songs that punctuated all the moments of daily life". In 1975, after completing his military service, and with his DEA in geology in his pocket, he left Algeria to come and settle in Paris, at the request of the record company, Pathé Marconi. "I came to record a 33-rpm with A Vava Inouva, which worked well, and I started to consider staying here since the song had chosen me, but always with a suitcase ready to leave in my head," he recounted.

While he was destined for a great career, he disappeared from the music scene from 1981 to 1991, before reappearing in 1999 with the album "Identities" on which "he sings with Manu Chao, Dan Ar Braz, Maxime Le Forestier, Gnawa Diffusion, Zebda, Gilles Servat, Geoffrey Oryema and the Orchestre national de Barbès". In 2007, he released the album "The France of Colors", in the midst of the French presidential campaign marked by debates on "immigration and identity". It was not until 2017 that he would present another album titled "Here and Elsewhere", composed mainly of duets, reports Le Monde.

His last major appearance dates back to April 2019, when he gave an interview to the Journal du dimanche. He spoke there about the popular demonstrations in Algeria and the departure of Abdelaziz Bouteflika: "I loved everything about these demonstrations: the intelligence of this youth, its humor, its determination to remain peaceful. I admit to having lived these moments of grace since February 22, like breaths of fresh air," he had declared.