REVERED ALGERIAN SINGER : IDIR

Revered Algerian singer and Berber idol Idir dies at 70 :

PARIS : The Algerian singer Idir. a leading cultural ambassador for of his native Kabylie and its Berber language, died in Paris on Saturday aged 70, his family announced.

Idir, who suffered from pulmonary fibrosis, was hospitalised last Friday.
''We regret to announce the death of our father [of us all], Idir,'' a message posted on his official Facebook account said.

Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune called him ''an icon of Algerian art'', saying on Twitter ''With his passing, Algeria has lost one of its monuments.'' Idir, whose real name was Hamid Cheriel, was born on October 25, 1949, in Alt Lahcene, near the Kabylie capital of Tizi Ouzou in northern Algeria. 

He studied to be a geologist but in 1979 was tapped as a surprise last minute replacement for the Kablyie diva Nouara on Radio Algiers to sing ''A Vava Inouva,'' a lullaby set to acoustic guitar and an ode to the rich oral traditions of Berber mountain villages.

The song became a huge success in Algeria and beyond, but Idir had no idea because soon after the recording he was drafted for mandatory military service.

''I came at the right time, with the right songs'' that evoked the rhythms of daily life he had heard since a baby, Idir said in a 2013 interview.

To travelled to Paris to record his first album, also titled ''A Vava Inouva,'' in 1975. But after a series of tours and another album, he decided to abandon the music industry until 1991, when the release of a compilation album relaunched his career.

Installed in France he became an impassioned advocate of his native Kabylie while also defending muticulturalism and immigration as they became key issue in his adopted country's 2007 presidential race. [AFP]