As previously announced,
Amadou & Mariam will perform at
HMV Forum on
3rd December. They have also been personally invited by
Matt Groening (curator of next year's event) to perform at
All Tomorrow's Parties in May. The duo has also confirmed an appearance at this years
Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on 11th December. Co-hosted by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, the concert will be broadcast to a worldwide audience of millions. In other news, Amadou & Mariam's track '
All I Believe In' is featured on the soundtrack to the new '
Twilight' film '
New Moon', out in cinemas this week.
Elsewhere, the duo have been involved in
Kofi Annan's global music petition. Created to pressure leaders to agree a climate justice deal at the UN's forthcoming Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, Amadou & Mariam appear alongside Duran Duran, Mark Ronson, Jamie Cullum, Lily Allen and Bob Geldof in the video to a re-recorded version of Midnight Oil's 'Beds Are Burning'. And finally, the duo have been named as official ambassadors to the
Zeitz Foundation; an organisation created to promote sustainable, ecologically and socially responsible Global Ecosphere Retreats (for further information please click on the following links:
The Zeitz Foundation for Intercultural Ecosphere Safety and
The Long Run | The Long Run - Sustainability for everyone, in act.
Thurs 3rd Dec - London - HMV Forum
Advance tickets (£17.50) available from Ticketmaster 0844 8472405 and
¡COMO NO! London's promoter of live Latin events and other things we like
Amadou & Mariam's HMV Forum appearance will cap an incredible year for the duo, during which they performed on the Pyramid Stage at
Glastonbury, supported
Blur at Hyde Park, toured the US with
Coldplay and sold out their own shows at The Roundhouse and other venues across the country.
Over the last few years albums such as ''Welcome to Mali'' and ''Dimanche à Bamako'' (featured in The Times Albums of the Decade poll) have taken Amadou and Mariam on an epic journey that has made the couple the best-selling - and best-loved - act to come out of Africa in recent years. Along the way they have worked and performed with the likes of Damon Albarn, Manu Chao, Scissor Sisters and their music has been enthusiastically embraced by Western rock fans. One minute they're being remixed by Theophilus London, a 22 year-old streetwise hip-hip kid from Brooklyn. The next minute, Pink Floyd guitar legend David Gilmour is sitting in with them on stage.
All this has been achieved while remaining true to their roots and without compromising their authenticity. Their unique mix of unforgettable pop melodies and contagious rhythms, driven by Amadou's bluesy electric guitar and the compelling interplay of their two voices may have its roots deeply planted in Africa. Yet this is music for the world, rather than 'world music'. Music that effortlessly transcends classification or genre and vaults the fickle dictates of fad and fashion. Music that remains as popular across Africa as it has now become in Europe and America.
Amadou & Mariam on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads 
Amadou & Mariam U.S. Tour
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Amadou and Mariam: Forum show, and other news!
