CHERRY, NENEH / YOUSSOU N'DOUR - SEVEN SECONDS

Neneh Cherry (born Neneh Marianne Karlsson on 10 March 1964 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a two-time Grammy Award-nominated and MTV Europe Music Award-winning Swedish singer-songwriter and rapper. Cherry is also an occasional DJ and broadcaster. Born of Swedish and Sierra Leonean parentage, Neneh Cherry spent most of her formative years in Europe and North America. Her stepfather is trumpeter Don Cherry. Early in her career she was a member of Rip Rig & Panic and New Age Steppers (1980). As a solo artist, she released a number of albums in the late 80's and early-to-mid 90's to critical and commercial acclaim (Raw Like Sushi, 1988; Homebrew, 1992; Man, 1996). Neneh is the half-sister of singer Eagle-Eye Cherry Although she has participated in the odd production here and there, she has remained relatively quiet since then, appearing as a guest vocalist on the Groove Armada album Lovebox in 2002 and the Gorillaz album Demon Days in 2005. Cherry announced the formation of her new band, cirKus. in 2006. Her husband Burt Ford (aka boogabear, aka Cameron McVey), is also in the band. The band's first album, Laylow was released in France in 2006 which was followed by Medicine in 2009. During 2010-2011 she did a few "secret" live performance in a few European cities. Late in 2011 news came that she was working on a new project this is now known as Neneh Cherry & The Thing. They will release an album The Cherry Thing in June 2012. In April 2013, she announced the release of a new studio album with the track "Nina (ft. Afrika Baby Bam)". Produced by Kieran Hebden aka Four Tet, the album also features appearances by Robyn and RocketNumberNine, due for release on Smalltown Supersound in early 2014. Cherry was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1990 in the Best New Artist Category (due to success of "Buffalo Stance") but she lost out to Milli Vanilli, who later had their Grammy revoked when it was discovered that they had not performed on their recording. She received her second Grammy nomination in 1994 for the Youssou N'Dour duet "7 Seconds." The single received worldwide acclaim but did not win the Grammy Award. MTV Europe Music Awards 1995 "7 Seconds" Winner Best Song Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Youssou N'Dour (born 1 October 1959 in Dakar, Senegal) is a singer, percussionist and occasional actor. N'Dour is one of the most celebrated African musicians in history, his mix of traditional Senegalese mbalax with eclectic influences ranging from Cuban rumba to hip hop, jazz, and soul has won him an international fan base of millions. N'Dour was born in Medina in Dakar, Senegal, in 1959 and started his music career singing in small clubs in Dakar in the Wolof language, which is predominantly spoken in Senegal and Gambia. He's most popular for his mbalax beat which gave him the title "Roi de Mbalax" (King of Mbalax), and is a household name in Senegal, Gambia and neighbouring countries in West Africa with a long list of hits from the early days in the 70s to date. In 1979, he formed his own ensemble, the Etoile de Dakar. His early work with Etoile de Dakar was in the typical Latin style popular all over Africa during that time, but in the 1980s he developed a unique sound when he started his current group, Super Etoile de Dakar, featuring Jimi Mbaye on guitar, bassist Habib Faye, and tama (talking drum) player Assane Thiam. N'Dour was introduced to the Western audience when Peter Gabriel had him appear on his 'So' album (in 1986) and theb took N'Dour and The Super Etoile de Dakar on the road with him in a subsequent world tour. N'Dour has also collaborated with a lengthy list of influential artists including Paul Simon, Neneh Cherry, and Branford Marsalis. He is endowed with remarkable range and poise, a composer, bandleader, and producer with a prodigious musical intelligence. The New York Times most recently described his voice as an "arresting tenor, a supple weapon deployed with prophetic authority". N'Dour absorbs the entire Senegalese musical spectrum in his work, often filtering this through the lens of genre-defying rock or pop music from outside Senegalese culture. Youssou N´Dour is currently the new minister of Culture of Senegal as a reward for his campaign against the former president of Senegal Abdoulaye Wade who was defeated by Macky Sall in February 2012. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.