This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman. In Mali, thousands of mourners

gathered in Bamako Sunday for the funeral of Amadou Baguoko, half of the world-renowned duo

Amadou and Mariam. Baguiooko died on Friday at the age of 70.

I interviewed the Blind Husband and Wife Music team in our Democracy Now studio in 2018.

The husband and wife duo have been performing together for nearly 40 years.

The band's story begins at the Bamako Institute for the Young Blind in Mali.

That's where the two met in 1975.

Amadou Bagayoko was blinded by cataracts as a teenager.

Marian Dumbia has been blind since she was five when she had the measles.

They fell in love, married, and began performing around Bamako, the capital of Mali.

They became known around Africa as the blind couple of Mali.

In 2004, they released a landmark album, Dimash Abamako, that means Sunday in Bamako,

produced by the world music icon Manuchow,

bringing their new music to vast new audiences around the world.

The album earned them their first of three Grammy nominations.

In 2009, they performed at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway, when President Obama won the Nobel.

A year later, Amadou and Mariam performed on one of the biggest stages in the world,

the kickoff celebration for the World Cup in South Africa.

Then, in 2011, they became ambassadors for the World Food Program.

In 2013, they joined with over 40 other Malian artists as Voices United for Mali

to record song called Malico, Peace La Pei. The effort was organized by Fatumata Duara after militants seized northern Mali.

We had the Malian musician Fatumato in our studios not long ago.

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