Ali Farka TouréMali |1939| FrenchCrowned King of African desert blues, Ali Farka Touré, was a Malian singer, multi-instrumentalist, and two-time Grammy Award winner.
Widely known as "Ali Touré," Touré had the ability to sing in seven different languages.
At age 12, he built his first single-stringed "djerkel" guitar and continued to tow the music profession with early support from his country's government.
Later, he was elected the mayor of Niafunké, a town in his country.
On March 6, 2006, Touré died of bone cancer at age 66.