Senegal mourns death of musician Thione Seck

The musician’s lawyer, Ousmane Seye, confirmed his death to AFP, saying that Seck died while admitted at Fann Hospital in Dakar. Seck’s death comes a month after the passing of another mbalax doyen, the Gambia’s Mam Tamsir Njie. 

Hailing from a family of griot singers from the Wolof people of Senegal, Seck was among the West African country’s leading musicians for more than four decades. He is a former member of the legendary Afro-Cuban band Orchestra Baobab, which he left in favour of a solo career in 1979. Until his death, Seck was the leader of Raam Daan.

Seck is behind acclaimed albums including Orientation, XV Anniversary Live!, Daaly and Diaga. He also contributed to 2013’s The Rough Guide to the Music of Senegal, released on World Music Network. 

The musician’s sound drew heavily from Bollywood scores, and over an illustrious career he became known for his “free, energetic and melodic” experimentation in the mbalax genre, particularly with Indian and Arabic scales.

Despite glowing musical accomplishments, the twilight of Seck’s career was marred by run-ins with the law involving counterfeit cash, which led to his conviction in June 2020. Seck was detained for nine months ahead of a trial but his charges were later dropped.

The news of Seck’s passing was met with an outpouring of grief from the music and culture sectors in Senegal and beyond, including from the former Dakar mayor Khalifa Sall, who called Seck “a true monument of Senegalese music”, and media veteran and advisor to President Macky Sall, El Hadji Hamidou Kasse, who tweeted that Seck was “one of the artist heroes of an era”.