Mohamed Khelifati (; born 11 July 1966), better known by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Cheb Mami (), is an Algerian musician and singer-songwriter. He sings and speaks in

Algerian Arabic Algerian Arabic (, romanized: ), natively known as , or , is a variety of Arabic spoken in Algeria. It belongs to the Maghrebi Arabic dialect continuum and is mostly intelligible with the Tunisian and Moroccan dialects. Darja () means "eve ...

and sometimes in Eastern Arabic dialects or in French. Internationally, he is known for contributing vocals to the 1999 Sting single " Desert Rose".

Early life

Cheb Mami was born in Graba-el-Wed, a populous quarter of Saïda, a city located 170 km south of

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

, on the high mesas of northwestern Algeria.

Career

Early years and music styles adopted

Cheb Mami came to prominence in 1982, when, aged 16, he finished as runner-up in the televised Algerian talent show ''Alhane wa chabab'' (melodies and youth). He followed this by launching a career as a

raï Raï (, ; , , ), sometimes written rai, is a form of Algerian folk music that dates back to the 1920s. Singers of Raï are called () or (), i.e. 'young', as opposed to (, 'shaykh'), i.e. 'old', the name given to Chaabi singers. The tradi ...

singer, performing at weddings and releasing cassettes after he drew the attention of music producers. In 1985, he moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France. He later performed military service for two years in Algeria while working as an entertainer on army bases. In May 1989, he returned to Paris and subsequently toured the United States, Germany, England, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Spain. Cheb Mami's music is a blend of Mediterranean and Western influences, including

Flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

, Greek and Turkish music, as well as

Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and ) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America, which encompasses Music of Latin America, Latin America, Music of Spain, Spain, Mu ...

, and his voice is tinged with

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

n accents.

International recognition

When Sting's album '' Brand New Day'' was released in 1999, the pair's duet, " Desert Rose", appeared on singles charts around the world and led to television appearances on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'', the ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...

'', ''

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno ( ; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, and writer. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Tonight Show'' from 1992 until 200 ...

'', ''

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and auto racing team owner. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of ''Late N ...

'', the

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

telecast, and even a live performance at the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

Arrest, imprisonment, and release

Cheb Mami was under an international arrest warrant after being indicted in October 2006 for "voluntary violence, sequestration, and threats" against an ex-wife, and failing to answer a court summons on 14 May 2007. He was accused of attempting to force an abortion on his then-girlfriend, magazine photographer Isabelle Simon. During a trip to Algeria in the summer of 2005, Simon was locked in a house belonging to one of Cheb Mami's friends, where an abortive procedure was attempted on her. Afterwards in France, she realized the fetus was still alive, and she later gave birth to a daughter. Cheb Mami had accused his manager Michel Lecorre (a.k.a. Michel Levy) of organizing the abortion plan; Levy was later sentenced to four years for plotting and organizing the assault. Cheb Mami was arrested in France several days before his trial and taken into custody by officials at a Paris airport as he arrived in the country from Algeria on 22 June 2009. In July 2009, a Paris court found him guilty of drugging and attempted forcible abortion, and sentenced him to five years in prison. On 21 September 2010, his lawyers applied for conditional release, a request that was turned down on 12 October 2010. Upon a second appeal however, the French court agreed for his conditional release on 23 March 2011.

Plagiarism

In July 2015, Cheb Mami had to pay 200,000 euros to Cheb Rabah (born Rabah Zerradine) for plagiarizing his texts. The songs in question are "Le raï c'est chic", "Madanite", "Ma vie deux fois", and "Gualbi Gualbi".

Selected discography

* ''Manetzouatchi'' (1985) * ''Douni l'bladi'' (1986) * ''Ouach Etsalini'' (1986) * ''Le Prince du Raï'' (1989) * ''Let Me Raï'' (1990) * ''Lazrag Saâni'' (1991) * ''Nahmek toujours ya taleb'' (1996) * ''Meli Meli'' (1998) * ''Dimari'' with Cheba Zahouania (2000) * ''Dellali'' (2001) * ''Du Sud au Nord'' (2003) * ''Live au Grand Rex'' (2004) * ''Layali'' (2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mami, Cheb 1966 births Living people Algerian emigrants to France Raï musicians World Music Awards winners People from Saïda Virgin Records artists Rotana Records artists A&M Records artists Because Music artists 20th-century Algerian male singers 21st-century French male singers Algerian male film actors Algerian male television actors Arabic-language singers of Algeria French-language singers of Algeria