Their two first names together have made the world's music vibrate and popularized "Sundays in Bamako" far beyond Mali. But Mariam must now move forward without her husband Amadou, who died suddenly in April and whose "presence" she still feels on stage.

Reflecting a union formed nearly fifty years ago at the Institute for Young Blind People in Bamako, the singing of Mariam Doumbia and the guitar of Amadou Bagayoko blend one last time in their ninth album, "L'Amour à la folie", which was released on October 24, a few months after this death caused by malaria.

"I really miss Amadou. He helped me, encouraged me, we did everything together, the songs, the music," Mariam, 67, told AFP. She has just started a tour in France that will take her and her band to the United States, Canada, and Belgium.

Mariam does not hide the fact that the first concert without Amadou, at the end of September in Villers-Cotterêts, in the north of France, was difficult.

"It was hard, I still felt his presence. In my head, he was next to me with his guitar, to my left, where he always stood on stage," Mariam explains. "No one knew it, but on stage we would talk to each other when a musician made a mistake or we forgot something."

Yéyé Idol

Spotted in the early 2000s by Manu Chao, the duo Amadou and Mariam achieved worldwide success, racking up gold records, performing in front of heads of state, at the Paris Paralympic Games and rubbing shoulders with Stevie Wonder.

But one of Mariam's greatest joys was meeting the yéyé idol who rocked her youth in the early days of Mali's independence. "My dream was to meet Sheila because I loved her songs. It was even my nickname," recalls Mariam, who began singing at the age of six before performing at weddings and baptisms.

When she met Amadou, who was blind like her, the singer-guitarist was enjoying a minor radio hit with a song celebrating footballers. Together, they formed a band before quickly becoming a couple.

"Amadou said he wanted us to get married. I said there was no problem because back then, it was the men who made the first moves," she smiles.

Their union produced three children, including Samou Bagayoko, who now accompanies his mother on stage on guitar. "Having my son by my side is a relief," says Mariam, for whom the final album with her husband Amadou "means a lot."

Peace and love

Like their previous opus, this "Amour à la folie" takes up the framework of a "pop" and carefree Malian music, even if certain titles evoke "corruption" (the piece "Généralisé") and the situation in Mali, ruled by a military junta since 2020.

"The current situation in Mali worries us/The situation in our great Mali is causing concern/I'm afraid and I'm worried," the duo sings on "On veux la paix."

By the end of 2024, the group was able to return to the country for four concerts, marking the end of a long absence. "Amadou was happy, and so was I," Mariam recalls. "We've always sung for peace and love because the world, not just Mali, needs it, and we'll continue to sing that."

The message will not change, unlike the band's name. "Since Amadou is no longer on stage, we will no longer be able to say Amadou and Mariam," the singer laments. "For the moment, it will just be Mariam."