Often referred to as “The Hendrix of the Sahara”, Vieux Farka Touré was born in Niafunké, Mali in 1981. Son of the late, beloved, legendary Malian guitar player Ali Farka Touré, Vieux is prominent in his own right. Initially a drummer / calabash player at Mali’s Institut National des Arts, Vieux secretly began playing guitar in 2001. In the intervening decade and a half, Vieux has gone on to tour the world and record numerous albums to great acclaim. In June 2022, Touré released his sixth solo album, Les Racines, on World Circuit Records. Les Racines translates to ‘the roots’, a nod to the album returning to the desert blues roots of Touré’s father.. The album was recorded in Touré’s home studio in Bamako and features a number of Malian musicians such as Amadou Bagayoko from Amadou & Mariam, Mamadou Sidiki Diabaté, and Madou Traore. In September 2022, Vieux collaborated with Khruangbin to release an album of reinterpretations of some of his father’s songs called Ali on Dead Oceans. The album was an instant hit around the globe, immediately getting millions of streams, enormous critical acclaim and even earning the praise of Sir Elton John who called it “one of the albums of the year – absolutely wonderful music.”
As a passionate champion for the people of Mali and The Sahel, Vieux founded the charity Amahrec Sahel in 2012. As part of Amahrec Sahel’s mission to support humanitarian reconstruction and culture, the charity has provided school supplies for children, supported an orphanage in Bamako and provided musical instruments for young musicians in Mali. Vieux is also the director of The Ali Farka Touré Foundation, an international organization dedicated to the preservation of Ali’s legacy and the cultural growth of Mali.