Maryam Mursal was born in January 1, 1950; grew up in Somalia in a Muslim family with four daughters and has been active in somali music since 1980s.
As a
teenager, she broke with tradition and began singing professionally in Mogadishu. She performed
in nightclubs and her brand of music, featuring a mix of blues, soul, Somali and Arabic influences, and known as Somali jazz, became popular
across the country. Performing primarily solo, she also collaborated with Waaberi,
a 300-member music and dance troupe associated with the Somali National
Theatre. Later, after having criticized Somalia's then ruling military
government, she was banned from singing for two years, and made her living
driving a taxi.
During
the subsequent civil war in her homeland, Mursal and her five children moved to
neighbouring Djibouti, where she found
asylum in the Danish embassy. It was this odyssey that provided the germ of her
solo recording The Journey,
with guitars, sequencers and back-up vocals from Peter Gabriel.
Mursal still lives abroad, now residing in UK. She has toured Europe with Waaberi and appeared with Nina Simone.
Her work has been produced by Peter Gabriel's Real World record label.
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