Cheb Mami
Pop Singer
Singer of popular Algerian Arabic and Egyptian Arabic songs and known for albums like Prince of Rai and Layali.
He sang and played accordion on the streets as a young man and started playing weddings in 1980.
He was sentenced to five years in prison for attempting to make his girlfriend, photographer Isabelle Simon, have a forced abortion.
He was raised in a family of factory workers.
He sang a duet with Sting called "Desert Rose," which made singles charts worldwide.