Iconic Algerian singer and Berber idol Idir dies at 70

Hamid Cheriet, better known as Idir, was a champion for the Kabylie region and its Berber language. Algerian singer Idir, who gave voice to his native Kabylie and its Berber language, has died in Paris aged 70. He studied to be a geologist but in 1973 was tapped as a surprise last-minute replacement for the Kablyie diva Nouara on Radio Algiers to sing “A Vava Inouva,” a lullaby set to acoustic guitar and an ode to the rich oral traditions of Berber mountain villages. “I came at the right time, with the right songs” that evoked the rhythms of daily life he had heard since a baby, Idir told AFP news agency in a 2013 interview. Installed in France, he became an impassioned advocate of his native Kabylie while also defending multiculturalism and immigration as they became key issues in his adopted country’s 2007 presidential race.