Lounès Matoub
Lounès Matoub معطوب الوناس | |
|---|---|
Matoub during his military service from 1975 to 1977 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Lounès Matoub 24 January 1956 |
| Died | 25 June 1998 (aged 42) Aït Aïssi,
Algeria |
| Genres | Chaabi |
| Occupations | Singer, songwriter, musician, poet, political activist |
| Instruments | Algerian mandole, guitar |
| Years active | 1978–1998 |
Lounès Matoub (Arabic: معطوب الوناس; 24 January 1956 – 25 June 1998) was an Algerian singer, poet, and thinker who sparked an intellectual revolution, and mandole player who was an advocate of the Berber cause, human rights, and secularism in Algeria throughout his life.
Matoub was shunned and criticized by many Algerian Arabs for his secular, atheist politics, his militant advocacy of Berber rights and blasphemous rock songs, making him unpopular among both warring parties during the Algerian Civil War. His assassination, claimed by the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), in unclear circumstances, provoked violent riots in Kabylia.