Biography
Hamid Cheriet (Kabyle: Ḥamid Ceryat, 1949 – 2020) better known by his stage name Idir, was an Algerian singer, songwriter and musician, one of the most important contemporary musicians of Algeria, who helped spread the traditional music of his country.
Indir was born in Aït Yenni, Tizi Ouzou Province (part of French Algeria at the time), on October 25, 1949. He studied geology and worked in an oil and gas field. He was initially involved in music as an amateur until in 1973 he was asked to work at Radio Algeria as a singer and music producer. He began collecting songs from the rich oral traditions of the Berber culture and in 1975, left for France where he recorded his first album, entitled 'A Vava Inouva'. The title track was translated into seven languages and became a big hit.
After the release of the album "Ay Arrac Nneɣ", he took a break from music during the 1980s and returned in 1993. He had a major hit with his 1999 album, Identités, which included songs with Manu Chao, Dan Ar Braz, Maxime Le Forestier, Gnawa Diffusion, Zebda, Gilles Servat, Geoffrey Oryema and the Berber National Orchestra.
Indir was an ardent supporter of Kabyle and Berber culture and gave many concerts for various causes, defending multiculturalism and the free migration of peoples. He died on May 2, 2020 in Paris, from pulmonary fibrosis.