Born in 1980 in the Tuareg nomadic camp of Tidene (Agadez, Niger), Bombino grew up against a backdrop of political upheaval. At the age of ten, he fled with his family to Algeria, where he learnt to play the guitar by watching videos of Hendrix, Dire Straits, Ali Farka Touré and Tinariwen – and, after returning to his homeland, he turned the instrument into a voice of resistance and beauty.