Amadou Bagayoko, one-half of the Grammy-nominated blind duo Amadou & Mariam, died Friday at age 70 after an undisclosed illness, his family confirmed.

The African guitarist and singer and his wife, Mariam Doumbia, earned global acclaim by fusing traditional Malian sounds with rock and blues.

Their 2008 album Welcome to Mali earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary World Music Album, and the husband and wife duo performed at FIFA's kick-off celebration for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Losing his vision at 16 years old because of a congenital cataract, Amadou met Doumbia at Mali's Institute for the Young Blind, where they both performed in the orchestra and shared a mutual love of music. Doumbia herself was left blind at 5 years old due to untreated measles.

Officially formed in 1980, the afro-blues duo sold millions of records worldwide and opened for the likes of Coldplay, U2, and Blur, among others, and performed alongside many other musicians, including Damon Albarn and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour. The band also performed at the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for U.S. President Barack Obama.

"He had been ill for a while," Amadou’s son-in-law Youssouf Fadiga told Agence-France Presse. The duo's manager, Yannick Tardy, spoke to Mariam by phone and said Amadou had been taken to a clinic after feeling fatigued and died later that day, according to Mirror.

The closing ceremony of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, France, marked the duo's final performance together.

The duo's last studio album was 2017's La Confusion.