Bébé Manga

Elizabeth Bessem Manga aka Bébé Manga is a Cameroonian singer whose best-known song is Ami O. Bébé Manga started her career in 1975, singing in a night club in Abidjan, (Côte d'Ivoire) called "Son de Guitare" (Sound of a guitar). Here she discovered, and recorded her most known hit, Ami O, her interpretation of an original song written by Ebanda Manfred. Her talents were celebrated at the Top D'Or 2005 in Abidjan, as she was voted one of the best African artists of all times

Elizabeth Bessem Manga aka Bébé Manga is a Cameroonian singer whose best-known song is Ami O. Bébé Manga started her career in 1975, singing in a night club in Abidjan, (Côte d'Ivoire) called "Son de Guitare" (Sound of a guitar). Here she discovered, and recorded her most known hit, Ami O, her interpretation of an original song written by Ebanda Manfred. Her talents were celebrated at the Top D'Or 2005 in Abidjan, as she was voted one of the best African artists of all times Bebe Manga was born Elizabeth Bessem Manga on the 27th of November a long time ago as she prefers to put it. She hails from Tinto, Manyu Division, of the South West province, Cameroon. Bebe Manga made her debut in the then Bar Americain in Douala in 1979 while on a night out with some friends. Her friends impressed on the manager of the club that Bebe Manga had a good voice and could sing.

After singing kissa Kissa, the manager of the club, lost in admiration for the talented singer hired her on the spot there and then, so began her professional career. From that point on, it was a roller coaster ride. Bebe Manga has performed extensively in Africa: Gabon, Senegal, Mali, Zaire, Togo, Burkina Faso etc. Bebe Manga rose to stardom and international fame in 1980 when she replayed Ebanda Manfred's 1962 radio hit, "Amie" (meaning "friend" in French). Bebe Manga's version known as "Amio" earned her the prestigious "Maracas D'or" award from SACEM, and a firm place in history as one of Cameroon's greatest voices who has been an inspiration to a new crop of female stars such as Ruth Kotto and Jackie Biho.

Most notably, Bebe Manga transformed Ebanda Manfred's little-known Radio Douala recording into a worldwide hit that has attained cult status similar to Pete Seeger's Guantaramera, that other iconic song replayed by artists as diverse as Joe dassin and Wyclef Jean. In the last two decades, Amio has been replayed dozens of times and in different languages by musicians in Europe, the Caribbean, Latin and North America, and Africa, among them André Astasié, Nayanka Bell, Manu Dibango, Papa Wemba, Monique Séka, Jackie Biho, Bisso na Bisso, and Bebe Manga again. . User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL..