This group of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert in northern Mali was first formed in 1979 in Algeria. Founded by Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, the band’s music is influenced by old Tuareg songs, modern Arab pop, chaabi protest music, Algerian pop rai, and Western rock and roll. They started to gain recognition outside the Sahara region in the late 1990s. In 2012, the group won the Grammy Award for Best World Music Album for their album Tassili.