Who is Aya Nakamura, the Opening Ceremonies singer?
Aya Nakamura, a chart-topping pop singer in France, strutted out in a sparkling gold outfit and performed two of her hit songs, “Pookie” and “Djadja,” as well as “For Me Formidable” with the French Republican Guard orchestra on the Pont des Arts during the Opening Ceremonies of the Paris Games.
The 29-year-old was born in Mali, the oldest of five siblings in a family of griots, or West African storytellers. She immigrated to France with her family as a child and grew up in the Paris suburbs.
She is one of France’s most popular artists: an award-winning singer known for mixing Afrobeats and R&B with slang-infused lyrics. She has five No. 1 songs in France, including 2018’s “Djadja,” which brought her international success. Before Coachella 2020 was scrapped, she was confirmed on the lineup, and she became one of the few artists who have performed a virtual concert on Fortnite.
In addition to French music awards, she has garnered multiple nominations for best international act at the BET Awards and nearly 4 billion views for her YouTube videos.
According to French media reports, some far-right groups in Europe lobbed racist insults at Nakamura in the lead-up to her performance and attacked organizers’ decision to let her represent France at the Olympics.
President Emmanuel Macron said the artist “speaks to a good number of our fellow citizens, and I think she is absolutely in her rightful place in an opening or closing ceremony,” according to the Guardian.
Nakamura said her stage name was inspired by Hiro Nakamura, a character from the NBC drama series “Heroes.”
