Mourad Tsimpou, the young piano prodigy from Marseille, has died at the age of 19

Mourad Tsimpou, a young piano prodigy known under the stage name Mourad, died on Saturday at the age of 19 from a long illness, one of his managers announced to AFP. He died on the morning of Saturday June 29 at the Necker children’s hospital in Paris, following a rare liver disease from which he suffered since childhood, explained Salim Lebghil, one of the two leaders of 1392 Records.

Mourad’s musical history Tsimpou had started during yet another visit to the Marseille Timone hospital. Originally, like Zinedine Zidane, from the city of Castellane in the northern districts of Marseille, he discovered a piano there, even though he had never played one in his life.

He is 14 years old, listens to an impromptu by Chopin on the Internet and improvises. Mourad Tsimpou had “perfect pitch, he played without sheet music“, explains Salim Lebghil. The scene was captured by another patient, who posted it on social networks, generating incredible enthusiasm.

It was the start of a whirlwind career, two albums, a third in preparation. He collaborated with André Manoukian, the rap star Soprano and for example performed at the Top 14 rugby final in 2021 by playing The MarseillaiseHe will be buried in the Comoros where his family is from.