Hi everyone and Happy Friday! I hope you had a good week! It was a pretty busy and hectic week here! This weekend and next week will also be pretty busy! I might take a little break next week. I’ll be sure to let you know if it happens. I usually like to have a fast paced song on Fridays but…this Friday is an exception. I’m in the mood to listen to some relaxing music! Today I’m taking you back to 2000 with Sting and Cheb Mami’s “Desert Rose.” Can you believe this song is sort of an inspiration for my book? I’ll tell you why later 😉

Although Sting continues to make music and perform at 65, you don’t really hear about Cheb Mami these days. Algerian-born singer Mami began creating music in the mid 1980’s in Paris. When he and his music became successful, he began touring worldwide. Unfortunately, Mami has had some very rough years after “Desert Rose.” According to Wikipedia, he was found guilty of drugging and forcing his ex-girlfriend to have an abortion in 2005. He served five years in a Paris prison. In 2015, he was ordered to pay 200,000 euros (a little over $211,000 in U.S. dollars) to Cheb Rabah for plagiarizing some of his songs. Cheb Rabah also became the co-author of “Desert Rose.” Who knows if we’ll ever hear of Cheb Mami or his music anymore? It’s very unfortunate all of that happened! Have a great weekend, everyone and I’ll see you soon!