Mourad Tsimpou, a young piano prodigy from Marseille known by his stage name Mourad, died on Saturday, June 29, at the age of 19 after a long illness, one of his managers told AFP. Hospitalized at Necker Hospital in Paris, he succumbed to the rare liver disease he had suffered from since childhood, explained Salim Lebghil, one of the two managers of 1392 Records.
Originally from the town of La Castellane (16th), like Zinedine Zidane, the young man became a phenomenon even though he didn’t even own an instrument. The second of five children, was only 14 years old when he was propelled to the forefront by a video posted on Twitter in which we see him playing Chopin’s “Fantaisie-Impromptu” on the piano of the Timone hospital.
From the Velodrome to Daily
Mourad had “perfect pitch, he played without partition“, Salim Lebghil explained to AFP. Mourad Tsimpou also made an impression during an appearance on the show Quotidien, in January 2019, when he was only 14 years old. An appearance in which he improvised on Chopin.
The young man also touched the audience at the velodrome by performing “Jump by Van Halen”, in piano version of course, for the entry of the teams during an OM-Brest meeting in October 2019.
During this whirlwind career, he has produced two albums, with a third in preparation. He collaborated with André Manoukian, the rap star Soprano and for example performed during the Top 14 rugby final in 2021 playing La Marseillaise.
“Marseille, his city, pays tribute to him,” says Benoît Payan
The announcement of his death leaves room for shock and emotion. “It is with deep sadness that I learned of the death of Mourad Tsimpou, a genius pianist from Marseille. His unique playing, so young, impressed and upset us all. He made us so proud. Marseille, his city, pays tribute to him. My thoughts are with his family and loved ones in this very difficult ordeal,” reacted the mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, on X formerly Twitter.
“Sadness overcomes me at the announcement of the sudden death of Mourad Tsimpou“, shared Samia Ghali, deputy mayor of the City. Senator when the young man broke through on the canvas, but still did not have an instrument, she contacted the manager of a music store in the center -city so that he offers a piano to the teenager, as written at the time.
Olympique de Marseille also pays a vibrant tribute to the young musician. “The blue and white people will remember a boy who expressed his love for Marseille and OM like no one else using his piano..”
He will be buried in the Comoros where his family is from.
