Jalloul "Chico" Bouchikhi ( ar, جلول البوشيخي; born 1954 in

Arles Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...

) is a musician and a co-founder of the

Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings are a group of flamenco, salsa, and pop musicians from Arles and Montpellier in southern France, who perform mostly in Catalan but also mix in Spanish with southern French dialects. Although the group members were born in France, t ...

. He later left the Gipsy Kings and founded

Chico & the Gypsies Chico & the Gypsies is a French musical formation of rumba catalana, flamenco and Latin pop and rock tunes led by Jahloul Chico Bouchikhi, who was one of the founders of the Gipsy Kings. After he left the Gipsy Kings due to differences with the ba ...

Early life

Bouchikhi was born in

to a Moroccan father and an

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

n mother. He was married to Marthe Reyes, the daughter of José Reyes, the father of the Reyes sons, members of the group Gipsy Kings.

Personal life

His brother,

Ahmed Bouchiki The Lillehammer affair (Hebrew: פרשת לילהאמר, ''Parshat Lillehammer'', Norwegian: ''Lillehammer-saken'') was the killing by Mossad agents of Ahmed Bouchikhi, a Moroccan waiter and brother of the renowned musician Chico Bouchikhi, i ...

, was assassinated by Mossad agents in the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

town of

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

in July 1973 in the

Lillehammer affair The Lillehammer affair (Hebrew: פרשת לילהאמר, ''Parshat Lillehammer'', Norwegian: ''Lillehammer-saken'') was the killing by Mossad agents of Ahmed Bouchikhi, a Moroccan waiter and brother of the renowned musician Chico Bouchikhi, in ...

. Bouchikhi, a waiter, had been mistaken for

Ali Hassan Salameh Ali Hassan Salameh ( ar, علي حسن سلامة, ; 1 April 1941 – 22 January 1979) was a Palestinian militant who was the chief of operations (code name Abu Hassan) for Black September and founder of Force 17. He was assassinated by Mossad ...

. He is also

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

's special envoy for peace, and has held a major concert in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

with his band. He has also played before

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres (; he, שמעון פרס ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the ninth president of ...

and

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

during the

Oslo Accords The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993;

peace negotiations. In 2014 Bouchikhi visited Israel. When asked in an interview with ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' about his decision to refuse to participate in a boycott of the country, he insisted that reconciliation was more important than holding grudges.

Discography

As part of the
Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings are a group of flamenco, salsa, and pop musicians from Arles and Montpellier in southern France, who perform mostly in Catalan but also mix in Spanish with southern French dialects. Although the group members were born in France, t ...

*1982: ''

Allegria ''Allegria'' (Italian; "joy") is the debut studio album by the Gipsy Kings, released in 1982 in Europe. Overview This album and its successor, ''Luna de Fuego'', are very different from their later albums. They are both "unplugged" and traditio ...

'' *1983: ''

Luna de Fuego ''Luna de Fuego'' is the second studio album by the Gipsy Kings, released in 1983 in Europe. Background Just like ''Allegria'', ''Luna de Fuego'' is denoted to be more traditional than their next albums with only acoustic guitars, voices, and ha ...

'' *1988: ''

'' *1989: ''

Mosaïque ''Mosaïque'' is the fourth studio album by the Gipsy Kings, released in 1989 in Europe and Canada. The main difference between the two versions is the replacement of the instrumental "Bossamba" on the European release with "Niña morena" on the ...

As part of
Chico & the Gypsies Chico & the Gypsies is a French musical formation of rumba catalana, flamenco and Latin pop and rock tunes led by Jahloul Chico Bouchikhi, who was one of the founders of the Gipsy Kings. After he left the Gipsy Kings due to differences with the ba ...

Refer to discography section of

References

External links

Artist home pageGipsy King's home pageChico's History
Gipsy Kings members 1954 births People from Arles Moroccan musicians Algerian musicians Moroccan people of Algerian descent French people of Moroccan descent French people of Algerian descent Living people French jazz guitarists French male guitarists French male jazz musicians Spanish male musicians {{France-musician-stub