Mariem Hassan (born 5 May 1958) was a Sahrawi blues and folk singer-songwriter from Uad Tazua. Known as the “Voice of the Sahara,” Hassan worked as a nurse before joining the group Shahid El Uali in 1976. She began her solo career in 1998 with contributions to the album Sahrauis: The Music of the Western Sahara and recorded the collaboration Mariem Hassan con Leyoad (2002). Hassan released her first solo recording, Deseos, in 2005, featuring the track “La Tumchu anni”. Her subsequent albums included Shouka (2010) and El Aaiun Egdat (2012), the latter reaching Number 1 on the World Music Charts Europe. Hassan performed at the WOMAD, WOMEX, and Festival du Sahel events and was the subject of the documentary Mariem Hassan, la voz del Sáhara (2007). Hassan died of bone cancer on August 22, 2015. The recordings Baila, Sáhara, baila (2015) and La voz indómita (2017) were released posthumously.
