Anne Marie Nzié

Anne-Marie Nzié (1932 – 24 May 2016) was a Cameroonian bikutsi singer.

Biography Anne-Marie Nzié was born in Bibia, Lolodorf, Cameroon, in 1932. Her father was a guitarist and at the age of eight she began singing in a church choir in the village where he was a pastor. In the 1940s, Nzié began performing bikutsi, the music native to her home in central Cameroon. At the age of 12, while recuperating in hospital from injuries sustained when she fell from a mango tree, she learned to play Hawaiian guitar with the help of her musician brother, Moise. (who used the name "Cromwell") She went on to support him in some of his concert appearances, and in 1954 they released their first single together, "Ma Ba Nze", on the Opika label.

Nzié remained active over the next five decades and helped to popularise bikutsi throughout Cameroon, Her long career earned her the epithets "Queen of Cameroonian Music", and "Queen Mother of Bikutsi".

Nzié was a supporter of both of Cameroon's presidents, Ahmadou Ahidjo and Paul Biya. For example, she dedicated the song "Liberté" to Paul Biya and his Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) political party. In 1992, the Social Democratic Front used the song during John Fru Ndi's presidential campaign; Nzié said that she was "vehemently opposed" to the move. In another incident, student protesters changed the lyrics of the song to say, "Paul Biya go away". Nzié responded by saying that the song was always intended to be pro-Biya and pro-CPDM.