Chico (Gypsy Kings)

Jalloul "Chico" Bouchikhi (Arabic: جلول البوشيخي; born 1954) is a French musician and a co-founder of the Gipsy Kings. After leaving the band in 1991, he formed his own group, Chico & the Gypsies.[1]

Early life

Bouchikhi was born in Arles, France, to a Moroccan father and an Algerian mother. He was married to Marthe Reyes, daughter of José Reyes, the father of the Reyes sons, members of the group Gipsy Kings.[2]

Personal life

Bouchikhi's brother, Ahmed, was assassinated by Mossad agents in the Norwegian town of Lillehammer in July 1973, in what came to be known as the Lillehammer affair. Ahmed, a waiter, had been mistaken for Ali Hassan Salameh.[3]

Bouchikhi is a UNESCO special envoy for peace.[2] In 1994, he was invited to play before Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat during the Oslo Accords peace negotiations.[2]

In 2014, Bouchikhi visited Israel. When asked in an interview with The Independent about his decision to refuse to participate in a boycott of the country, he insisted that reconciliation was more important than holding grudges.[4]

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chico_Bouchikhi