Singer Stromae “happy” about returning home to Rwanda

Belgian pop star Stromae said on Saturday he was “delighted” but also touched to be back in Rwanda, the birthplace of his father who died in the 1994 genocide. The singer, who canceled an African tour in June after falling ill, much to the disappointment of fans, will give his first concert in Rwanda later on Saturday, after performances in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. “I’m happy to be here, of course, especially given my health problems and the cancellation. But I’m very happy to be here and it’s strange to see people who like me or who I look like,” he told reporters. “It’s a very nice feeling,” he said. “It’s a kind of fate that we end up here in Kigali.” Stromae, real name Paul Van Haver, 30, was born to a Belgian mother and Rwandan father Pierre Rutare, an architect who was among an estimated 800,000 people killed in the 1994 genocide. The genre-bending Belgian singer, who performed at New York’s Madison Square Garden earlier this month – only the third French-speaking artist to play the self-described “most famous arena in the world” after Charles Aznavour and Céline Dion – will perform in front of around 20,000 people in Kigali on Saturday night. Stromae has won a huge following in Belgium and France with his songs, including his 2009 hit “Alors on danse.” The songs are danceable but also introspective, and address, among other things, the absence of his Rwandan father. “I was in Rwanda when I was five years old, but I don’t really remember my roots,” he said. Asked if he would sing about his father, he said he would try to remain “professional” in his performances. “But when I shed a little tear, it’s my heart that speaks,” he told reporters.