Garba Touré, a guitarist from Diré, near Timbuktu, was forced to leave, and moved to Bamako, the country's capital, in the south.

In September 2013, Africa Express, a group of American and European musicians and producers led by Damon Albarn, visited Bamako to record an album of collaborations.

[8] Robin Denselow, writing for The Guardian, described the album as "an impressively varied and rousing set", and named Songhoy Blues "[a] band to watch".

[9] In the NME, Kevin EG Perry described the album as "a masterpiece of desert blues; blending American guitar licks with Malian groove".

At the Royal Albert Hall for Later… with Jools Holland’s 25th anniversary, they played two songs with tenor saxophone player Tunday Akintan.

On August 5, 2020 Songhoy Blues announced their new album, Optimisme would be released on October 23, 2020 through Fat Possum Records.

Band member Garba Toure states,"We grew up listening to old music by the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and John Lee Hooker.