Grammy Award-winning African gurke player, Ali Farka Toure, died Tuesday at his home in Bamako, Mali, from bone cancer.

The so-called Bluesman of Africa was believed to be in his late 60s, but the exact date of his birth in Timbuktu was unknown, the BBC said.

Toure won the first of his two Grammys for his 1995 recording with guitarist Ry Cooder, Talking Timbuktu. His second Grammy was awarded this year for In the Heart of the Moon, an album he recorded with Toumani Diabate of Mali.

Toure worked with several U.S. blues guitarists through the years and Nonesuch Records said he had recently completed recording a new solo album. A release date had not been set.

Radio stations throughout Mali interrupted programming Tuesday to play Toure's music, the BBC said.

His funeral was scheduled for Wednesday in his childhood home of Niafunke, Mali.