PARIS (AP) — Idir, an Algerian singer who gave voice to the Berber and Kabyle cultures, has died in Paris. He was 70.

Saturday’s death of the singer, whose real name was Hamid Cheriet, was confirmed on a post on his official Facebook page that read “we regret to announce the passing of our father (to all), Idir. Rest in peace.”

French media report that he died from pulmonary disease after being hospitalized on Friday.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune paid tribute to him on Twitter, saying that “with his passing, Algeria has lost one of its monuments,” and referred to him as “an icon of Algerian art.”

Idir was a national treasure in his native Algeria.

Born on Oct. 25, 1949 in Ait Lahcene, near the Kabylie capital of Tizi Ouzou and part of French Algeria at the time, he studied to be a geologist.