Biography

Sona Diabaté

In 1961, a twelve-year-old girl entered a Parisian studio and took the stage alongside fourteen other musicians to form the first all-female orchestra from Africa — Les Amazones de Guinée. She played guitar, sang, and carried within her the millennial heritage of Mandingo griots: these guardians of oral memory who, since the thirteenth century, have transmitted history through song. Sona Diabaté, born Nana Diabaté, has not abandoned this heritage since then.

In Brief


Birth Name	Nana Diabaté, known as Sona Diabaté
Birth	1959, Tiro, Faranah region, Guinea
Genre(s)	Afro-folk, Mandingo, blues, African pop
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, balafon
Group(s)	Les Amazones de Guinée, Les Sœurs Diabaté, Argile
Notable Works	Sons de la savane, Kankele-Ti, Garé Garé

Key Dates

Year	Event
1959	Birth in Tiro (Faranah), Guinea, into a family of griots
1961	Founding member of Les Amazones de Guinée at age 12
Early 1970s	Collaboration with Miriam Makeba, exiled in Guinea
1983	Release of first solo album, Sons de la savane
1988	Kankele-Ti and Sahel, tours in Europe
1990	First solo tour of Europe
1996	Garé Garé reaches 3rd place on World Music Charts Europe
1996	Tours in Germany alongside Miriam Makeba and Papa Wemba
2002	Donkili Diarabi with Les Sœurs Diabaté (Sayon and Mama)
2013	Participation in Afric Univers by Kuniyuki

Origins: The Griot Vocation

The Diabaté family is a dynasty of Mandingo griots, these guardians of oral memory who for centuries have shaped the region’s history through song. Hadj Djeli Fodé Diabaté, Sona’s father, is a singer, balafonist, and director of the Ensemble Instrumental de Guinée. He transmitted to his daughter the foundations of griot art: singing, balafon, the emblematic West African percussion xylophone, and above all, the memorization of oral stories and the composition of praises. His mother also influenced Sona by teaching her the codes of tradition.

Sékou “Bembeya” Diabaté, his older brother — nicknamed “Diamond Fingers” for his virtuosity — also plays guitar in the famous Bembeya Jazz. He taught her this instrument, and together they recorded notably Hadja Aminata Sylla in Conakry in 1982. This sibling group, along with their cousin Mama Diabaté, would later form the trio Les Sœurs Diabaté, propelled in 2002 by the album Donkili Diarabi (Guinean Lovesongs).

Revelation: The Amazones and Miriam Makeba

In 1961, at twelve years old, Sona was one of the seven founding members of Les Amazones de Guinée, the first all-female orchestra in Africa, created under the impetus of President Ahmed Sékou Touré and writer Keïta Fodéba. The group, originally named Orchestre Féminin de la Gendarmerie Nationale, comprised between 15 and 20 musicians and left a lasting mark on African music history. Sona sang and played rhythm guitar, contributing to the group’s only album, Au cœur de Paris (1983).

After Les Amazones, her trajectory shifted: she joined Miriam Makeba’s group, the legendary South African singer exiled in Guinea with her husband, American Black Panthers leader Stokeley Carmichael. Makeba, then hunted by the FBI, found in Sona an attentive disciple and protégée. This relationship taught her the mechanics of a solo career and opened the doors to Europe.

Solo Career and Artistic Resilience

At the beginning of the 1980s, Sona launched her solo career and formed her own group, leading her to perform in Africa, Europe, and the United States. Sons de la savane (1983), produced in Paris by Diapy Diawara and republished by Triple Earth under the title Terra 106 – Sahel, established her afro-folk style, torn between traditional Mandingo music, blues, and pop. Kankele-Ti (1988), recorded during a European tour, confirmed this acoustic yet modern sound.

In 1990, she embarked on her first solo tour of Europe. The following year, a serious illness interrupted this momentum: Sona remained away from the stage for three years. She returned triumphantly in 1996 with Garé Garé, a title that climbed to third place on the World Music Charts Europe. This resilience inspired her comeback as well: she opened concerts for Miriam Makeba and the Ivorian Papa Wemba in Berlin and Würzburg, Germany, and appeared on the live CD of the 8th African Festival in Würzburg.

Sona continued in the following years with various collaborations: Live in Africa & Europe (1998) and Mandingo Festival (2000) with the group Argile, then Afric Univers (2013) with Kuniyuki. She is regularly cited alongside Youssou N’Dour, Angélique Kidjo, and Oumou Sangaré on world music compilations.

Major Works

Work	Year	Why It Is Essential
Sons de la savane	1983	First solo album, introduced her afro-folk blending traditional Mandingo music and pop
Kankele-Ti	1988	Recorded in Europe during the tour, confirmed the modern acoustic sound
Garé Garé	1996	Triumphant return after illness, 3rd place on World Music Charts Europe
Donkili Diarabi (with Les Sœurs Diabaté)	2002	First recording by the family trio, Guinean love songs
Au cœur de Paris (Les Amazones de Guinée)	1983	Only album by the first all-female orchestra from Africa

Legacy

Sona Diabaté embodies the authenticity of West African music: living griot tradition, rare instrumental mastery (vocals, guitar, balafon), and major stage presence. More than six decades after her debut, she remains a great ambassador of Guinean music.