Sona Diabaté

Sona Diabaté was born in Tiro, Guinea in 1959. Her father, the famous singer Hadj Djeli Fodé Diabaté, passed on their family's music legacy by teaching Sona to sing and to play the balafon. After attending school for several years, Sona began her career as a griot singer. Her music training included singing with and learning from Miriam Makeba, who was living in Guinea at the time. She also joined Africa's well-known and first all-female band, the "Amazones de Guinée", as singer and rhythm guitar player.