Celebrating Fatoumata Diawara—a GRAMMY®-nominated cultural icon—the new Epiphone Fatoumata Diawara SG blends bold design with artistry and premium functionality, marking a milestone for women and artists of color in music.
Epiphone is proud to announce the Fatoumata Diawara SG™—a signature SG created in close collaboration with the GRAMMY®-nominated Afrofuturist guitarist, singer-songwriter, and actress. As the first woman of color to receive an Epiphone signature guitar, Diawara’s model marks a historic milestone, honoring her extraordinary contributions to music and inspiring future generations of women and artists of color to pursue their creative aspirations. Born of her passion for the Epiphone Muse SG™, the Fatoumata Diawara SG incorporates her personal touches to deliver a player-focused instrument that reflects her aesthetic and performance needs. The Epiphone Fatoumata Diawara SG is available worldwide on Epiphone.com, at the Gibson Garage locations in Nashville and London, and at authorized Epiphone dealers.
“This guitar carries my Malian roots and my voice,” says Fatoumata Diawara. “It connects where I come from to where I’m going. As a Malian woman, receiving this signature guitar reminds me that our stories and our sounds truly belong on the world stage, and I hope it inspires women everywhere.”
Fatoumata Diawara is celebrated worldwide for her distinctive fusion of traditional Wassoulou sounds with modern global influences. She began her career in France as an actress before shifting her focus to music. Over the years, she has collaborated with an impressive roster of artists, including -M-, Angélique Kidjo, Oumou Sangaré, Disclosure, Damon Albarn, Paul McCartney, and Herbie Hancock. Diawara has also appeared in acclaimed films such as Timbuktu and Sia, and The Dream of the Python, continuing to inspire audiences worldwide through her art.
Her passion for the Epiphone Muse SG™ led to a collaboration with Epiphone to create her first signature SG model. The guitar features a mahogany body topped with her signature graphic, a set mahogany neck with a Custom C profile, and a bound rosewood fretboard with 22 medium jumbo frets and pearloid trapezoid inlays. Gold hardware accents include a LockTone™ Tune-O-Matic™ bridge, LockTone Stop Bar tailpiece, and Epiphone locking tuners, paired with a Graph Tech® nut for rock-solid tuning stability. The headstock proudly displays the Epiphone logo and Gibson Crown in mother-of-pearl, along with a two-ply truss rod cover engraved with Fatou’s signature in gold. Coordinated details such as red pickup rings, Speed knobs, rear control covers, and a toggle switch tip add striking visual flair.
Epiphone Fatoumata Diawara SG
Electronics are equally versatile: two Epiphone Alnico Classic PRO™ humbuckers are wired to modern controls, with individual volume knobs that include push/pull coil-splitting for single-coil textures. Two tone controls provide further shaping, and one features a push/pull phase switch to unlock out-of-phase tones when both pickups are engaged, expanding the instrument’s palette for studio and stage. With its bold design, premium appointments, and flexible electronics, the Epiphone Fatoumata Diawara SG is as functional as it is stunning. Each guitar ships in a hardshell case for maximum protection on the road.
Fatoumata Diawara with her new Epiphone SG.
Fatoumata Diawara broke through with Fenfo (2018), receiving two GRAMMY® nominations, one for “Best World Music Album” and another for the single “Ultimatum” with the UK electronic duo Disclosure for “Best Dance Recording.” Born in Côte d’Ivoire in 1982 to Malian parents, she moved to Bamako as a child and grew up in a large family, where resilience and a passion for dance became her lifelines. Film opened the first door: early roles in Taafé Fanga and Cheick Oumar Sissoko’s La Genèse, which was awarded at Cannes in 1999 and led to her acclaimed turn as Sia in Dani Kouyaté’s Sia, le Rêve du Python. As a young woman, she left Mali to avoid a forced marriage and found both refuge and a stage in France—debuting in Antigone at Paris’s Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord and touring worldwide for six years with the renowned Royal de Luxe company.
Paris has left a lasting mark on Diawara’s artistry. Immersed in the city’s cosmopolitan scene and cross-cultural collaborations, she has refined a sound that pairs electronic textures with kora and n’goni, Mandinka rhythms, and her griotic vocal power—sleek, urban, and unmistakably her own. Her debut album Fatou (2011) earned international praise and opened doors to projects with Herbie Hancock, Bobby Womack, Roberto Fonseca, Angie Stone, Yemi Alade, and M.anifest. In 2020, she was nominated for a Victoires de la Musique and Awards d’Afrique Best Female Artist. Fatoumata expanded her Afrofuturist vision on her most recent album release titled London Ko (2023). She continued to push forward on London Ko, co-produced with -M- (Mathieu Chedid) and featuring six tracks with Damon Albarn, complemented by bold visuals from Ethiopian artist Aida Muluneh (whose work has shown at MoMA). Diawara’s next studio album is slated for release later in 2026—catch her on tour in the following cities below and on FATOUMATADIAWARA.COM.
Fatoumata Diawara 2026 Tour:
Fri, APR 10 --Chorus Festival--Boulogne-billancourt, France
Sat, APR 11--Cabaret Botanique - Parc du Thabor--Rennes, France
Thu, APR 23--Sentrum Scene--Oslo, Norway
Fri, APR 24--UKK - Sal D – Ståplats--Uppsala, Sweden
Tue, MAY 5--Espace Culturel Le Champilambart--Vallet, France
Wed, MAY 6--La Sirene--La Rochelle, France
Thu, MAY 7, 2026--Adem Florida--Agen, France
Thu, MAY 21--Theatre de Corbeil-Essonnes - Salle JARRY--Corbeil-essonnes, France
Fri, JUN 12--Festival 2 Rivières--La Ferté-sous-jouarre, France
Sun, JUL 5--Gent Jazz Festival--Gent, Belgium
Mon, JUL 6--Jazz à Vienne 2026--Vienne, France
Thu, JUL 16--Théâtre Antique--Arles, France
Fri, JUL 24--Multi-lieux:Port–Crédit Mutuel, Estuaire, Théâtre de Verdure-Club 360-Saint-Nazaire, FR
Sat, JUL 25--Multi-lieux:Port–Crédit Mutuel, Estuaire, Théâtre de Verdure-Club 360-Saint-Nazaire, FR
Wed, NOV 18—Roundhouse--London, United Kingdom
Sun, NOV 22--Festsaal Kreuzberg--Berlin, Germany
Tue, NOV 24--Ancienne Belgique--Bruxelles, Belgium
Wed, NOV 25--L’Olympia--Paris, France
Fri, NOV 27—Paradiso--Amsterdam, Netherlands
