Some artists spend a career mastering one tradition. Rhonda Head has spent hers bringing several together. A classically trained mezzo-soprano from Opaskwayak Cree Nation in northern Manitoba, Head has built a body of work where opera technique, contemporary songwriting, Indigenous storytelling and the Cree language meet on equal footing. Now her sixth album, Skeleton Key, has reached the first-round GRAMMY Awards ballot, a milestone that marks one of the biggest moments of her career so far.
Released in August 2026, Skeleton Key finds Head stepping into new territory. The album draws on her classical foundation, but it’s shaped less by formal convention than by lived experience: love, loss and the slow, sometimes painful work of transformation. It’s a record about coming through something and finding yourself on the other side.
“Skeleton Key is a journey from heartbreak and uncertainty to renewal, self-discovery, and hope,” Head says. “As a woman, this album is also about trusting my voice, owning my story, and finding strength in vulnerability.”
That idea of trusting her own voice feels fitting for an artist whose voice has carried her a remarkable distance. Head has performed on some of the most celebrated stages in the world, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York. Yet wherever her career has taken her, she has kept Cree language, culture and storytelling at the centre of what she does. Her music doesn’t treat heritage as a theme to visit now and then. It’s the ground the whole work stands on.
The album’s title suggests something that opens every door, and Skeleton Key has already been unlocking recognition well before the first-round GRAMMY ballot news. Earlier in 2026, it was named Gold Medal Winner for Best Contemporary Folk / World EP at the European International Music Awards, where the track “Whispering No More” also took the Gold Medal for Best Song for Social Change. More recently, her song “Aski” was named Best of North America in Native American Music at the 2026 InterContinental Music Awards.
Those honours join a long list. Head has received 62 awards and honours across her career, including an Indigenous Music Award and a Women of Inspiration Indigenous Leadership Award. Her influence also extends well beyond her own records. A Recording Academy voting member since 2017, she has served on the Board of SOCAN and worked as a music industry juror, advocate and mentor, helping open doors for other artists along the way.
For the GRAMMY Awards, Skeleton Key is being put forward for consideration in the Best Regional Roots Album category, a natural home for a record so rooted in place, language and community.
The first-round ballot recognition caps a year of real momentum for Head, as her music keeps finding new listeners in Canada and around the world. For an artist who has spent her career proving that classical training and Indigenous tradition can speak to each other, Skeleton Key feels like both a culmination and a beginning: proof of how far her voice has travelled, and a hint of where it might go next.
Skeleton Key is available now on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.
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