Iona Fyfe is a musician, folksinger and activist from Aberdeenshire, based in Glasgow. A graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Iona has extensive touring experience in the US, Canada, Germany, the UK and Australia. The first vocalist to win the coveted title of Musician of the Year at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards, Iona is a two-time winner of the Scots Singer of the Year title.

A finalist in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2026, Iona is a fierce advocate and exponent of the Scots language, successfully lobbying Spotify to change their language policy and add Scots to the back end of the platform in 2021.

In 2020, Iona joined Oor Vyce, the campaign for a Scots Language Act. In 2025, the Scottish Languages Bill passed, placing Gaelic, Scots and English on equal footing and for the first time, recognising Scots as a legal language. Through her language advocacy work, Iona has featured in publications such as the Wall Street Journal and National Geographic.

She has served on several UK and US boards and charities including Folk Alliance International (USA), the Traditional Music and Song Association, the Musicians’ Union, and the Traditional Music Forum. 

Iona is a patron of the Music Venue Trust, a campaign to support the UK’s grassroots music venues. In 2022, Iona was awarded the STUC Equality Award for her work raising awareness of sexual harassment and discrimination in the music industry. Iona has made several TV and radio appearances on shows such as BBC Debate Night and STV’s Scotland Tonight speaking on current affairs topics as well as her areas of interest such as linguistic discrimination, touring in the EU post-Brexit and issues pertaining to freelance musicians. 

Iona has contributed guest columns to publications such as The Herald, The National and the Press and Journal. 

Iona serves as deputy chair of the Musicians’ Union Scotland and Northern Ireland Regional Committee and serves on the Members Assembly.

In 2024, Iona became the youngest ever elected Rector in history at the University of Aberdeen. Iona suffers from Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Hypermobility Syndrome. She hopes to lead campaigns raising public awareness around these conditions.