Biography
With a commanding vocal presence refined through years of church performances, Kelly Price has moved fluidly between contemporary gospel and soul-infused R&B over the course of her long career. She first gained notice in the early 1990s as a sought-after background singer, most prominently supporting Mariah Carey, before claiming the spotlight near the decade’s close with her platinum-certified solo debut, Soul of a Woman (1998). Far from abandoning her role as a supporting vocalist after that breakthrough, she earned one of her major successes as a featured performer on Whitney Houston’s “Heartbreak Hotel,” a track that also marked her first Grammy-nominated recording. A songwriter and producer as well, she has since issued five more Top Ten R&B/hip-hop albums, ranging from the platinum Mirror Mirror (2000) to Sing Pray Love, Vol. 1: Sing (2014). Entering the new decade, she delivered Grace (2021), an EP issued by Motown Gospel.
Raised in a strict Pentecostal home, Kelly Cherelle Price began singing as a child in the church where her mother served as musical director. Her initial recording credit came on Candi Staton’s gospel project Standing on the Promises, yet the Queens native made her strongest early mark in secular settings, starting as a background vocalist for George Michael at Madison Square Garden. That 1991 appearance opened the door to several years of onstage and studio work with Mariah Carey, spanning the 1992 MTV Unplugged set through the 1997 album Butterfly. During the same period she contributed background vocals to sessions for Frankie Knuckles, 112, the Isley Brothers, Puff Daddy, and the Notorious B.I.G., including the track “Mo Money Mo Problems,” while maintaining ties to gospel through work with Sounds of Blackness and Keziah Jones.
Signed to the Isley Brothers’ T-Neck imprint, then operating under the Universal-distributed Island label, she stepped forward as a solo artist in 1998 with “Friend of Mine,” particularly its dramatic remix featuring R. Kelly and Ronald Isley. The single reached the top of Billboard’s R&B/hip-hop chart and crossed over to peak at number 12 on the Hot 100, driving the parent album Soul of a Woman, executive produced by Isley, to number 15 on the Billboard 200. She next appeared alongside Faith Evans on Whitney Houston’s “Heartbreak Hotel,” a number-two pop single later nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category.
Following the Universal-PolyGram merger, Price joined the roster of Def Jam’s Def Soul imprint and returned in 2000 with Mirror Mirror. The album produced three Top 20 R&B/hip-hop singles, among them her reinterpretation of Shirley Murdock’s “As We Lay,” which earned her second Grammy nomination, this time in the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance category. Like its predecessor, Mirror Mirror attained platinum status within months. Her Def Soul tenure ended after the 2001 holiday release One Family: A Christmas Album and the 2003 Top Ten album Priceless, whose single “He Proposed” received a nomination for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. Also in 2003, she joined the original cast of Why Did I Get Married?, marking her first collaboration with Tyler Perry.
She has continued to record a blend of contemporary gospel and R&B with extended intervals between full-length projects. Establishing her own imprint under GospoCentric, she released the largely self-produced album This Is Who I Am in 2006. The respected gospel label Malaco backed her 2011 effort Kelly, which earned four Grammy nominations: Best R&B Vocal Performance for “Tired,” Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song for the Stokley Williams collaboration “Not My Daddy,” and Best R&B Album. This was followed by Sing Pray Love, Vol. 1: Sing, issued through eOne in 2014 and becoming her sixth Top Ten entry on the R&B/hip-hop chart. A few years afterward she contributed to Kanye West’s “Ultralight Beam,” securing her eighth and ninth Grammy nominations. Rather than extend the Sing Pray Love series, she issued Grace, an EP, in 2021 on Motown Gospel.
Raised in a strict Pentecostal home, Kelly Cherelle Price began singing as a child in the church where her mother served as musical director. Her initial recording credit came on Candi Staton’s gospel project Standing on the Promises, yet the Queens native made her strongest early mark in secular settings, starting as a background vocalist for George Michael at Madison Square Garden. That 1991 appearance opened the door to several years of onstage and studio work with Mariah Carey, spanning the 1992 MTV Unplugged set through the 1997 album Butterfly. During the same period she contributed background vocals to sessions for Frankie Knuckles, 112, the Isley Brothers, Puff Daddy, and the Notorious B.I.G., including the track “Mo Money Mo Problems,” while maintaining ties to gospel through work with Sounds of Blackness and Keziah Jones.
Signed to the Isley Brothers’ T-Neck imprint, then operating under the Universal-distributed Island label, she stepped forward as a solo artist in 1998 with “Friend of Mine,” particularly its dramatic remix featuring R. Kelly and Ronald Isley. The single reached the top of Billboard’s R&B/hip-hop chart and crossed over to peak at number 12 on the Hot 100, driving the parent album Soul of a Woman, executive produced by Isley, to number 15 on the Billboard 200. She next appeared alongside Faith Evans on Whitney Houston’s “Heartbreak Hotel,” a number-two pop single later nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category.
Following the Universal-PolyGram merger, Price joined the roster of Def Jam’s Def Soul imprint and returned in 2000 with Mirror Mirror. The album produced three Top 20 R&B/hip-hop singles, among them her reinterpretation of Shirley Murdock’s “As We Lay,” which earned her second Grammy nomination, this time in the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance category. Like its predecessor, Mirror Mirror attained platinum status within months. Her Def Soul tenure ended after the 2001 holiday release One Family: A Christmas Album and the 2003 Top Ten album Priceless, whose single “He Proposed” received a nomination for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. Also in 2003, she joined the original cast of Why Did I Get Married?, marking her first collaboration with Tyler Perry.
She has continued to record a blend of contemporary gospel and R&B with extended intervals between full-length projects. Establishing her own imprint under GospoCentric, she released the largely self-produced album This Is Who I Am in 2006. The respected gospel label Malaco backed her 2011 effort Kelly, which earned four Grammy nominations: Best R&B Vocal Performance for “Tired,” Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song for the Stokley Williams collaboration “Not My Daddy,” and Best R&B Album. This was followed by Sing Pray Love, Vol. 1: Sing, issued through eOne in 2014 and becoming her sixth Top Ten entry on the R&B/hip-hop chart. A few years afterward she contributed to Kanye West’s “Ultralight Beam,” securing her eighth and ninth Grammy nominations. Rather than extend the Sing Pray Love series, she issued Grace, an EP, in 2021 on Motown Gospel.
Albums
GRACE
2021
Best Of
2013
Kelly (Deluxe Version)
2011
Kelly
2011
20th Century Masters: The Best Of Kelly Price
2007
This Is Who I Am
2006
Priceless
2003
One Family: A Christmas Album
2001
Hymns of Praise
2001
Mirror Mirror
2000
Soul Of A Woman
1998
Singles
