Tori Kelly

Tori Kelly, a singer and songwriter, has long woven gospel and R&B into her work while maintaining a clear pull toward pop sounds. Early online attention gave way to broader recognition once she issued her independent 2012 breakthrough Handmade Songs by Tori Kelly. The 2015 major-label release Unbreakable Smile built on that foundation, rising to number two on the Billboard 200 behind the hit single “Should've Been Us.” In the years that followed, Kelly leaned more openly into her Christian faith on the 2018 album Hiding Place, which earned the Grammy for Best Gospel Album. She explored seasonal material with 2020’s A Tori Kelly Christmas, a project that brought her together with Babyface, and over the ensuing two years she expanded her reach through work with Jon Batiste and Brasstracks. After a 2023 EP, she unveiled the full-length Tori., an album steeped in ’90s pop and R&B that spotlighted the single “Missin U” and included contributions from Jon Bellion.

Victoria Loren Kelly entered the world in Wildomar, California, on December 14, 1992, inside a household steeped in music—her father sang and played bass while her mother handled keyboards and saxophone. She absorbed gospel from childhood onward and drew further influence from pop and R&B figures such as Jeff Buckley, Lauryn Hill, and Jill Scott. Professional ambitions surfaced early; at age ten she competed on the television talent show Star Search. In 2004 she appeared on America’s Most Talented Kids, claiming victory in her initial round and advancing to the championship tournament. That exposure secured a contract with Geffen Records, though the partnership dissolved before any material reached the public.

After an American Idol audition that stopped short of the final twenty-four, Kelly shifted direction. Having taught herself guitar, she began crafting original material and tracking it on her home computer. She uploaded performance clips to YouTube, where word-of-mouth interest quickly swelled her audience to nearly 700,000 subscribers; her cover of Frank Ocean’s “Thinkin’ ’Bout You” alone attracted seventeen million views. Demonstrating commercial viability, she digitally issued the self-recorded Handmade Songs by Tori Kelly, on which she performed the majority of instruments herself. The set climbed to number nine on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and number six on Soundscan’s New Artist tally. Live dates followed, including headlining runs through clubs and theaters plus support slots for Jewel and Ed Sheeran at larger venues. Manager Scooter Braun, previously instrumental in the careers of Justin Bieber and Carly Rae Jepsen, guided her to a deal with Capitol, which released the EP Foreword in fall 2013.

Kelly’s first proper studio album, Unbreakable Smile, arrived in 2015. Production came partly from Max Martin, known for his work with Kelly Clarkson, P!nk, and Ellie Goulding, and the project featured the singles “Nobody Love” and “Should’ve Been Us.” It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and earned her a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. The following year she made her screen debut by voicing a character in the animated film Sing. In summer 2016 she issued the YouTube single “Blink of an Eye” as a tribute to her late friend Christina Grimmie.

With the 2018 album Hiding Place, Kelly expressed her Christian faith more directly and adopted a gospel-inflected palette. The set contained the Kirk Franklin-produced track “Help Us to Love,” which featured Anthony Hamilton’s the Hamiltones. It secured two Grammy Awards—Best Gospel Album and Best Gospel Performance/Song for “Never Alone.” She returned in August 2019 with Inspired by True Events, produced by Jimmy Napes and including the singles “Sorry Would Go a Long Way” and “Change Your Mind.”

Early 2020 brought the collaborative single “Together” with for KING & COUNTRY and Kirk Franklin, followed later that year by the EP Solitude. Kelly also delivered her first holiday collection, the Grammy-nominated A Tori Kelly Christmas, produced by Babyface and featuring renditions of “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World.” Subsequent guest appearances included Justin Bieber’s “Name,” Jon Batiste’s “SING,” and Brasstracks’ “Still Life.” She then issued the 2023 solo single “Missin U,” which appeared on that year’s EP Tori. before anchoring her fifth studio album of the same name. Released in April 2024, Tori. drew from the ’90s pop, hip-hop, and R&B of Aaliyah, Missy Elliott, and TLC while hosting guest spots from Ayra Starr, Le Sserafim’s Kim Chaewon, and Jon Bellion.