Tori Kelly

Victoria Loren "Tori" Kelly is an American singer-songwriter who first gained public attention through online performance videos before competing on television and launching a mainstream music career. Born on December 14, 1992, in Wildomar, California, she grew up in a musical household with her parents and younger brother. During her youth, she participated in televised talent competitions, winning America's Most Talented Kid in 2004. At age twelve, she briefly signed with Geffen Records, though the deal ended due to creative differences. By 2007, she began uploading covers and original performances to YouTube, gradually building a large online following.

In 2010, Kelly auditioned for the ninth season of American Idol and advanced to Hollywood Week. Following her appearance on the show, she focused on self-producing music, releasing her debut independent EP, Handmade Songs by Tori Kelly, on her own Toraay Records label in 2012. The project reached the top ten on the iTunes Pop Albums chart and scored on the US Heatseekers Albums chart. In 2013, she signed with Capitol Records and released her major-label EP Foreword, which debuted inside the top twenty of the US Billboard 200.

Kelly's debut studio album, Unbreakable Smile, was released in June 2015 and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. The album produced her first three entries on the Billboard Hot 100 with the singles "Nobody Love", "Should've Been Us", and "Hollow". Following the album's release, she earned a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist and became a brand ambassador for the William Rast clothing line. In 2016, she made her film debut voicing the character Meena in the animated movie Sing.

In 2018, Kelly released her second studio album, Hiding Place, which incorporated gospel influences and earned critical acclaim. The record won two Grammy Awards for Best Gospel Album and Best Gospel Performance/Song for the track "Never Alone". She followed this release with her third studio album, Inspired by True Events, in 2019. During 2020, she released the EP Solitude, a festive project titled A Tori Kelly Christmas, and competed on the fourth season of The Masked Singer as the "Seahorse".

In 2021, Kelly published her first book, The Curly Girl Blues, and reprised her voice role as Meena in Sing 2. She signed with Epic Records in 2023, releasing the EP Tori later that year. She followed with her self-titled fifth studio album, Tori, in 2024, and her sixth studio album, God Must Really Love Me, in 2026. Across her career, Kelly's accolades include three Grammy Awards overall, two Billboard Music Awards, a BET Award, and a GMA Dove Award. She married professional basketball player André Murillo in 2018, and the couple later welcomed their first child, a son.