Life and career

Kelly was born in Wildomar, California. Her father is Jamaican, Puerto Rican and Ecuadorian, while her mother is of Irish and German descent. Growing up, she was exposed to a variety of music by her parents. "I give them a lot of credit for just playing all different genres, and no genre was off limits," she said when asked about her upbringing. Kelly has appeared on the show Star Search. With vocalist Tiffany Evans winning the title of Junior Champion in the junior singer division, she did not win the contest.

In 2004 she participated on America's Most Talented Kids, singing Christina Aguilera's "Keep on Singin' My Song" and won, beating out musician Hunter Hayes. She made a second appearance on the show in the Tournament of Champions, but lost to Antonio Pontarelli, a rock musician. At the age of twelve, Kelly was offered a record deal with Geffen Records, which she accepted, but because of conflicting ideas it was mutually agreed for her to be released. In 2007, Kelly began posting videos to YouTube, at the age of 14. The first video she uploaded was a cover of John Wesley Work, Jr.'s "Go Tell It On The Mountain", which she originally performed, back in December 2004. Kelly gained recognition for her acoustic cover, with a fellow YouTuber, named Angie Girl of Frank Ocean's "Thinkin Bout You".

Despite her shortcomings when she auditioned for American Idol and failing to reach the top 24, she approached the world in a different way. Kelly learned how to play the guitar, composed original song pieces and had them recorded through her own personal computer. In given time, Kelly had gone viral in a matter of days. Tori Kelly began sharing her performances through YouTube, and due to her musical talents, her page reached 700,000 subscribers.

2010-13: Handmade Songs by Tori Kelly

In 2010, Tori Kelly auditioned for Season 9 of American Idol in Denver, Colorado and made it through to Hollywood week but did not reach/make it to the "Top 24" of the artists. She had claimed that 'she was devastated' but she had 'given it her all'. She immediately began writing more songs and was asked to take part in a youth version of the 1985 charity song "We Are the World" titled "We Are the World: The Next Generation". Although former judge Simon Cowell who appeared to find Kelly's voice "almost annoying", it simply didn't stop her from continuing to write more songs. Another handwritten song called "Confetti" shapes her fabulous career mentality and expresses the dream not being big because you may forget the person you once were. May 1, 2012, she released her first EP, titled Handmade Songs by Tori Kelly, which contained six songs on her own label Toraay Records. Kelly wrote, produced, engineered, and recorded the EP by herself in her bedroom. When it was released on iTunes it made it to the Top 10 Pop Albums. She called the EP a "warm up" to a full-length album that is to come in the future. The EP has sold more than 14,000 copies and reached number nine on the US Heatseekers Albums chart".

In February 2013, Kelly released a single called "Fill a Heart", which she wrote for the "Child Hunger Ends Here" campaign by ConAgra Foods and Feeding America. The song was later performed by British boy band The Wanted on Dancing With the Stars. Starting in April 2013, Kelly performed at eight different venues across continental U.S. for her "Fill a Heart" tour, helping out at the cities' food banks during the day. She has performed in venues such as the Troubador and the Roxy in Los Angeles, the Gramercy Theater in New York and Bush Hall in London. She has also been featured in magazines such as Teen Vogue, Elle and Glamour.

During mid-2013, Kelly's newly assigned manager Scooter Braun introduced her to the heads of Capitol Records. She had been "very skeptical" about signing with a major record label in fear that things would not work out in her favor. "I'd been burned before. But when I met those guys, I had never felt that way: They were fans and really got me." On September 6, 2013 she was signed to Capitol Records.

2013-present: Foreword, Unbreakable Smile and "Hollow"

In September 2013, Kelly announced on The Today Show that her major label debut, a second EP, titled Foreword, would be released on October 22, 2013 on Capitol Records. The EP has sold more than 16,000 copies, debuting at number 16 on the US Billboard 200. Kelly was the sole supporting act to Ed Sheeran at Madison Square Garden on November 1, 2013 and supported Sam Smith on his In the Lonely Hour UK tour in October 2014.

Kelly wrote and recorded a song called "Silent" for The Giver: Music Collection, supporting the film adaptation (The Giver) of the novel The Giver, which was released on iTunes on August 5, 2014. On August 7, 2014, Kelly posted a live acoustic version of the song on her YouTube channel; which has over 2.6 million views as of October 2015. Kelly was featured on "Lullaby" by British rapper Professor Green, which was released in the United Kingdom on September 14, 2014. The song peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart, thus providing Kelly with her first British top ten hit. Kelly was featured on the medley "Winter Wonderland"/"Don't Worry Be Happy" on Pentatonix's album That's Christmas to Me that was released in October 2014. On December 1, 2014 it was announced that Tori Kelly was one of MTV's Artist's To Watch. She privately performed two songs for MTV: "Funny" and "Dear No One"; both can be found on her Artist To Watch page. Her "Funny" performance was aired on MTV for several weeks.

Throughout 2014, Kelly worked with Braun on her debut album in which she had contributions from Toby Gad, Max Martin, and Ed Sheeran. The lead single from the album, "Nobody Love", was released on February 8, 2015. It was written by Rickard Goransson, Max Martin, and Tori Kelly herself. The album, entitled Unbreakable Smile, was released on June 23, 2015, and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. Kelly performed "Should've Been Us" at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.

In October 2015, Kelly covered the song "Colors of the Wind" on the "We Love Disney" album.

"Hollow" was released on October 22, 2015 as the first single from the new edition of the album. In the same month, Kelly became the brand-ambassador of William Rast, the clothing line co-founded by Justin Timberlake. In late 2015, Kelly received a nomination for Best New Artist at the 58th Grammy Awards. She performed at the ceremony with English singer James Bay.

Kelly recorded an updated version of "Baby Baby" with the song's original artist, Amy Grant. This recording commemorates the song's 25th anniversary and will be released on April 29, 2016. Kelly is set to make her cinematic debut in the upcoming animated movie Sing.

Personal life

Kelly is a devout Christian.

Discography

Main article: Tori Kelly discography

• Unbreakable Smile (2015)

Tours

• Fill a Heart Tour (2012)
• Foreword Tour (2013)
• Where I Belong Tour (2015)
• Unbreakable Tour (2016)

Awards and nominations

Year	Ceremony	Category	Result	Ref
2015	YouTube Music Awards	50 Artists to Watch	Won
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Web Star: Music	Nominated
	Streamy Awards	Breakthrough Artist 1875
	MTV Europe Music Awards	Best New Act
		Best Push Act
		Artist on the Rise
	VH1's Big Music in 2015: You Oughta Know	Artist of the Year
	Billboard Women in Music	Breakthrough Artist	Won
2016	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Breakout Artist	Nominated
	Grammy Awards	Best New Artist
	Glamour Awards	International Musician/ Solo Artist	Pending
	Radio Disney Music Awards	Breakout Artist of the Year	Won
		Best Crush Song	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]