Victoria Loren “Tori” Kelly is an American singer songwriter, who has built up a reputation as an artist in her own right, releasing video covers and originals on YouTube.
Originally from Wildomar, California, Kelly grew up surrounded my different kinds of music from her parents, and at a very young age she made an appearance on America’s Most Talented Kids, singing “Keep on Singin’ My Song” originally by Christina Aguilera, and won the contest, beating Hunter Hayes.
It was when Kelly was 14 that she began uploading covers, but she made her breakthrough with a cover of Frank Ocean’s “Thinkin Bout You”, alongside Angie Girl, which has amassed 21 million views to date. All of Tori Kelly’s videos combined have surpassed 83 millions views, with over a million subscribers. She auditioned for season 9 of American Idol in Denver Colorado, and only made it through to Hollywood week, but unfortunately didn’t make it through to the Top 24. Following the show, she began to write more songs which led to her being asked to feature in charity recording of “We Are the World” entitled “We Are the World: The Next Generation”.
It was on May 1st 2012, that she released her first album, “Handmade Songs by Tori Kelly”, complete with six original songs. Kelly referred to it as a warm up album to a full-length album that would come out in the future. In February 2013, she released a song called “Fill a Heart” which she wrote for the “Child Hunger Ends Here” campaign. The song was soon after performed by The Wanted on Dancing With the Stars. Later that year, Tori Kelly embarked on a tour across the US for her “Fill a Heart” tour, performing in prestigious venues such as the Roxy in Los Angeles and the Gramercy theatre in New York. She even travelled across the pond to play at the Bush Hall in London. Throughout her career so far she has featured in Teen Vogue, Elle and Glamour.
Her second EP, “Foreword” was released on October 22nd 2013, on Capitol Records, and was the supporting act for Ed Sheeran at Madison Square Garden on November 1st 2013. She also supported Sam Smith on his In the Lonely Hour tour.
Layton Giordani
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