2010–2014: American Idol and breakthrough In 2010, Tori auditioned for Season 9 of
American Idol in Denver, Colorado and made it through to Hollywood Week but did not reach the "Top 24" of the artists. She had claimed that she was 'devastated' but she had given it her all. Afterwards, she 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". On May 1, 2012, she released her first EP, titled
Handmade Songs by Tori Kelly, which was released on her own label, Toraay Records. Kelly wrote, produced, engineered, and recorded the EP by herself in her bedroom. Shortly after its release, the EP made it to the Top 10 Pop Albums list on iTunes. She called the EP a "warm up" to a full-length album that was to come in the future. As of 2013, it had 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 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. Kelly was the sole supporting act to
Ed Sheeran at Madison Square Garden on November 1, 2013, and supported Sam Smith on their
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 top ten song in the United Kingdom. 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.
2015–2018: Unbreakable Smile and Hiding Place 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. Kelly performed "
Nobody Love" at the
2015 Billboard Music Awards. 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" from
Pocahontas on the
We Love Disney album. "
Hollow" was released on October 22, 2015 as the first single from the new edition of
Unbreakable Smile. 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. She became the first artist in history to perform a
Christian pop song at the
Grammy Awards. in 2016 Kelly recorded an updated version of
Amy Grant's 1991 single "
Baby Baby", with Grant herself. Commemorating its 25th anniversary, when Kelly was still 23, the song was released on April 29, 2016. Kelly made her cinematic debut in the animated film
Sing (2016), voicing Meena the elephant. On July 10, 2016, Kelly released an original song "
Blink of an Eye" to honor her friend
Christina Grimmie, on the one-month anniversary of her murder. On May 7, 2017, Kelly played the
Beale Street Music Festival in
Memphis, Tennessee, opening for
Soundgarden at what would be one of their final performances before frontman
Chris Cornell died by suicide on May 17. On June 9, Kelly and
rapper Lecrae, released the single "
I'll Find You", with Kelly as the featured artist. The accompanying music video was released on July 28, 2017. It features various St. Jude Hospital patients, and Kelly and Lecrae singing over a black backdrop. It peaked at No. 11 on the
Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop chart, No. 1 on the
Hot Christian Songs and No. 17 on the
Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. She also collaborated with country singer
Chris Lane on his single "
Take Back Home Girl" which has since charted at No. 57 on the
Billboard Hot 100. In September 2017, Kelly announced her engagement to basketball player André Murillo. In December 2017, she performed a version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" with Jacob Collier, posted to YouTube. On March 30, 2018, Kelly released the single "Help Us to Love" featuring the HamilTones, which served as the lead single to her second studio album. On May 20, 2018, she announced her and Murillo's marriage in an
Instagram post. On August 23, Kelly revealed on her personal Instagram that her album,
Hiding Place, would be released on September 14. The second single of the album, "
Never Alone", was released on August 24. On September 7, Kelly announced a tour in support of the album. Kelly later earned her first Grammy Awards with
Hiding Place which won
Best Gospel Album and
Best Gospel Performance/Song with "
Never Alone" from the
61st Annual Grammy Awards.
2019–2022: Inspired by True Events and other projects On January 18, 2019, Kelly announced that she would be going on The Acoustic Sessions tour starting in February. Tickets went on sale on January 25 along with the release of her new lead single "Change Your Mind" for her upcoming third studio album. On June 26, 2019, Kelly announced her third studio album
Inspired by True Events which was released on August 9, 2019. Kelly announced the "Inspired by True Events Tour", which was to visit American and European cities, in October 2019. However, on December 18, 2019, Kelly announced that the tour would now only involve Europe, Australia, and Asia, with new dates added, and a quiet cancelation of the American leg of the tour. On March 18, 2020, Kelly canceled her remaining tour stops in Europe, Australia, and Asia due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. On March 21, 2020, Kelly began broadcasting a daily live stream on
Instagram which she named "QuaranTEA with Tori." The show was hosted from her home where she sang fan-requested songs, answered fans' questions, and featured several celebrity guests to interview and duet with (remotely). The guests included
AJ Rafael,
Alessia Cara,
David Archuleta,
Demi Lovato,
H.E.R.,
Jessie J,
JoJo,
Jordin Sparks,
Kirk Franklin,
Natasha Bedingfield, and many more. After 7 weeks, Kelly ended the show to work on new music. On July 22, 2020, Kelly released a cover of
Drake's "
Time Flies" as the first single of her EP
Solitude. On August 11, three days before the EP's release, Kelly released "
Unbothered" as the second single. Kelly released
Solitude on August 14 which includes four original songs which she wrote while in quarantine during the
coronavirus pandemic. On July 30, 2020, Kelly was featured on
Jacob Collier's "Running Outta Love" from his album
Djesse Vol. 3. A version for
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was released on August 3. On October 7, Kelly announced a Christmas album,
A Tori Kelly Christmas, which was released on October 30. The album was produced by
Babyface. Two extra songs, including an original and a cover of "
All I Want for Christmas Is You", were released as bonus tracks exclusively at Target. In late 2020, Kelly also competed on
season 4 of
The Masked Singer as "Seahorse". Kelly made it to the semi-finals of the competition, before being unmasked in a triple elimination alongside
Chloe Kim as "Jellyfish" and
Taylor Dayne as "Popcorn". In 2021, Kelly recorded a cover of "
Waving Through a Window" for the soundtrack album of the
2021 film adaptation of
Dear Evan Hansen, produced by
Justin Goldner. On November 2, 2021, she published her first book,
The Curly Girl Blues. That same year, she reprised her role as Meena in
Sing 2.
2023–present: Tori In February 2023, Kelly performed a rendition of "Hallelujah" alongside
Andrea Bocelli for Bocelli's music special
The Journey: A Music Special from Andrea Bocelli. In March, it was announced that Kelly had signed with
Epic Records, and released her first release under the label, "
Missin U", which sampled the 2000s single "
Fill Me In" by
Craig David. On July 28, 2023, Kelly released her fourth EP,
Tori under Epic and singer-songwriter
Jon Bellion's record label
Beautiful Mind. A deluxe reissue of the EP was also released with three live recordings. In February 2024, Kelly released the single "High Water" and announced her fifth studio album,
Tori. The album was released on April 5, 2024. A deluxe edition was released on October 11, 2024. ==Personal life==