Watch Tori Kelly Talk Fans, Social Media, Decade in Music Business
Tori Kelly is coming off a massive year. She’s released her debut album, Unbreakable Smile, and performed at some of the biggest award shows, including the Grammy Awards where she was also nominated for Best New Artist. Along the way, she’s developed a strong relationship with her fans both in person and via social media.
“Those videos I put on my Instagram are almost like a log or a diary of some sort,” she tells Rolling Stone of the audience videos she shares on her account. “It is kinda cool to look back and see just how every show is so different and every crowd has grown.”
Social media also helped Kelly launch her career. She had originally been signed when she was 12 years old, but it was the YouTube videos the now-23-year-old began posting as a teenager that helped steadily build her fanbase before she released her debut EP at age 20. “When you’re that young, you’re just going through the motions,” she explains. “I remember thinking I was running out of time to do stuff. Any sort of rejection that I got hit so hard. It was all meant to happen because it shaped my career and who I’ve become.”