News for Up and Coming Artist, Tori Kelly

YouTube singer-songwriter and producer, Tori Kelly shared news that her newest EP titled, Foreword is expected to come out on October 22 of this year. If that isn’t exciting enough, a new fall tour schedule has also come out. While tickets for Kelly’s fall tour are already available for purchase, her five song EP is available for pre-ordering. Kelly will tour North America beginning October 28.

“I decided to name this EP Foreword because to me it is an introduction to something bigger that is coming in the future and at the same time it also represents that I’m moving forward with my life and with my sound” said Kelly when asked about the EP’s title.

For fans of Kelly, the news of her new EP and fall tour is great. However, for those who didn’t even know Kelly existed, they wouldn’t know how and why news of her EP and tour is so grand. Victoria “Tori” Kelly, a native of California, was born in Canyon Lake on December 14, 1992. Though Kelly may seem to have hit fame at a young age, things are not always as they seem. Kelly has come a long way to be where she is today. Her rise to fame has been a rather long one and some would say that she has not even arrived safely yet.

“I started singing when I…well I remember singing when I was six, but my parents say that I sang before I could talk and there are home videos, apparently, of me singing as a toddler. I do remember taking it seriously when I was six, or really knowing that’s what I wanted to do when I was in kindergarten, and that’s actually when I started doing competitions,” Kelly said in an interview with New Media Rockstars. Kelly made an appearance on the show Star Search at age 10 but did not win the contest. However the following year, Kelly made an appearance on America’s Most Talented Kids, singing Christian Aguilera’s “Keep On Singin’My Song”, and won. Kelly then made a second appearance on the show in the Tournament of Champions but did not come out a champion.

At the age of 12, Kelly was signed to Geffen Records but was released due to conflicting ideas. Kelly auditioned for Season 9 of American Idol in Denver, Colorado where she was met with great conflict and an unfavorable vote by judge Simon Cowell. Nonetheless, Kelly made it through to Hollywood week. Unfortunately, Kelly did not reach the “Top 24” on the show. Almost immediately after being eliminated from the show, she was contacted for a collaboration on a youth remake of the 1985 charity song, “We Are the World” titled, “We Are the World: The Next Generation.”

Since being eliminated from American Idol, Kelly has spent much of her time covering songs on YouTube as well as showcasing her own a cappella songs. Although Kelly has had a difficult time reaching fame, YouTube has received her well. Today, Kelly nearly has 700,000 subscribers. It is because of YouTube that Kelly has been able to share her talent and because of YouTube, Kelly is now on the rise.

For complete tour dates, click here.