With news of her hospitalization for blood clots, I was sitting and scrolling through cherished Tori Kelly moments with us and there are smiles and sadness.  9 years ago she walked into the station and I only knew of her covers on YouTube.  As a new Capitol Records artist via Scooter Braun we had every visit recorded.  You never know when she’d play her guitar or sing.  We never wanted to miss one and ended up getting close enough  that our conversations became as popular as her acoustic gifts.  Our competition TBT Search was inspired by her so these cherished Tori Kelly moments with us are special.

For the record we predicted she would see the Grammy stage.  Only 3 artists have ever heard that prediction from us, in my 25 years.  Ariana Grande, Cordae, and Tori.  That prediction was 9 years ago, and while she did get the Best New Artist nomination, it wouldn’t be until 5 years later until she held her Grammy gold.  Tori Kelly listened to her weird, Tampa radio friends when we told her to record her unboxing of her Grammys.  It would be great for her and for us to see.  She did and it was.

Always laughter with her. That’s when it gets fun.

Today as we send prayers and positive vibes her way I remember QuaranTea With Tori, where she’d go LIVE on her insta during covid, sip tea and simply connect with her fans.  Being stuck in the house it meant everything.  She cared enough to perform for an hour, weekly.  It felt as she also needed that connecting and it likened back to her start in front of YouTube.  This LIVE brought me through! We are praying for Jamie Foxx, today we learn of Bronny James and our prayers are with him too. I can’t imagine not having Tori as a part of this industry, this world and this mission of hers.  We love you TK, so we share these cherished Tori Kelly moments with us, here in Tampa.  Enjoy.

• And It Began Like This

  2014 this gorgeous, talented, being walked in and blew the entire city away with her voice. She won the room over with her voice AND vibe. Many don’t know, unbeknownst to me, her faith was MAJOR. I wanted to talk about how she didn’t make it on American Idol but my first words were “look at this hair! you just like guys to pull it, don’t you?” Her dad had a look and my foot was in my mouth. In true Tori fashion it didn’t block us from growing and sharing these years. We got to Simon.

• Oh Tampa Bay, You Gon' Learn Today

  On the first visit, we told the label she had to bring her guitar. We waited until my foot was out of my mouth and we all bonded a little, then we got her to wow the city. Plus the theme of this song spoke to my instant “ooh, she’s cute, I can go to hair pulling” thing. Check this LIVE, untouched performance and it’ll tell you who Tori is. A message to me, the label and the pop world not ready for this new type of being.

• A True Artist Inspires

  A year later, watching her blossom we thought of how many were trying to go her same route? What if we did a talent search? A Tampa Bay talent search and find someone who’s looking for that shot to be seen, heard and noticed. With direct contact with her team, she loved the idea and said “I wanna come”. She did and here’s a clip of our event which fit right into the local music initiative of our Seminole Hard Rock.

• If I Could Only Predict Lottery Numbers

  Backstage at the 58th Annual Grammy’s broadcast, while everyone is rehearsing, radio gets to chat up the artists. It was fun, and loud but we caught up with her and her dad, and by my appearance this current keto life STILL hadn’t taken hold of me yet. It was ultimately Meghan Trainor’s night but we still enjoyed our time.

• She Did It Their Way - Now It Was Her Turn

  Again with her faith and roots, she knew that she wanted to make gospel music as well. What label exec lets an artist put the pop(ular) music aside and go off to praise Him? Scooter Braun. Yup same one people wanna convince you is evil. Tori popped up in the animated film SING and then released “I’ll Find You” with gospel rapper Lecrae. Something was definitely cooking. The support she got on that song convinced her that she was thinking right. 2018, she collaborated with all of her favorite gospel artists and created Hiding Place and more nominations came. Guess who has a new tour and hardware on the way, on her 2019 visit?

• Gotta Show Off The Collab That Opened Doors

  Tori joining Lecrae was her working with someone she admired but also in a world she adored. I met ‘Crae through her working with him, so lets check out the visuals AND his first visit to the Freakshow which put him on our last LDS stage.

• We're Missin U Too, Tori

  With her new EP hitting all streaming spaces and where music is found in 2 days, this hospitalization is hitting people hard. Conspiracy talk, targeting, vaccine stuff and all. To me, it hurts because I cannot imagine not watching this woman maneuver the expectations of a female in this industry. A commenter wrote under her video “only you can make a bop without the sexism, and world additions and still slay!” That she can and with God guiding the hands of Cedars-Sinai staff, we hope to see her back and doing it louder and stronger. We love you, Tori. Missin U!

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