Tori Kelly | The Internet Made Her a Star
Tori Kelly signed her first record contract at 12. The executive who signed her, Polly Anthony, was the first woman to run a major label, and she brought Tori into Geffen after two televised talent-show losses had gone nowhere. Anthony put her in the studio with established producers and had her record a Mariah Carey cover, a way of making an argument about what the voice could do. She never suggested Tori be more outgoing, which nearly everyone else did. None of the music was released. A year later Anthony moved to another position, a new executive took over her roster, and the plan changed: wait until she's 16, when she'll be easier to market. Tori asked her parents to get her out of the deal. She was 13.
For years after that, labels asked her the same question — what was her platform? She had never understood it. "I'm 12. I don't have a platform. Isn't that what you guys are supposed to give me?" She eventually built one herself, teaching herself guitar and posting covers from her bedroom, and by the time she signed again she told the executives across the table that she didn't feel she needed them. In this conversation with David Begnaud, she talks about being cut from "American Idol" after Simon Cowell called her voice almost annoying, about the 50-seat coffeehouse show that led to a Grammy nomination, about the gospel album that won two more, and about collapsing at dinner in downtown Los Angeles with blood clots in her legs and lungs. She is signed to Epic Records now. It was Polly Anthony's label, which she only recently realized.
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ABOUT THIS PODCAST:
The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways.
David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning.
Host: David Begnaud
Guest: Tori Kelly
Executive Producer: David Begnaud, Olivier Delfosse, Justin McGoldrick
Booker: Sully Bloch
Director of Photography: Foster Parks
Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative)
Social: Kylee Anderson, Maxim Trofimenko, Gracie Pekrul
Theme Music: Slipstream
Post-Production: Longwave Digital & David & Luana Co.
CONNECT WITH US:
The Person Who Believed In Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast
More description
Tori Kelly signed her first record contract at 12. The executive who signed her, Polly Anthony, was the first woman to run a major label, and she brought Tori into Geffen after two televised talent-show losses had gone nowhere. Anthony put her in the studio with established producers and had her record a Mariah Carey cover, a way of making an argument about what the voice could do. She never suggested Tori be more outgoing, which nearly everyone else did. None of the music was released. A year later Anthony moved to another position, a new executive took over her roster, and the plan changed: wait until she's 16, when she'll be easier to market. Tori asked her parents to get her out of the deal. She was 13.
For years after that, labels asked her the same question — what was her platform? She had never understood it. "I'm 12. I don't have a platform. Isn't that what you guys are supposed to give me?" She eventually built one herself, teaching herself guitar and posting covers from her bedroom, and by the time she signed again she told the executives across the table that she didn't feel she needed them. In this conversation with David Begnaud, she talks about being cut from "American Idol" after Simon Cowell called her voice almost annoying, about the 50-seat coffeehouse show that led to a Grammy nomination, about the gospel album that won two more, and about collapsing at dinner in downtown Los Angeles with blood clots in her legs and lungs. She is signed to Epic Records now. It was Polly Anthony's label, which she only recently realized.
Chapters ☀️
ABOUT THIS PODCAST:
The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways.
David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning.
Host: David Begnaud
Guest: Tori Kelly
Executive Producer: David Begnaud, Olivier Delfosse, Justin McGoldrick
Booker: Sully Bloch
Director of Photography: Foster Parks
Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative)
Social: Kylee Anderson, Maxim Trofimenko, Gracie Pekrul
Theme Music: Slipstream
Post-Production: Longwave Digital & David & Luana Co.
CONNECT WITH US:
The Person Who Believed In Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast
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