Singer and songwriter Tori Kelly said in a new interview that her faith and her “identity” in Christ keep her grounded when she’s tempted to rely on her fame.
Kelly made the comments in an interview with fellow singer and songwriter Ally Brooke as part of Brooke’s podcast, The Ally Brooke Show. Brooke, like Kelly, is a professing Christian. The two are friends.
Brooke called Kelly “different” from “any other artist” and asked how she has stayed humble and “true to who you are.”
“It really comes down to knowing what your priorities are … and … knowing that all of this is amazing,” Kelly said, referencing her singing career. “What we get to do is amazing, right? And not everyone gets to do this. There’s a very, very small group of people in the world that gets to do what we do. And it’s incredible. And [I’m] so grateful for it.
“But I think what’s helped me kind of stay grounded, if you will, is just knowing that I’m still just Tori. If all of that went away, my identity is in Christ. And my identity is in who God says that I am.”
“It’s easy,” Kelly acknowledged, “to start believing” the hype because “we’re the center of attention, in the spotlight” and have fans.
Her Christian faith, though, keeps her grounded, Kelly said.
“I think it’s just about kind of fighting that and pushing that down and realizing, ‘I’m on the same level as everybody else.’ It does not matter what we do for work, or what our dreams are. … At the end of the day, you know, God sees us all the same. And it’s, I think, something I try to do daily with what we do for work.”
Kelly was part of a song, “Together,” with For King and Country and Kirk Franklin in 2020. She released a gospel album, “Hiding Place,” in 2018.
Kelly said her faith has been a “huge part of who I am since I was a kid.” Faith became “real and personal” for her in high school, she said.
Brooke thanked Kelly for encouraging her and praying for her during past struggles.
“You’re someone who I look up to even though you’re my friend,” Brooke said, “… You can be who you are, and still be in this industry.”
There are “many ways” for a Christian “to shine for God,” Brooke said.
“One of my dear pastor friends, he says to his church … ‘You don’t have to be here staying in the church to be a minister or to be a light or to plant a seed.’ And that’s true. … Some people are called to be in the church. But some people are called to also be in the world.”
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Mark Brown/Stringer
Video courtesy: ©Ally Brooke YouTube Channel
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
