Tori Kelly's Parents Influenced Her Music Career: "I Give Them a Lot of Credit"

Since childhood, Tori Kelly has had a passion for music. She first gained prominence after posting videos on YouTube as a teenager, eventually taking her talents to American Idol. Unfortunately, she failed to reach the top 24 — but that didn't stop her from captivating audiences worldwide with her powerhouse voice.

The two-time Grammy winner has experimented with different genres, from pop and country to R&B and gospel. This is all thanks to her parents, who introduced her to various styles when she was younger.

On that note, let's get to know more about Tori Kelly's parents!

Let's get straight to the point — Tori Kelly's father is named Allwyn, and her mother is Laura. During an interview with Z90 San Diego, the "Nobody Love" singer revealed that her father is of Afro-Jamaican and Puerto Rican ancestry, while her mother is of Irish and German descent.

Allwyn is a construction worker, having run several projects in Southern California for well over two decades. He owns his own business, AK Builders, which he posts about on his Instagram account. As for Laura, she's an aesthetics nurse with training and certifications in "neuromodulators, fillers, PRP therapy, and the Plasma Pen."

Growing up, Tori was exposed to a variety of music by her parents — and for that, the "Confetti" vocalist gives them a lot of credit for her career. While promoting her first EP, "Handmade Songs by Tori Kelly," the singer opened up about her upbringing and how it influenced the music she creates.

"My parents were always playing different styles growing up. Everything from Led Zeppelin to a lot of Lenny Kravitz, and then you got the soul stuff like Maxwell [and] Jill Scott," she told Fuse. "I think it's awesome; I give them a lot of credit for just playing all different genres, and no genre was off limits, so it's kind of all in me somewhere."

"They're my biggest supporters too, and that's the best feeling," Tori added.

In August 2019, Tori released her third studio album, "Inspired by True Events." The coming-of-age record, which Tori deemed her "most vulnerable album to date," sees the singer draw inspiration from several painful events in her life, including the death of her grandfather and her parents' divorce.

Tori spoke about the album with Forbes, telling the outlet she wasn't aiming to make such a personal record — it just happened. She said, "It wasn't intentional. I had been writing for this album for gosh, two-and-a-half years or so, with breaks in between."

"But there was just so much that went on in the last couple of years that seemed to happen all at once," she added. "I mean, everything. My parents separated, which was very hard. And my grandfather passed away, which was also very hard. ... At one point, but not right away, that all went into the music."