“Now, I just hope it can uplift other people as well when they hear it,” Kelly tells PEOPLE of her upcoming single “High Water”
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Tori Kelly at the Recording Academy Honors in Los Angeles on Feb. 1, 2024
Tori Kelly‘s recent health scare led to some positive new music.
In an interview with PEOPLE at the Recording Academy Honors on Thursday, the 31-year-old singer-songwriter revealed she wrote her “inspirational” new single “High Water,” out Feb. 9, as a late addition to her upcoming album following her 2023 hospitalization for blood clots.
“I had a health scare last year, so I thought my album was done, and then when that happened I was like, ‘I need an inspirational song. I need something to kind of pick me up out of this place,'” Kelly told PEOPLE at the event. “Now, I just hope it can uplift other people as well when they hear it.”
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Tori Kelly performs at the Recording Academy Honors in Los Angeles on Feb. 1, 2024
In July 2023, the “Nobody Love” singer fainted while out for dinner with friends in L.A., before she was brought to a hospital, where doctors found blood clots around her lungs and legs.
She opened up about the experience in an October interview on The Jennifer Hudson Show. “I actually ended up collapsing one night and they found out that I had blood clots. It was really crazy and scary,” the star explained.
“My family was definitely there for me. I had a peace throughout most of it, but I was just kinda confused and wondering what was going on,” added Kelly. “I thankfully had some amazing doctors who were able to just take care of everything and get me healthy.”
Related: Tori Kelly Shares Health Update After ‘Scary’ Collapse and Hospital Stay: ‘I Feel Amazing’
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Tori Kelly performs at the Recording Academy Honors in Los Angeles on Feb. 1, 2024
She added at the time, “It seems like it’s a manageable thing now. I feel amazing. They’re still monitoring me, but yeah I feel great. I’m back to singing and back to doing my thing. I feel really good, I’m really grateful.”
Since the hospitalization, Kelly has released her Tori EP, embarked on a North American concert tour and appeared at several events — including the Recording Academy Honors, presented by the Black Music Collective.
During the ceremony at Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles, she performed Mariah Carey‘s “Vision of Love” in tribute to the Songbird Supreme, who was honored.
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Tori Kelly at the Recording Academy Honors in Los Angeles on Feb. 1, 2024
Kelly gave PEOPLE an update on her current condition at the event. “I feel great,” she said. “Health is good, feeling grateful. New music coming very soon.”
The Sing star also opened up about her journey through music, from first earning a fanbase through YouTube covers to becoming a pop star and transitioning to the gospel genre — before recently taking a turn into Y2K-inspired R&B/pop sounds.
“I’d like to think of myself as sort of genre-less, I guess, because I just grew up listening to so many different styles,” said Kelly. “But I will say, [on] this upcoming album, I think I really explore all these different sides of me — a lot of sides people haven’t seen before and a couple sides people might be familiar with.”
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