Did becoming a mom make Tori Kelly worry her music career might never be the same?
The Grammy-winning singer is getting candid about one of her biggest fears before welcoming her first child-and why she couldn't have been more wrong.
During an emotional appearance on RoyalTeas with Shawn Stockman, Kelly admitted she secretly wondered whether motherhood would change her passion for music or even diminish the inspiration that had fueled her career for years.
"If I'm honest," she revealed, "I was like, 'What if music doesn't hit the same?'"
Instead, the opposite happened.
Just 10 days after giving birth to her son, Kelly found herself recording voice memos while feeding her newborn as songs began pouring out faster than ever before. What she expected to be a creative slowdown became the spark for an entire album.
"I couldn't stop writing songs about him, about my amazing husband, and about my faith," she shared, revealing that those deeply personal experiences became the heart of her new album, God Must Really Love Me.
Even more surprising? Kelly confessed she'd spent months trying to finish the record while touring Europe with Ed Sheeran during her pregnancy. She booked studio sessions between stadium shows, convinced she needed to complete the album before the baby arrived.
But something wasn't clicking.
"I should have an album done," she remembered thinking. "It just wasn't connecting." Only after her son was born did the songs she'd been searching for finally arrive.
The album's title also has an emotional backstory.
Kelly said she was driving one day, thinking about her baby and her family, when one simple thought hit her: "God must really love me." The phrase became not only a song title but the name and message of the entire project.
The conversation wasn't all about music.
Kelly also opened up about the pressure artists face to constantly share their lives online. While she enjoys connecting with fans, she admitted she's intentionally protecting her family's privacy.
That's when Stockman offered a piece of advice that immediately resonated.
"Keep your personal life personal," he warned. "Once you invite them in your house, you can't let them leave."
Kelly agreed, saying she wants fans to celebrate this joyful season with her without feeling entitled to every moment of her family's life.
As if a new baby and a new album weren't enough, the singer also confirmed she'll soon embark on her first-ever tour as a mom when she joins Forest Frank on the road-a milestone she's both excited and a little nervous to experience.
For Tori Kelly, the chapter she once feared might slow her career has become the one that's inspired some of the most personal music she's ever written.
