"I’m a writer first." Those are the words Kelly Price chooses to describe herself, her talent. When you listen, closely, to her songs, it's evident that she writes and sings from her soul. It's a place she's come to know quite well. "Music saved my life," she says. "Writing has been my therapy; it's the most incredible gift." 9x Grammy nominated singer and songwriter Kelly Price is the second of three daughters, born and raised in Queens, New York, in the church. That's where her musical roots were planted, and tended to, early on.
"I grew up in a family full of singers and musicians. Everybody in my family wrote songs and played one or more instruments. Being raised in a "strict, old- school Pentecostal" household, she was restricted her from wearing jewelry, make-up and pants (long skirts were the preference). But like most creative spirits, Price was destined to soar far beyond her point of origin. And so, she has.
By the age of 12 Kelly stumbled into laying background vocals when she was at a recording session with her mother and the producer over heard her perfectly singing the notes to his song as he instructed the singers in between takes. The producer was shocked and after receiving permission from her mother, put Kelly on the song as a background vocalist. This led to an opportunity to sing lead vocals on another independently recorded project with a local church choir. This process came easy to Kelly. Her sharp ear and quick learning capability along with her mature vocal sound earned her a widely known reputation causing her to be sought out by many up and coming producers throughout her teen years. By 17 years old she was the “it” girl for music producers who were in need of a vocalist to record their music when shopping it to labels.
1998 saw the release of her double-platinum debut, Soul of a Woman, which featured the record-breaking single, "Friend of Mine." The song made history as the first to garner the #1 spot on the singles chart without an accompanying video clip, a rare feat during the era when music videos were the driving force of popular culture. She returned to center stage three years later with the platinum-plus seller, Mirror, Mirror, led by her remake of the R&B classic, "As We Lay," and followed up with the gold-selling holiday collection, One Family: A Christmas Album in 2001.
Ever growing and ready for new ventures Kelly Price can currently be seen as a series regular for the critically acclaimed Drama American Soul now in its second season which tells the life story of the late Don Cornelius and how he launched the iconic television show and global brand “Soul Train”. Price has also been given the distinguished honor of joining the iconic panel of Judges for Sunday’s Best for the second time now in its 10th season. As the first R&B artist to hold this title the preacher’s kid from Queens continues to find ways to merge industry and ministry in her life and career.
Kelly Price is a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a grandmother (affectionately called GiGi) an author, motivational speaker, actress, producer, preacher, teacher, Psalmist and flat out SANGER! Most importantly she’s God’s girl and continues to seek ways to make Him proud!