Tori Kelly opens up about life after blood clot health scare

Tori Kelly has opened up about a shock health scare last year when the singer was hospitalised with blood clots around her vital organs, saying she's learned life is "so fragile". Photo / AP

Tori Kelly has learned life is “so fragile” since her health scare.

The 31-year-old singer was just preparing to release an EP when she was hospitalised with blood clots around her vital organs in the summer of 2023, and following the release of her fifth studio album Tori, she has recalled the “surreal moment” in which she assumed she would be well enough to get back to work straight away.

She told People magazine: “That moment was so surreal. I’m in the hospital, and I just remember saying to everyone, ‘Hey, I’m getting out of here, right? I’ve got stuff to do. My EP is coming out in a few days’. They were like, ‘Probably not. We need to keep you here, make sure you’re good’. I really thought the album was done even before the EP came out.

“Then the health scare happened, and I was like, ‘Hold up. I definitely feel like there’s another song or two brewing’.”

Tori Kelly, pictured on June 18, 2022 in West Hollywood, California. Photo / AP

“When I look at just my life, my career and getting to go on these tours, I’m just like, ‘I don’t want to take anything for granted because life, as I now have experienced, is so fragile’. I’m just holding people a little closer.”

As well as embracing life in its fullest form, the high water hitmaker has become something of a perfectionist in her career since her ordeal.

She said: “I’m such a perfectionist now, even more like, ‘Okay, this has to be perfect, that outfit’s not right, or the vision isn’t there’.

“It’s a blessing and a curse because I’ll stay up late at night thinking about these things, but I’m just happy that I can finally release it and let it do its thing in the world.”