Tori Kelly: Tiny Desk Concert

Ashley Pointer | September 10, 2026
When Tori Kelly pulled up to the Desk, her band already mid-rehearsal, she immediately got to work and filled our room with her commanding voice. She had arrived. And with her, she carried genuine joy and light.

Backed by an all-woman band of Tiny Desk alumnae, Kelly effortlessly moves through songs from her latest album, God Must Really Love Me. The record captures Kelly in the present: reflecting on her faith journey and navigating life as a new mom. She also drops some gems for the day one’s, including brief tastes of “Nobody Love” and “Dear No One.” But, most serendipitously for the middle schoolers in attendance, Kelly performs her rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing,” the song that her character Meena belts in the animated film Sing.

I’ve always found Tori Kelly to be inspiring. Beyond her anointing as a vocalist and musician, she has endured the many shifts of the music industry while maintaining an authenticity that cuts through the noise and reaches the heart. There’s something special about watching an artist who has grown so much, yet still sounds and feels unmistakably like herself.

SET LIST
“Hurts So Good”
“Without You”
“Fly”
“Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing”
“Bird”
“Control”
“Tokyo”

MUSICIANS
Tori Kelly: vocals, guitar, toy glockenspiel
Jordan Waters: guitar
Kyla Wright: bass
Lynette Williams: keys, glockenspiel
Taylor “The Pocket Queen” Gordon: drums
Chelsea “Peaches” West: background vocals
RaVaughn Brown: background vocals
Mariah Bernard: background vocals
Special thanks to: Matthew Burnett

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Ashley Pointer
Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant
Audio Engineer/Mix: Josephine Nyounai
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Maia Stern, Bronson Arcuri
Audio Engineer: Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez
Tiny Desk Team: Kara Frame, Josh Newell
Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Executive Director: Sonali Mehta
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

#nprmusic #tinydesk #torikelly

NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concerts is a popular video series featuring live, intimate music performances by diverse artists, from major stars to up-and-coming musicians, recorded in the small workspace of Bob Boilen’s NPR office in Washington, D.C.brought to you by SloppBoxx.Com.

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