Tori Kelly Reflects on 2023 Health Scare and How It Made Her Realize Life 'Is So Fragile' (Exclusive)

The Grammy winner opens up to PEOPLE about her 2023 hospitalization and how the experience helped shape her new self-titled album

Tori Kelly was gearing up to release an EP when she was unexpectedly hospitalized for life-threatening blood clots in July 2023. Immediately after the harrowing experience, however, she was ready to jump right back into a hectic work schedule.

"That moment was so surreal," the Grammy winner, 31, tells PEOPLE, noting that she had a busy day of interviews the next day. "I'm in the hospital and I just remember saying to everyone, 'Hey, I'm getting out of here, right? I 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.'"

Luckily, Kelly's recovery was quick. The EP release continued as planned, and she embarked on a North American tour — her first post-pandemic concerts — less than three weeks later. After all, she was in the midst of introducing fans to her new, Y2K-inspired pop-R&B sound, which culminates in her fifth album, TORI., released Friday, April 5.

"I really thought the album was done even before the EP came out," says Kelly, who's married to basketball player and coach André Murillo. "Then, the health scare happened, and I was like, 'Hold up. I definitely feel like there's another song or two brewing.'"

The new album's creation began "mentally" for Kelly in 2020, shortly after she had to cancel a tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic's onset. Having completed her previous recording contract with Capitol Records, she was free to dream up the next phase of her career and got in the studio with hitmaker Jon Bellion to began making new songs in 2021.

"One of the coolest things is we made all of this music without a team. It was just me, my vision and going in the studio, pouring my heart into these songs. And Jon, of course, too, helping me with all of that," recalls the singer, who was grateful to find collaborators who didn't mind working without a record company backing the project. "It was kind of like, 'Hey, at some point I'll be able to pay all of y'all.'"

Related: Tori Kelly Says She Feels the 'Hunger' of a 'New Artist Again' with Y2K-Inspired Single 'missin u'

Inspired by artists like TLC and Aaliyah, whom she loved as a child, Kelly quickly found herself creating music with a sound quite drastically different from the acoustic pop in which she launched her career on American Idol and YouTube as a teenager. Once the album was completed — or so she thought — the musician partnered with Epic Records for its release and decided to ease fans into her new era with a seven-song EP.

"I decided to put out the EP first as a way to give people a taste of what this new era even is, because it is a big departure in some ways. My look is different. I'm back to my natural hair color," she explains. "It also allowed me to go on a tour, which I was craving so bad."

Following the health scare, continuing with the tour was extremely important to Kelly, who was able to get the "green light" from her doctors. "I was really paying attention to how I felt too, and being really careful," she says. "I was like, 'No one's going to take this away from me,' and just to see the fans in person, these same people who were praying for me and sending me so much love, it was an emotional tour."

Related: Tori Kelly Details Writing an 'Inspirational Song' for New Album After 2023 Hospitalization (Exclusive)

Upon wrapping the string of concerts, she called Bellion back up for another set of studio sessions and wrote "High Water," a heartfelt ballad about trusting the future when times are tough.

"I was able to really process what had happened, and I am a late processor," she details. "I think it helps me in my songwriting though, because I'm able to think back and be like, 'Oh, that's how I felt. OK, let me channel that feeling.'"

Kelly also wrote the autobiographical album closer "Same Girl," which chronicles her development as an artist and acts as a response to fans who may have been jarred by the sonic and visual changes to her artistry.

"It's my way of being like, 'It's OK to have fun and explore,' and that's what being an artist is. You're expressing yourself," she says of the track. "At the end of the day, I'm kind of grounding myself again and reminding myself that you're still you at the end of the day."

Between creative and personal developments, making TORI. was quite a vulnerable experience for Kelly. Now, she's able to process the immense growth she's had since auditioning for American Idol at 16.

"I felt like I had so much to prove, and I thought I was trying to prove it to everyone else, to the world. But really, I think I needed to prove it to myself," she says. "It doesn't matter what people think as long as you feel confident. I feel like in some ways I'm just now stepping into that confidence and really taking ownership."

Related: Tori Kelly Says She's 'Grateful to Be Here' After Health Scare and Thanks Fans for Support: 'I Felt the Love'

With the album now in fans' hands, Kelly's excited to see their reactions — and then perform its songs live for them on her upcoming Purple Skies Tour. Health-wise, she's feeling "amazing" and taking only "a simple medication" to stay well, while "going in for checkups" occasionally to ensure she's fine.

The health scare's biggest impact on her life today? She feels more gratitude than ever before. "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,'" she says. "I'm just holding people a little closer."

Kelly's also placed more of an emphasis on making sure her artistic output matches exactly how she wants to express herself. "I'm such a perfectionist now, even more like, 'OK, this has to be perfect, that outfit's not right, or the vision isn't there,'" she adds. "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."

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Read the original article on People.