• Celebrity
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Black Beauty Awards 2022
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2022 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • Wellness House
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • Paint The Polls Black
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Black Beauty Awards 2022
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2022 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • Wellness House
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Entertainment

EXCLUSIVE: Kelly Price On Her Grandmother's Influence, Making ESSENCE Fest A Family Affair, And Her Favorite New Music 

The singer also tells us she has a few things in the works for 2017.
Kelly Price On Her Grandmother’s Influence, Making ESSENCE Fest A Family Affair, And Her Favorite New Music
By Sydney Scott · Updated October 26, 2020

The last few years have been tough for Kelly Price, but the Grammy-nominated singer is pushing through. We recently talked to Price about how she’s turning that pain into new music, the importance of family, and what she’s been listening to.

Price is planning to drop a new album in 2017. “I have some incredible new music coming,” she teased, referencing her sister’s death and her own divorce. “I’ve gone through a lot of new changes, career and personal. The music will reflect that. Too Fat For Fame is coming in 2017 and there’s the possibility of a docu-series with my family. I’m working on a memoir, there’s a lot. And, I recently just joined the cast of For Colored Girls with Angie Stone and Robin Givens.”

Price is staying busy and strong; a strength she says comes from her grandmother, who at 91 years old inspires her every day. “I look at her and her strength has always been amazing. To be born in the time she was born in and pursue a college education,” she said. “And everyone in my family who is musical is musical because of her, she was a musician. She plays the piano and organ, she sings incredibly. She’s four foot ten, but when she opens her mouth she sounds like a trumpet, and so she was my earliest influence with everything. Whether it’s my faith in God or music.”

It seems that her grandmother’s musical abilities have not only been passed down to her, but her children as well. “My baby girl sings, my son sings, my oldest doesn’t, but she has more an administrative mind,” she said, before revealing that her son recently auditioned for the ABC show How To Get Away With Murder and received a callback. Talent definitely runs in the family. 

Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest in hair, beauty, style and celebrity news.

Price added that once she decides to retire, she’s hoping her daughter will assume the mantle: “My youngest daughter is an amazing singer and songwriter, she’s been back and forth trying to decide if she wants to do music. But it’s in her heart and she recently circled back to wanting to do it. I didn’t push her either way, I just waited for her to decide. Once she’s in the business, she’s going to retire me and you guys can have her.”

Family is incredibly important to the singer, who recalled bringing all of her children and her mother to ESSENCE Fest last year for the first time. “I’ve gone for many, many years and brought one of my kids along. This past year I brought all of my kids with me and my mother and we had a ball. I also put my kids to work,” she laughed. “I made them carry bags and be my assistants. But the festival is something we really, really enjoyed as a family; it was the first time we were all there together. “

With the year winding down and new projects on the way, Price is just focusing on what’s to come and finding inspiration in the new crop of musicians popping up today. She lists BJ the Chicago Kid, The Internet, and Ro James as artists she’s been listening to, adding, “I’m very impressed with this latest crop of musicians and creatives. They’ve found an incredible formula to do what’s new and what’s now and mix it with music from previous generations and you hear that in what they deliver. They’ve found a way to honor what came before with what’s now.”

TOPICS:  Kelly Price
COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now