Kelly Nicole Foundation

"I'll lick my wounds and I'll take my pills, but I'll never be the same again." - Kelly Nicole

THE KELLY NICOLE FOUNDATION WAS CREATED TO HONOR MUSICIAN AND TRAUMA SURVIVOR, KELLY NICOLE. WE SELL HER MUSIC AND MERCHANDISE TO FIGHT PTSD AND EATING DISORDERS. 

We have no payroll and are 100% volunteer operated by Kelly's family and friends. She wanted her music to help people so at the end of every year, we will walk thru the door of an organization that is transforming lives, with a check in one hand, and Kelly’s posthumous debut album in the other, hand them both to the leader and say “Meet Kelly Nicole.”  What’s on that check is up to you.

Buy the music. Tell the world.

It’s getting louder.

Kelly Nicole's Bio:

Musician: Kelly Nicole started guitar lessons at 17 and was told by her instructor after 6 months that she had surpassed him and should pursue formal education in music.  In 1995, at age 20, she enrolled in the Live Vocal Performance program at MusicTech in the Twin Cities and her talent set her apart from her peers.  She soon formed her own cover band and toured for years while honing her craft and developing her own material.  Musical ability oozed out of her every pore and, despite the health challenges that plagued her, on stage and in the studio she would shine.  Her voice was as sultry and vulnerable as it was powerful and her Alice In Chains-inspired harmonies help define the Kelly Nicole sound.  Kelly's Pink Floyd-influenced guitar solos flowed from her naturally and with intense passion.  Kelly remains admired and loved by her peers across the music industry.  In her own words: "Music isn't what I do. It's who I am."

Personal life: Kelly's heart and charm filled every room she entered.  She had an overpowering magnetism and was instantly adored by all who met her.  Boundless charisma, eccentric personal style and a quietly compelling Rock Star aura drew people to her everywhere she went.  Kelly was a genius combining a ferocious intellect with an intense sense of empathy and the combination enchanted people throughout her life. Along with mountains of talent and an innate ability to own a room, Kelly Nicole harbored a tortured soul.  A survivor of serious abuse, she suffered from an eating disorder, severe PTSD and a heart condition her whole life but tended to hide her pain with great skill, focusing her energy on her music and the well-being of those around her.  As she battled to eat, sleep and essentially survive day after day, she pursued her dream of sharing her music with the world.  On four separate occasions, she began work on the debut album that would eventually be named Hate Becoming, which she heard in its entirety for the first time on the day before she died.  Lyrically, Kelly wasn't afraid to be introspective and her music does not spare the details of what she faced as a child or the scars she carried as an adult.  Kelly turned agony into harmony and everything she touched in this world became beautiful.  She is beloved by scores of people.  As an artist and as a person, she is a universal voice for trauma survivors.