Mike Mora, the photographer who married Kelis in 2014, has died of stomach cancer, a representative for the singer confirmed to Pitchfork. In a statement to Entertainment Tonight, Steve Satterhwaite of Red Light Management said, “Sadly, it’s true that Mike Mora has passed away. We would ask all to respect Kelis and her family’s privacy as of right now. Thank you.” Mike Mora was 37 years old.
After marrying in 2014, Kelis and Mike Mora welcomed their son Shepherd in November 2015. Nearly five years later, in September 2020, Kelis announced the birth of her second child with Mora. A year after his daughter was born, Mora publicly revealed his cancer diagnosis.
In the summer of 2020, Kelis and Mora sold their Los Angeles home and moved to a farm outside the city, as revealed in a Harper’s Bazaar feature written by Roxanne Gay. “We were proud agriculturists,” Kelis, who went to culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in 2008, said. “The idea of farm-to-table is not a new, trendy thing. That’s an African concept. We were thriving because we were able to work the land in such a way that it was feeding our people and for generations.”
Kelis last released an album, Food, in 2014. Last year, she returned with the single “Midnight Snacks.” Mike Mora shot the press photo that accompanied the comeback song.
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