Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American singer better known by his stage name, R. Kelly. He produced Aaliyah's 1994 debut album Age Ain't Nothing But a Number.  In 1996, Kelly was nominated for a Grammy Award for writing Michael Jackson's song "You Are Not Alone".

He is also known for the hit songs, "Ignition", "I Believe I Can Fly" and the "Trapped in the Closet" series of songs. He sold more albums than any other male R&B musician in the 1990s.

Kelly has been nominated for 24 Grammy Awards. He has won three.

Kelly has released twelve studio albums and three collaboration albums.

In 2019, Kelly was arrested and awaiting trial of sexual abuse and child pornography of younger girls.

Career
In 1989 Kelly started MGM (Musically Gifted Men) with his friend Marc McWilliams. They released a single called "Why You Wanna Play Me".

In 1990 Kelly was signed by Jive Records. In 1991 he was on the TV talent show Big Break. He won the $100,000 prize.

Born into the 90's, Kelly's first album with Public Announcement, was released 1992. In January 1993 he stopped making music with them. He released his first solo single, "Sex Me", on August 6 1993.

In 1993 Kelly's first solo album, 12 Play was released. The album's second single "Bump n' Grind" was Kelly's first No.1.

In 1995 R. Kelly was released. It was Kelly's first No.1 album. It got good reviews.

On November 26 1996 "I Believe I Can Fly", R.'''s first single, was released. It won three Grammy Awards in 1998.

On May 20 1998 Sparkle released her first album, Sparkle. Kelly wrote and produced the album and released it on his record label, Rockland. Kelly sang in the first single from the album, "Be Careful".

Kelly's first double album, R., was released in November 1998. It had 40 songs. The album had a song with Celine Dion called "I'm Your Angel". It was No.1. Nine singles were released from the album. It is his best-selling album yet. It has sold over 12 million copies around the world.

Kelly wrote a ballad called "Cry" for Michael Jackson. It was released on Jackson's last album, Invincible.TP-2.com was released 2000. Its first single, "I Wish", was nominated for a Grammy.

On March 26 2002 Kelly's first album with Jay-Z, The Best of Both Worlds was released.

On September 2 2002 "The World's Greatest" was released as a single. In 2001 it was in the film Ali.Chocolate Factory was released 2003. It went straight to number one in the Billboard 200. The album's first single "Ignition" was Kelly's second UK No.1. It was on the soundtrack of the 2003 movie Love Don't Cost a Thing. The album got mostly good reviews.

Kelly wrote "One More Chance" for Michael Jackson's album Number Ones. It reached No.5 in the UK Singles Chart.

August 24, 2004 Kelly released his second double album, Happy People/U Saved Me. The first disc, Happy People, is eleven soul songs. The second disc, U Saved Me, is ten gospel songs.

On October 26, 2004 Unfinished Business, Kellys second album with Jay-Z, was released.

Kelly released TP.3 Reloaded on July 5 2005. It was his fourth number one album in the Billboard 200.

On November 5, 2005 Kelly released the first 12 chapters of his film Trapped in the Closet.

Double Up, his eighth album, was released in May 2007. It was Kelly's fifth album to go straight to No.1 in the Billboard 200. Four singles were released.

On August 21, 2007 chapters 13-22 of Trapped in the Closet were released.

On June 3, 2009, Kelly released his first ever mixtape, The "Demo" Tape (Gangsta Grillz) presented by DJ Skee and DJ Drama. It had eighteen songs.

On June 20 2009 he performed in Africa for the first time.

Kelly's ninth album Untitled was released December 1 2009 in the US.

On September 13, 2010 Epic, a collection of Kelly's most 'epic' ballads, was released in Europe.

Kelly's tenth solo album Love Letter was released on December 14, 2010. Kelly wrote and produced all of the songs. It got good reviews. The album has fourteen songs, and a cover of Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone" hidden at the end. Love Letter was nominated for Best R&B Album at the Grammy Awards. The single "Radio Message" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance.

On July 19 2011 Kelly was rushed to hospital for throat surgery. After this he didn't make music for a while.

On February 18, 2012 he performed "I Look to You" at Whitney Houston's memorial. "I Look to You" is a song that he wrote for Houston.

Kelly's eleventh album Write Me Back was released June 25, 2012. That summer his memoir Soulacoaster: The Diary of Me was published.

On November 23, 2012 chapters 23-33 of Trapped in the Closet were released.

2013--present
In June 2013 Kelly performed at the BET Awards with 2 Chainz.

On October 21 2013 Lady Gaga released the second single from her album Artpop, "Do What U Want". Kelly sung on the song. They performed the song on Saturday Night Live on November 16.

The Best Man Holiday started showing at movie theatres on November 15, 2013. Kelly sung "Christmas, I'll Be Steppin'" on it.

On November 18 2013 Justin Bieber released a single called "PYD" with vocals by Kelly.

Kelly's twelfth album Black Panties was released in the United States on December 10, 2013. Two singles have been released from it, "Genius" and "My Story". A video was release for "Cookie". In 2014 Kelly will tour with Mary J Blige.

In 2014 the 34th episode of Trapped in the Closet will be released. Trapped in the Closet: The Book will also be published.

Surviving R. Kelly
In January 2019, a widely viewed Lifetime docuseries titled Surviving R. Kelly detailed allegations of sexual abuse by multiple women, allegations Kelly denies. Facing pressure from the public using the Mute R. Kelly hashtag, RCA Records dropped Kelly. On February 22, 2019, Kelly was indicted on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. On July 11, 2019, Kelly was arrested on federal charges alleging sex crimes and obstruction of justice. Kelly faces a total of 18 federal counts, including child pornography, kidnapping and forced labor, as of July 12, 2019.

Personal life
In 1994 Kelly married Aaliyah. Aaliyah was 15, but said that she was 18 so that the marriage would be legal.
Kelly married Andrea Kelly in 1996. They have three children. Kelly divorced her in 2009.

On February 3, 2002 a video with Kelly urinating on a 14-year-old girl appeared. In 2008 Kelly was found not guilty of all the 14 counts of videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl that he was charged with.

Discography

Albums
R. Kelly has released 12 studio albums:

Other websites
 R. Kelly's Official website

References

African American musicians
American R&B singers
Rap musicians from Illinois
American singer-songwriters
American soul musicians
Grammy Award winners
Musicians from Chicago
People from Olympia Fields, Illinois
Singers from Chicago
Writers from Chicago
People acquitted of sex crimes
1967 births
Living people