R. Kelly

**Robert Sylvester Kelly** (born January 8, 1967 in Chicago, Illinois), known as **R. Kelly**, is an American former singer, songwriter, and record producer.

Kelly has released twelve studio albums and three collaboration albums. He has been nominated for 24 Grammy Awards. He has won three. 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.

He produced Aaliyah's 1994 first 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".

In 2019, Kelly was arrested and for sexual abuse and child pornography of under aged girls. A 2021 trial in New York convicted Kelly for violations of the Mann Act and racketeering. A 2022 trial in Chicago convicted Kelly for three child pornography charges and three charges of enticing a minor; He was acquitted of charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice in relation to his 2008 trial. The Brooklyn court sentenced Kelly to 30 years imprisonment. Kelly was sentenced in Chicago federal court on February 23, 2023. He was sentenced to 20 years: 19 years were to be served at the same time as his 30-year sentence from New York, he was also given one year to be served after his New York sentence, This means he has a total sentence of 31 years. , Kelly is an inmate of a prison in Chicago. He continues to challenge his two convictions.

## 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 number 1.

In 1995, his self titled second album was released. It was Kelly's first number 1 album. It got positive 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. The album had a song with Celine Dion called "I'm Your Angel". Nine number one 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 in 2000. Its first single, "I Wish", was nominated for a Grammy.

On September 2 2002, "The World's Greatest" was released as a single. It was also featured in the 2001 sports movie _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 number 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 number one 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.

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 movie Trapped in the Closet.

_Double Up_, his eighth album, was released in May 2007. It was Kelly's fifth album to go straight to number one 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 on December 1, 2009.

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

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

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 released 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 lied about her age so 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 young 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.

### Studio albums

R. Kelly has released 12 studio albums:
|Year|Album|
| --- | --- |
|1993|_12 Play_|
|1995|_R. Kelly_|
|1998|_R._|
|2000|_TP-2.com_|
|2003|_Chocolate Factory_|
|2004|_Happy People/U Saved Me_|
|2005|_TP.3 Reloaded_|
|2007|_Double Up_|
|2009|_Untitled_|
|2010|_Love Letter_|
|2012|_Write Me Back_|
|2013|_Black Panties_|

## Other websites

- R. Kelly's Official website

## Infobox (basketball biography)

- **embed**: yes
- **career position**: Shooting guard / Small forward
- **career number**: 12
- **career start**: 1997
- **career end**: 1999
- **years1**: 1997–1999
- **team1**: Atlantic City Seagulls (basketball), Atlantic City Seagulls
- **highlights**: *3× United States Basketball League, USBL champion (1997, 1998, 1999)


## Infobox (musical artist)

- **embed**: yes


## Infobox (person)

- **name**: R. Kelly
- **image**: File:R. Kelly in 2017.png
- **caption**: Kelly in 2017
- **birth name**: Robert Sylvester Kelly
- **birth place**: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
- **years active**: 1987–2019
- **children**: 3
- **awards**: List of awards and nominations received by R. Kelly, Full list
- **spouse**:

- **criminal penalty**: 31 years imprisonment
- **criminal status**: incarceration, Incarcerated at FCI Butner Medium in Butner, North Carolina
<small>(Federal Bureau of Prisons, BOP custody, inmate, convicted [http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=IDSearch&needingMoreList=false&IDType=IRN&IDNumber=09627-035&x=68&y=17 09627-035])</small>