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."R. Kelly arrested in Chicago after being indicted by federal grand jury on new sex crime charges", Chicago Tribune, July 11, 2019. 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.

Discography
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

References

Other websites
 R. Kelly's Official website

Category:American prisoners
Category:American R&B singers
Category:American rapists
Category:American sex offenders
Category:American singer-songwriters
Category:American soul musicians
Category:American new jack swing singers
Category:Child sexual abusers
Category:American Grammy Award winners
Category:Musicians from Chicago
Category:People from Olympia Fields, Illinois
Category:Singer-songwriters from Chicago
Category:1967 births
Category:Living people