R. Kelly, in full Robert Sylvester Kelly, (born January 8, 1967, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.), American singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who became one of the best-selling rhythm-and-blues (R&B) artists of the 1990s and early 21st century. Kelly was known for his gospel-tinged vocal delivery and highly sexualized lyrics and “The World’s Greatest”.
R. Kelly was born on January 8, 1967, Chicago, Illinois, the U.S. His full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly. He has three siblings and was raised by a single mother, Joanne. The family lived in poverty and struggled to make ends meet. He had a very difficult childhood. He was often sexually abused by a woman and was shot in the shoulder while riding his bike home when he was 11. He started singing in the church choir when he was eight. He studied at the Kenwood Academy in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. He was an athletic young boy and played basketball for his high school team. However, his music teacher Lena McLin who had recognized his musical talent advised him to leave the sport and focus on music.
As a youngster, he formed a group, MGM (Musically Gifted Men), with his friends Marc McWilliams, Vincent Walker, and Shawn Brooks. In 1990, MGM recorded and released their first single, ‘Why You Wanna Play Me’ and disbanded shortly after. In 1992, Kelly released his debut album ‘Born into the 90’s’, with the group Public Announcement as his back-up. The album produced several hit songs and was eventually certified platinum. His self-titled album, ‘R. Kelly’ was out in 1995. Featuring introspective lyrics and foot-tapping music, this album became a huge hit and spawned three No. 1 singles: ‘You Remind Me of Something’, ‘Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)’ and ‘I Can't Sleep Baby (If I)’. In 1998 he released ‘R’, the album that would become the most commercially successful one of his career so far. It also received highly positive critical reviews and earned many awards and nominations. His album, ‘Chocolate Factory’ (2003) debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. It became a huge international success and over three million copies of the album were worldwide. It also received rave reviews from publications such as ‘The New York Times’ and ‘USA Today’. In 2005, he released the album ‘TP.3 Reloaded’ which became his fourth No. 1 hit on the Billboard 200 album chart. It featured songs like ‘In the Kitchen’, ‘Reggae Bump Bump’, ‘Happy Summertime’, and ‘Slow Wind’. His 2007 album ‘Double Up’ featured the single ‘I’m a Flirt Remix’ which peaked at No. 1 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart. The album featured guest appearances by Swizz Beatz, Snoop Dogg, Nelly, Chamillionaire, T.I., T-Pain, Usher, Huey, Ludacris, and Kid Rock. In 2010 his album ‘Love Letter’ was out. Normally known for his sexually explicit themes, Kelly surprised his audiences with this album in which he incorporated touching lyrics on love and forgiveness. This album too became a big hit like his previous ones. He returned to sexually charged themes with his 2013 album, ‘Black Panties’. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart and received mixed reviews from the critics.
Kelly first met his wife Aaliyah, Andrea Kelly in 1994 who is believed to have passed away in a plane crash on August 25, 2001, in the Bahamas. They were officially married in 1996. Chigaco-born and had 3 children but divorced in 2009. just after that, he had his second marriage to Brian Mckee, another R&B singer in 2014 but again got divorced after two months.
It’s still unclear who Kelly is currently dating, his last known girlfriend was Kitti Jones, a DJ at Dallas Radio Station. The R Kelly and Jones’ relationship was deemed to have been rosy and running smoothly until it emerged in October 2017 that the R&B singer abused, punished and forced Jones to have sexual relationships with other women. Horrific allegations were made by Jones during an interview with Rolling Stones Magazines. While dropping the bombshell, Kitti admitted that she almost took her life at a point due to her experiences. The two met at an event in 2011. Jones later joined R Kelly in his Chigaco home after they began dating.
Robert Sylvester Kelly may have had his share of life’s ups and downs, it’s on record, however, that he’s one of the successful R&B lords produced in the 1990s. In addition to releasing 13 powerful studio albums, over 100 million of his records have been sold worldwide. His net worth, as of 2019, stands at $150 million.
R. Kelly stands 6ft 1in and weight around 92kg. he is an American with black ethnicity. His zodiac is Capricorn and he is at his 51.
Robert Sylvester Kelly, better known as R. Kelly to his fans, is an American singer recognized as one of the best-selling music artists in the United States with 40 million albums sold till date. A multi-faceted personality, he is a singer-songwriter, rapper and is also into record production. He has written, produced and remixed many songs, several of which became chartbusters, earning him the title of the King of R&B. Blessed with a distinctive voice, he has his own innovative style of singing and rapping which easily distinguishes him from the other contemporary musicians. He is one of the best selling musical artists of all time and has been credited with redefining the musical genres of R&B and hip hop. He was inclined towards music from a young age and was encouraged by his high school music teacher to pursue his musical talents. He started performing in the streets as a teenager and formed his own musical group with some friends. He got a breakthrough when his group won a television talent show and won enough money to launch a musical career. He soon broke off from the group and embarked on a highly successful solo career. In spite of all his successes, he remains a controversial figure because of his alleged involvement in sex crimes.
In 1995, his song, ‘You Are Not Alone’, was named the ‘First Song to Debut the US Single Chart at Number One’ in the Guinness Book of World Records. R. Kelly is the winner of three Grammy Awards from 25 nominations: Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Song, Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, for the song, ‘I Believe I Can Fly’, in 1998. He won the American Music Awards twice: Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist in 2000 and 2005.
In June 2002, Kelly was charged with 21 counts of criminal acts related to child pornography in Illinois. He was charged again in Florida the following year on similar charges. A videotape was also found showing Kelly having sex with an underage girl but Kelly claimed that he was innocent. later, Kelly was put on trial in May 2008. By this time, several of the charges against him had been dropped. The young woman who allegedly appeared in the video also refused to testify, the jury concluded that Kelly was not guilty of all 14 counts against him. But unfortunately, the kelly was held apparently guilty in 2018 after the sex tape of R.kelly's with minors were released by BBC documentary and one after the other the young victims stepped in testifying kelly's dark past. On February 22, 2019, Kelly was formally charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Cook County, Illinois. He turned himself into Chicago police that evening and left jail three days later after posting the $100,000 bail. but once again Kelly was back behind bars for his failure to pay more than $160,000 in overdue child support.