R. Kelly

R. Kelly was married to singer Aaliyah in 1994, when she was 15. The marriage was annulled in 1995. He later married Andrea Lee, a former backup dancer, in 1996, and they had three children. Their divorce was finalized in 2009.

Kelly's mother, Joanne, died from cancer in 1993. He grew up with his family in the Ida B. Wells Homes public housing project on Chicago's South Side.

Kelly began singing in church and performed publicly at Chicago subway stations as a teenager. At Kenwood Academy, music teacher Lena McLin encouraged him to perform Stevie Wonder's "Ribbon in the Sky" at a school talent show. He later left high school and continued performing under Chicago's elevated train tracks.

In 1989, he formed the group MGM with Marc McWilliams, Vincent Walker, and Shawn Brooks. After the group disbanded, Kelly joined Public Announcement. Their album Born into the 90's, released in 1992, produced the R&B hits "She's Got That Vibe," "Honey Love," "Dedicated," and "Slow Dance (Hey Mr. DJ)."

Kelly separated from Public Announcement in 1993 and released his first solo album, 12 Play, that year. The album produced "Bump N' Grind," "Your Body's Callin'," and "Sex Me." "Bump N' Grind" spent 12 weeks at number one on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart, while 12 Play eventually received six-times-platinum certification.

Kelly's 1995 album R. Kelly became his first number-one album on the Billboard 200 and produced three number-one R&B singles, including "You Remind Me of Something" and "Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)," the latter featuring Ronald Isley. His 1996 song "I Believe I Can Fly," written for the Space Jam soundtrack, reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and won three Grammy Awards in 1998.

As a songwriter and producer, Kelly worked on Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone," which earned him a Grammy nomination, and Céline Dion's "I'm Your Angel," which topped the Billboard Hot 100. He also wrote and produced for artists including Aaliyah, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Usher, Mary J. Blige, and the Isley Brothers.

He founded Rockland Records in 1998 through a distribution arrangement with Interscope Records. His album R. was released that year and sold more than eight million copies in the United States. TP-2.com followed in 2000 and became another number-one album on the Billboard 200.

Kelly collaborated with Jay-Z on The Best of Both Worlds in 2002 and Unfinished Business in 2004. The pair also embarked on the Best of Both Worlds tour, but Kelly was removed from the tour after conflict between the two performers and an incident involving Jay-Z's entourage.

Kelly responded to a leaked version of his planned album Loveland by reworking the material into Chocolate Factory, released in 2003. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and featured "Ignition (Remix)," which spent 42 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.

His 2005 album TP.3 Reloaded included the first chapters of Trapped in the Closet, a serialized hip-hopera built around an increasingly complicated relationship drama. Further chapters were released in video and DVD projects, including Trapped in the Closet: Chapters 1-12, Chapters 13-22, and Chapters 23-33.

Kelly continued releasing albums through the 2010s, including Double Up in 2007, Untitled in 2009, Love Letter in 2010, Write Me Back in 2012, Black Panties in 2013, The Buffet in 2015, and 12 Nights of Christmas in 2016. He performed at the 2010 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony and wrote "Sign of a Victory" for the event.

His music combined R&B, hip-hop, soul, pop, gospel-influenced vocals, and highly sexualized lyrics. Love Letter and Write Me Back drew more heavily on the lush sound of 1960s and 1970s soul, while Black Panties returned to the explicit style associated with his early work.

Kelly also published the autobiography Soulacoaster: The Diary of Me in 2012, written with David Ritz. In 2018, he released the 19-minute song "I Admit" on SoundCloud. An album using the same title was uploaded to streaming services in 2022 but was later removed because it had not been approved by Sony or Kelly's team.

Kelly faced allegations of sexual abuse for decades. A 2002 prosecution on child pornography charges ended with his acquittal in 2008. The six-part documentary series Surviving R. Kelly, which aired in 2019, renewed public attention to the allegations and was followed by additional investigations. RCA Records terminated his contract after the backlash.

In 2021, Kelly was convicted in federal court in Brooklyn of racketeering and sex trafficking offenses. He was sentenced in 2022 to 30 years in prison. Later in 2022, a federal court in Chicago convicted him on charges including producing child pornography and enticing a minor. Together, the convictions resulted in a combined sentence of 31 years.

The Recording Academy stated that it would not rescind Kelly's three Grammy Awards after his federal conviction. Baton Rouge rescinded a key to the city that had been given to him in 2013.