|
Quick Biography:
-
Robert Kelly was born on January 8, 1967 on the
south side of Chicago, Illinois.
-
He
attended Kenwood Academy High School. One
of his music teachers inspired him to be a
singer and he began singing on street corners or
wherever he can and eventually joined a local
band named Public Announcement
-
In
1997 he was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for
Best Movie Song for "I Believe I Can Fly" from
movie Space Jam
and the following year, he won a Grammy
Award for
Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion
Picture or for Television for this same song.
-
R.
Kelly is not only a singer, but is also produces
music. He produced
Aaliyah's first album in 1999 (Age Ain't
Nothing But a Number), which became a pop
hit.
-
In
2000 he married (backup singer) Andrea Lee.
They have two daughters and a son
-
In
2002, R. Kelly reached new heights to his fame.
Unfortunately, the fame was not positive.
Tapes began to appear on the internet with Kelly
having sexual relations with a young girl,
alleged to be only fourteen. It put a
black mark on his career, and also caused the
commercial failure of his 2002 album with rapper
Jay-Z Best of Both Worlds.
-
In
June of 2003 he was indicted on 21 counts of
child pornography - most of the counts have been
dropped.
-
Jay-Z and Kelly teamed for the Unfinished
album, a follow-up to their earlier
collaboration Best of Both Worlds.
However, the duo did not get along very while
touring. At one point Jay-Z's cousin pepper
sprayed Kelly and some bodyguards while going
onstage - and Jay-Z removed Kelly from the tour.
After pleading guilty to the crime, Jay-Z made
him a executive with Def Jam Records.
-
Henry Vaughn, an ex-employee, in 2006 sued R
Kelly for false imprisonment & breach of
contract -- the police department did not file
any charges against Kelly.
-
He sang during the opening
ceremonies for the FIFA World Cup on June 11,
2010 (see
video here)
Biography by Ian Ripley,
PopStarsPlus.com, Sr. Staff Writer
This biography may be copied in part
or in whole for non commercial purposes online or in hard copy and must
contain: (1) the name of the author, (2) the text "copied with
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contains the original biography.
The following biography
is from
Wikipedia.org
“The
Free Encyclopedia.”
Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967),
better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an
American singer-songwriter and record producer.
Often referred to as the King of R&B, Kelly is
recognized as one of the most successful R&B artists
of all-time. A native of Chicago, Kelly began
performing during the late 1980s and debuted in 1992
with the group Public Announcement. In 1993, Kelly
went solo with the album 12 Play. He is known for a
collection of major hit singles including "Bump n'
Grind", "Your Body's Callin'", "I Believe I Can
Fly", "Gotham City", "Ignition (Remix)", "If I Could
Turn Back the Hands of Time", "The World's
Greatest", "I'm a Flirt", and the hip-hopera
"Trapped in the Closet". In 1997, Kelly won three
Grammy Awards for "I Believe I Can Fly".
Kelly has also collaborated with, written, produced,
and remixed songs for many artists including The
Winans, The Isley Brothers, Charlie Wilson, Quincy
Jones, K-Ci & JoJo, Aaliyah, Janet Jackson, Whitney
Houston, Toni Braxton, Michael Jackson, Mary J.
Blige, Luther Vandross, Gerald LeVert, Raheem
DeVaughn, Jaheim, Kelly Price, Tamia, Jay-Z, Celine
Dion, Britney Spears, Usher, B2K, Twista, and
others.[1]
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),
has recognized R. Kelly as one of the best-selling
music artists in the United States with 33.5 million
albums sold.[2] In March 2011, R. Kelly was named
the most successful R&B artist of the last 25 years
by Billboard.[3][4][5] Kelly has released 10 studio
albums, sold 35 million albums in the U.S., 15
million singles, and over 50 million albums
worldwide making him the most successful R&B male
artist of the 1990's.[6][7]
A video of a man purported to be him having sex with
what was alleged to be an underage woman was
released, Kelly was indicted on counts of child
pornography in 2002. After several delays, his case
went to trial in 2008, with the jury ruling Kelly
not guilty on all 14 counts. Despite his past legal
woes, Kelly still retains a huge following, and his
popularity has grown in recent years.[8]
On February 18, 2012, R. Kelly performed at Whitney
Houston's memorial. The R&B singer performed the
ballad I Look to You, a song he wrote for Whitney
that she released on July 23, 2009. The song was
included in her seventh and final studio album, also
titled I Look to You. After singing the song he
said, "We love you Whitney. Rest in Peace." before
leaving the stage.[9]
****
Background information
Birth name Robert Sylvester Kelly
Born January 8, 1967 (1967-01-08) (age 45)
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres R&B, hip hop, gospel
Occupations Singer-songwriter, producer
Instruments Vocals, piano, keyboard, guitar
Years active 1989–present
Labels Jive, RCA
Associated acts Public Announcement, Ronald Isley,
Jay-Z, Fat Joe, Aaliyah
Website r-kelly.com
****
Early life
Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago,
Illinois, Kelly was the third of four children.[10]
Kelly's single mother, Joanne, was a singer and a
Baptist. Kelly's father was absent throughout most
of Kelly's life.[11] Kelly began singing in church
at age eight.[10] In Chicago, Kelly's family lived
in the projects at 63rd Street before relocating to
a small house at 107th and Parnell Streets. Kelly
entered Kenwood Academy in Chicago's Hyde Park
neighborhood in the fall of 1980 where he met his
music teacher Lena McLin, who encouraged Kelly to
perform the Stevie Wonder classic Ribbon in the Sky
in a highschool talent show.[11][12][13]
As a teenager, Kelly began street performing (or
busking) under the Chicago 'L' trains before he
eventually formed a group with his friend Marc
McWilliams. In 1989, Kelly and McWilliams formed the
group MGM (Musically Gifted Men). In 1991, Along
with Vincent Corey Walker and Shawnth Brooks, Kelly
performed on the TV talent show Big Break, hosted by
Natalie Cole, and went on to win the $100,000 grand
prize.[10]
Recording career
1992: Born into the 90's
Credited as R. Kelly and Public Announcement, the
debut album Born into the 90's was released in early
1992, during the new jack swing period of the early
nineties. The album yielded the R&B hits "She's Got
That Vibe", "Honey Love", "Dedicated", and "Slow
Dance (Hey Mr. DJ)", all of which were led by
Kelly.[14] During late 1992, Kelly and Public
Announcement embarked on a tour called "60653",
whose title was the zip code of Kelly's
neighborhood.[10] This would be the only album
co-credited with Public Announcement. Kelly
separated from the group in January 1993.[11]
1993–94: 12 Play
Kelly's first solo album, 12 Play, was released on
November 9, 1993 and yielded the singer's first
number-one hit, "Bump N' Grind", which spent a
record-breaking 12 weeks at number one on the
Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart. Subsequent hit
singles: "Your Body's Callin'" (U.S. Hot 100: #13,
U.S. R&B: #2) and "Sex Me" (U.S. Hot 100: #20, U.S.
R&B: #8). Both singles sold 500,000 copies in the
United States and were certified Gold by the RIAA.
[14] In 1994, 12 Play was certified Gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),
eventually going six times platinum.[16]
Following the success of 12 Play, Kelly found
himself in huge demand as a writer, producer, and
mixer. On June 13, 1994, Kelly's protégé Aaliyah
released her debut album titled Age Ain't Nothing
But a Number which was entirely written and produced
by R. Kelly. The album peaked at number 18 on the
Billboard 200 and sold over three million copies in
the United States. Age Ain't Nothing But a Number
spawned two hit singles: "Back & Forth" (U.S. Hot
100: #5, U.S. R&B: #1); blocked Kelly's "Your Body's
Callin' from the top spot and "At Your Best (You Are
Love)" (U.S. Hot 100: #6, U.S. R&B: #2). Kelly also
wrote and produced the female R&B duo Changing Faces
first two hit singles, "Stroke You Up" (U.S. Hot
100: #3, U.S. R&B: #2) and "Foolin' Around" (U.S.
R&B: #9). During this time, Kelly also became widely
known for his remixes. He remixed his own songs,
Bump N' Grind, Sex Me and "Homie Lover Friend", a
remix featured on the A Low Down Dirty Shame
(soundtrack) along with Aaliyah's song, "The Thing I
Like" which was written and produced by Kelly, as
well. Kelly remixed songs for other artists
including Aaliyah, Barry White and Toni Braxton. He
produced the popular remix for Janet Jackson's 1994
hit "Any Time, Any Place" and was featured on
Jackson's remix album, Janet Remixed.
1995–96: R. Kelly
In 1995, Kelly garnered his first-ever Grammy
nominations; two nominations for writing, producing
and composing Michael Jackson's last number one hit
"You Are Not Alone".[17] Kelly's success continued
with the release of his second studio album, R.
Kelly which was released on November 14, 1995 in the
United States (see 1995 in music). Critics praised
Kelly for his departure from salacious bedroom songs
to embracing vulnerability. New York Time's Stephen
Holden described Kelly as "The reigning king of
pop-soul sex talks a lot tougher than Barry White,
the father of such fluffed-up pillow talk and along
with Marvin Gaye and Donny Hathaway, a major
influence on Kelly." [18] In December 1995,
Professor Michael Eric Dyson critiqued Kelly's
self-titled album for Vibe (magazine). Dyson
described Kelly's growth from the 12 Play album:
"Kelly reshapes his personal turmoil to artistic
benefit" and noted that Kelly is "reborn before our
very own ears." [19]
The album reached number one on the Billboard 200
chart, becoming Kelly's first number one album on
the chart, and reached number one on the R&B album
charts; his second. R. Kelly spawned three platinum
hit singles: "You Remind Me of Something" (U.S. Hot
100: #4, U.S. R&B: #1), "I Can't Sleep (Baby If I)"
(U.S. Hot 100: #5, U.S. R&B: #1), and "Down Low
(Nobody Has To Know)" (U.S. Hot 100: #4, U.S. R&B:
#1); a duet with Ronald Isley. Kelly's self-titled
album sold four million copies, thus receiving 4×
platinum certification from the RIAA.[16] Kelly
promoted the album with a 50-city "Down Low Top
Secret Tour" with LL Cool J, Xscape, and Solo.[20]
In May 1996, Kelly was featured on the cover of
Ebony Man (EM) magazine with the headline
proclaiming "R. Kelly The new King of R&B" where he
discussed touring, working with Quincy Jones, Toni
Braxton, and Janet Jackson ("When I first met them,
I could tell they liked my albums. There was always
a certain song they named off my album. They said
they wanted something like that." Braxton liked
"Your Body's Callin'".), as well as his influences
Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway ("The way he approached
the woman he loved in his songs. He didn't hold
back" he says of Hathaway. "He was raw with what he
had to say. And Marvin Gaye was the same.") and
Michael Jackson's dedication to music ("He's another
person that I feel is married to his music. That's
why we related so well.")
In 1996, Kelly released one of his most successful
singles with "I Believe I Can Fly", an inspirational
song originally released on the soundtrack for the
film Space Jam. "I Believe I Can Fly" reached No. 2
on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 1 on the UK charts
for three weeks and won three Grammy Awards in
1998.[14] Rolling Stone magazine named it as the
406th of its top 500 songs of all time.[21]
1997–99: R.
In 1997, Kelly fulfilled a longtime dream of his and
signed a contract to play basketball with the
Atlantic City Seagulls of the USBL. Kelly wore the
number 12 in honor of his album 12 Play.[22] Kelly
said "I love basketball enough to not totally let go
of my music, but just put it to the side for a
minute, and fulfill some dreams of mine that I've
had for a long time." Kelly's USBL contract
contained a clause that would allow him to fulfill a
music obligation when necessary. "If Whitney Houston
needs a song written", Gross said, "he would be able
to leave the team to do that and come back". "It
wasn't a gimmick," said Ken Gross, the Seagulls
owner who signed Kelly. "He's a ballplayer. He can
play."[23] Kelly is the first music artist to play
professional basketball.[24]
In 1998, Kelly released R., his fourth studio album
and first double album. The album spans different
genres from radio pop (Celine Dion), street rap (Nas
and Jay-Z) to Blues ("Suicide"). It was released in
the United States on November 17, 1998 (see 1998 in
music). Dave Hoekstra of the Los Angeles Times
described the album as "easily the most ambitious
project of his career."[25] R. is the first album
that Kelly allowed other record producers to
contribute on his album, as opposed to producing the
entire album himself, and his first time
collaborating with various artists on his album. The
album remains Kelly's biggest selling album to date
having sold 8 million copies in the United States.
R. reached number one on the R&B albums chart,
becoming Kelly's third number one album to do so,
and entered at number two on the Billboard 200
chart. It spawned Kelly's second number one hit on
the Billboard Hot 100, "I'm Your Angel", a duet with
Celine Dion and notable classics such as "When A
Woman's Fed Up" (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop: #5) and "If I
Could Turn Back The Hands of Time" (Hot 100: #12,
UK: #2).[26][27][28] The album also contains Kelly's
international hit, "I Believe I Can Fly", which had
been released two years prior on the Space Jam
soundtrack.
In 1998, Kelly wrote and produced the debut album of
his protégé Sparkle, which was released under his
Rockland label and distributed through Interscope.
In 2000,Sparkle went Gold due to the success of the
first single, "Be Careful", a duet featuring R.
Kelly.[29]Since the success of Space Jam's "I
Believe I Can Fly", Kelly gained notoriety for
penning songs to popular soundtracks such as Batman
& Robin ("Gotham City") and Life ("Fortunate"). In
1999, Kelly wrote and produced, along with
contribution from Wyclef Jean, the majority of the
soundtrack to the Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence
film Life. Kelly composed ten songs on the
soundtrack, while Jean composed five.
2000: TP-2.com
As the year 2000 commenced, Kelly racked up a slew
of new awards reflecting his status as an
established R&B superstar. In January 2000, Kelly
had won Favorite Male Soul/R&B Artist at the
American Music Awards, and in February, was
nominated for several Grammy Awards, including Best
Male R&B Vocal Performance ("When A Woman's Fed
Up"), Best R&B Album (R.), and Best Rap Performance
by a Duo or Group ("Satisfy You") with P. Diddy.[30]
On November 7, 2000, Kelly released his fifth studio
album TP-2.com, an album harking back to his
breakthrough album, 12 Play. Unlike Kelly's previous
effort, R., all songs on TP-2.com was written,
arranged, and produced entirely by Kelly. Allmusic's
Jason Birchmeier rated TP-2.com with 4 stars and
described Kelly's style: "Kelly knows how to take
proven formulas and funnel them through his own
stylistic aesthetic, which usually means slowing
down the tempo, laying on lush choruses of strings
and background vocals, taming down the lyrics for
radio, and catering his pitch primarily to wistful
women.[31]
The album was Kelly's second album to peak at #1 on
the Billboard 200 and the fourth to top the Top
R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts.[32] TP-2.com yielded the
hits "I Wish (R. Kelly song)" (U.S. Hot 100: #14,
U.S. R&B: #1), "Feelin' On Yo Booty" (U.S. R&B: #9),
and the remix to "Fiesta (R. Kelly song)" (U.S. Hot
100: #6, U.S. R&B: #1), which featured
Jay-Z.[33][34][35]
In 2001, Kelly won the Outstanding Achievement Award
at the MOBO Awards and Billboard magazine ranked
TP-2.com at number 94 on the magazine's Top 200
Albums of the Decade.[36] [37]
2001–02: Loveland and Best of Both Worlds
"The World's Greatest", from the Ali soundtrack, was
a hit, and Kelly performed at the opening ceremonies
of the Winter Olympics.[38]
In 2001, Kelly began discussing the possibility of a
joint album with Jay-Z after the positive reception
of Jay-Z's "Guilty Until Proven Innocent", which
featured Kelly and the remix to "Fiesta (R. Kelly
song)" which featured Jay-Z. In December 2001 at the
Billboard Music Awards, Kelly confirmed the album's
existence and announced the title of the album,Best
of Both Worlds. During this time, Kelly began
working on the follow-up to his fifth studio album
TP-2.com, titled Loveland.
On January 24, 2002, at the press conference
announcing the Best of Both Worlds completion,
celebrities such as Johnnie Cochran, Russell
Simmons, Ronald Isley and Sean Combs lined up to
praise the album, with Jay-Z stating that he hoped
the collaboration represents "more unity for black
people on a whole."[39] Black Electorate described
the collaboration as "one of the greatest power
moves in Black music history."[40] MTV's Shaheem
Reid wrote: "And if Jay and Kelly can put their egos
to the side long enough to wrap up and promote their
album, then their labels - Def Jam and Jive,
respectively - can surely figure out a way to join
forces and make cheddar together. As determined by a
coin toss, the album will be distributed on
Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam in the U.S. and Canada, while
Jive will handle distribution internationally."[41]
When the joint album leaked on February 22, 2002 it
caused the label, Roc-A-Fella, to push the album's
release date up from the initial date, March 26, to
March 19.[42][43] Jay-Z expressed his frustration
about the album leak to MTV News: "It's the gift and
the curse. It's an honor that everybody wants your
music fast, but on the other hand, it's another
thing when the music gets out before you [want it
to]. Because that's your art. You feel attached to
it. You feel a certain way and you want people to go
out and support it. The time that you take, it's
like a piece of your life. You take parts of your
life and you put it on these records and then for it
to just be traded and moved around [is
frustrating].[44]
The release date for Best of Both Worlds was
eventually moved back to the initial date March 26.
The album sold 285,000 copies in its opening week
and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200
Albums Chart.[45]
In May 2002, Kelly's initial sixth studio album,
Loveland, leaked and was delayed to release in
November.[46] Instead Kelly re-recorded the entire
album, titled it Chocolate Factory and featured
several of the bootlegged tracks on the bonus
Loveland disc.
2003: Chocolate Factory
In early 2003, Chocolate Factory became a runaway
success for Kelly, selling over three million copies
due to the success of singles such as "Ignition".
"Snake" and "Step in the Name of Love" were also
popular singles. "Snake", incidentally, became the
basis of the dancehall reggae riddim known as
Baghdad. Later that year Kelly followed that success
by releasing his first greatest hits collection The
R in R&B Collection Volume 1, the album as well as a
DVD collection.
2004: Happy People/U Saved Me and Unfinished
Business
In 2004, Kelly released the ambitious two-disc set
Happy People/U Saved Me, with the first disc
including feel-good, stepping-inspired tracks, while
focusing on gospel and inspirational material on the
second disc. That same year, Kelly performed The
Star-Spangled Banner during the introduction of the
world championship boxing fight between Bernard
Hopkins and Jermain Taylor. His performance, which
included a line of dancers doing the "stepping"
routine and a prerecorded instrumental track set to
the sound of "Happy People", was met with a mixed
reaction. In October 2004, Kelly reunited with Jay-Z
to do a follow-up to their Best of Both Worlds album
shortly after announcing a tour to coincide with the
project after the duo performed together during
Jay-Z's "farewell" concert at Madison Square Garden
a year before. The duo's Unfinished Business album
was released and peaked at number one on the
Billboard chart.
The Unfinished Business tour was plagued by a
rivalry between the two stars and Kelly reportedly
showing up late or not at all to gigs. The singer,
according to Jay-Z, often complained that the
touring lights were not directed towards him and
often left during the middle of sets. Another night
during the concert, Kelly stayed on his tour bus for
two hours before finally coming out to perform an
uninspired set. Jay-Z eventually removed R. Kelly
halfway through the tour, after a member of Jay-Z's
entourage attacked R. Kelly with Mace or pepper
spray. On April 25, 2006, it was confirmed that
Jay-Z's younger cousin, Tyran (Ty-Ty) Smith
confessed in a Manhattan Criminal Court to
pepper-spraying R. Kelly and four of his bodyguards
at Madison Square Garden in October 2004. Smith had
been charged with assault, but was allowed to plead
guilty to disorderly conduct for four days of
community service. After the original incident,
Jay-Z made Smith an executive of Def Jam
Records.[47] Kelly also launched a $75 million
lawsuit against Jay-Z for removing him from the
tour, which received a countersuit by Jay-Z which
was thrown out by the judge.[48]
2007–08: Double Up
On May 29, 2007, R Kelly released his eighth studio
album Double Up, which included the hit single "I'm
a Flirt (Remix)", featuring T.I. and T-Pain. The
original track entitled "I'm a Flirt", also produced
and co-written by R. Kelly, appeared as a hidden
track on Bow Wow's The Price of Fame (2006).
However, Kelly never gave the rights for the song to
be released as a formal single, although it was
played by many radio stations before the remix
version. Kelly's first single from Double Up was
"I'm a Flirt (Remix)", Bow Wow was not featured on
this version of the song. In Kelly's video for "I'm
a Flirt (Remix)", he encourages fans to call a
number which flashes up quickly on the screen. Fans
who called the number were greeted by a recording of
Kelly talking about his upcoming album and playing
snippets of new songs in the studio. "I'm a Flirt
(Remix)" was successful for Kelly. The song peaked
at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also
reached number one on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks.
Another hit on the album, "Same Girl", was a
collaboration between Kelly and Usher. The single
peaked at number 20 on the Hot 100 and peaked at
number four on the R&B chart. Other singles such as
"Rock Star" featuring Ludacris and Kid Rock, "Sex
Planet" and "Freaky in the Club" were R&B charters,
although the latter two were not officially released
as singles, nor was the title track featuring Snoop
Dogg.
Kelly's other single from Double Up titled "Rise Up"
was a tribute to the victims of the Virginia Tech
massacre. The song was officially released as a
digital download May 15, 2007. Proceeds were donated
to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, a fund that
helped family members of the victims of the
shootings.[49]
Kelly began his Double Up tour with Ne-Yo, Keyshia
Cole and J. Holiday opening for him. After two
shows, promoter Leonard Rowe had Ne-Yo removed from
the tour because of a contract dispute. However,
Ne-Yo alleges that the reason for the dropout was
because Ne-Yo believes he received a better response
from critics and fans, even though he only performed
at two shows. Ne-Yo filed a lawsuit against Rowe
Entertainment. It was shown that Kelly was not
mentioned in the lawsuit. In December 2007, Kelly
was showing up to another preliminary court hearing
on his case due to his tour bus being held up in
Utah.[50] The judge threatened to revoke Kelly's
bond, but the judge eventually decided not to. In
2008, Kelly released a rap track titled "I'm a
Beast" in which he coarsely attacked his detractors,
though Kelly himself never mentioned by name whom
the song was directed to.[51]
In 2008, Billboard reported that Kelly had plans to
release his newest album titled 12 Play: Fourth
Quarter in the summer of that year but the album was
postponed. Billboard also named Kelly among the most
successful artists ever for its 50th Anniversary
List.[52] In the spring, the first promotional
single "Hair Braider", peaked at No. 56 on
Billboard's R&B chart. On July 28, the entire album
leaked online.[53] The album was then pushed back to
be released in the fall. On September 18, Kelly
released the video to the second promotional single
"Skin". However, the album still has no official
release date. Though Kelly has not released an
album, he has kept busy in the studio doing featured
guest spots on numerous remixes including "Lookin
Boy" remix by Hotstylz, Mariah Carey's "Touch My
Body" remix, a verse for a remix to Kanye West's
single "Love Lockdown", Raheem DeVaughn's "Customer"
remix, Beyoncé Knowles' "If I Were a Boy" remix,
T-Pain's "Chopped 'n' Skrewed" remix, among others.
A recent track was leaked on the internet titled "I
Believe". Kelly states on his official MySpace page
that Obama's election inspired him to write the
song, which contains an excerpt from Barack Obama's
presidential acceptance speech. This song was
available on iTunes as a free download the first
week it was released.
2009: Untitled
On June 3, 2009, Kelly released his first ever
mixtape, The Demo Tape (Gangsta Grillz) presented by
DJ Skee and DJ Drama as a way to reintroduce himself
to fans.[54]
While at the Velvet Room in Atlanta in February
2009, Kelly announced that he was out there working
on the album and that it would be called
Untitled.[55] The album was given a September 29,
2009 release date,[56] but was delayed until October
13, 2009. The album release was again delayed and
was released under Jive Records on December 1, 2009.
It got mixed to positive reviews from critics. The
single "Number One", which features Keri Hilson,
peaked at #8 on the US R&B Chart.
Kelly performed for the first time in Africa
headlining the Arise African Fashion Awards in
Johannesburg, South Africa on June 20, 2009.[57]
Kelly scheduled to perform in Cape Town before
heading to Nigeria as part of the annual ThisDay
music and fashion festival in July. Kelly also
performed in Kampala, Uganda in January 2010. He
also scheduled to perform in London as part of his
first international tour in eight years, but he did
not make his London concert. "I'm very excited about
my first visit to Africa, I've dreamed about this
for a long time and it's finally here," Kelly said
in a statement. "It will be one of the highlights of
not only my career but my life. I can't wait to
perform in front of my fans in Africa — who have
been some of the best in the world."[58]
In December 2009, Kelly teamed up with biographer
David Ritz and Tavis Smiley's SmileyBooks
publications to write his memoirs entitled
Soulacoaster. SmileyBooks publisher and founder,
Tavis Smiley stated that the memoir's main focus
won't be on Kelly's trials and tribulations. Smiley
was quoted saying "If anyone thinks this bookis
going to fixate on [R. Kelly's trials], they are
going to be sadly mistaken. It is going to be a
holistic look at his life thus far and the life and
legacy that he's building." [59]
I January of 2012, Mr. Kelly was married to Tamekia
Washington of Darlington, South Carolina. The couple
has a set of twins due to be born in December of
2012. He is working on a new CD to be entitled,
"Must Be - Ain't It", to be released in April of
2012. It is said that the new music is inspired by
his wife. His Wife has a list of 13 items that she
"allegedly" does not eat, among them are: 1. Eggs 2.
Sausage 3. York Peppermint Patties 4. Squash 5.
Jello With Fruit In It 6. Milk Shakes 7. Yogurt 8.
Skin and Fat From Chicken 9. Fat Back Fat 10. Okra
11. Black Eyed Peas 12. Canned Chille 13. Wet Bread
2010: Epic and Love Letter
Kelly performed the inspirational song "Sign of a
Victory" at the 2010 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony
on June 11, 2010.[60]
On July 13, 2010, a song called "Tongues" surfaced,
reportedly the lead single from Kelly's upcoming
album Zodiac. The song is produced by Bangladesh and
features Ludacris.[61]
In an interview in the September 2010 issue of XXL
magazine, Kelly mentioned that he is currently
working on three new albums (Epic, Love Letter, and
Zodiac) and detailed that the new material is
basically him “remixing himself.” [62]
On September 13, 2010, Kelly released one of his
three new albums, Epic. A collection of Kelly's most
"epic" ballads, including five brand-new
inspirational songs; the compilation was only
released in Europe. In the September 2010 issue of
XXL magazine, Kelly mentioned that the song Sign of
Victory gave him the idea to do an international
album called Epic.
In November 2010, Kelly collaborated with several
African musicians forming a supergroup known as
One8. The group features 2Face from Nigeria, Alikiba
from Tanzania, Congolese singer Fally Ipupa, 4X4
from Ghana, hip-hop artist Movaizhaleine from Gabon,
Zambia's JK, Ugandan hip-hop star Navio and Kenya's
Amani, the only female in the group. The first
release from the group is "Hands Across the World"
written and produced by Kelly.[63][64]
Kelly's latest album Love Letter was released on
December 14, 2010 worldwide. The album includes 15
songs, the latter being a bonus track; a cover of
Michael Jackson's You Are Not Alone, which was
written and produced by Kelly as well. Love Letter
has been critically acclaimed by music critics and
highly-praised by critics and fans alike. ABC News
declared "The genius of R. Kelly has been
resurrected and is on full display on Love Letter"
[65] The first single "When a Woman Loves" was
nominated for a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B
Vocal Performance at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.
ABC News music critic named "When a Woman Loves" the
best single of 2010 saying: "An absolutely stunning
love song with a pitch-perfect vocal performance
that will send chills down your spine — for the
right reasons." [66] The next single, "Love Letter"
and "A Love Letter Christmas", the Christmas remix
to "Love Letter", were released as singles on
November 22, 2010. In promotion of the Love Letter
album he performed at the 2010 Soul Train Music
Awards and on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. All
songs on the album were written and produced by
Kelly.
2011: Throat surgery and Black Panties
On February 12 at the 2011 Clive Davis Pre-Grammy
Gala in Los Angles, Kelly performed a medley of hits
including Happy People, When a Woman’s Fed Up and
Bump N’ Grind, which brought Usher, Mary J. Blige
and Katy Perry to their feet. [67] Ann Powers of the
Los Angeles Times wrote "Kelly is a single-bound
kind of leaper who dips into everything from soft
porn to opera in his music. His supreme chutzpah, a
quality he shares with Streisand, allows him to feel
secure within pop’s traditions while taking them
wherever he pleases. He made Davis’ musical program,
which at times got lost amid the chatter of the
A-list crowd, come alive. It was all so simple then:
an instant when one of pop’s key traditional
elements, that determination to wow, took on new
dimension in the hands of an expert." [68]
In March 2011, Kelly was named the #1 R&B artist of
the last 25 years by Billboard.[3] In his career
Kelly has amassed 35 top 10 hits and 11 #1 hits on
the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
On July 19, 2011, Kelly was rushed to the
Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago to undergo
emergency throat surgery. He cancelled his heavily
advertised performance at the Reggae Sumfest in
Jamaica that was scheduled the following Friday. In
a statement the organizers said, "Kelly's unforeseen
and unavoidable health issues will prevent him from
making a scheduled appearance on the music
festival." Johnny Gourzong, Sumfest Productions
executive director, also commented, saying, "We are
truly going to miss his presence on the festival."
[69] On July 20, 2011, in a press release,
representatives for R. Kelly explained that he was
rushed to the hospital to drain an abscess on one of
his tonsils and "will be laid up for an indefinite
amount of time".[70] Shortly after, Kelly tweeted
fans "I WILL BE BACK!" he promised and "I'd like to
thank everybody for their love, concern and
support." [71] On July 21, 2011, Kelly's spokesman,
Allan Mayer, reported that Kelly was released from
Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and is
recuperating at home. It was not immediately clear
when Kelly might be well enough to resume
performing. [72] On July 21, 2011, in a video
message to fans, Kelly spoke out for the first time
since throat surgery and reassured his fans that
he's doing well. He said "Yo what’s up, y’all, it’s
your boy Kellz, fresh out the hospital. Just want to
say thanks to my fans for supporting me. I want to
say thanks to all the prayer warriors out there for
supporting me." [73]
On September 16, 2011, after undergoing throat
surgery in July, Kelly stopped by 107.5 WGCI's
Morning Riot radio show in Chicago for an exclusive
interview. He discussed the surgery and announced
the title of his eleventh studio album, Black
Panties.[74]
On September 23, 2011, Variety (magazine) confirmed
that Kelly has signed on to write original music for
the Sparkle (2012 film) soundtrack. [75] On April
25, 2011, Director Salkim Akli was quoted saying,
"Hopefully, R. Kelly will come on and do some of the
music for the film. His latest music sounds like it
came from a time period. Here’s a guy who can write
about a woman being a jeep to ‘I Believe I Can Fly’
and he’s an artist. Whether you like him or dislike
him, I love artists, and I know that he will just go
deep into it and come up with something unique."
[76]
On October 7, RCA Music Group announced it was
disbanding Jive Records along with Arista Records
and J Records. With the shutdown, Kelly (and all
other artists previously signed to these three
labels) will release his future material on the RCA
Records brand.[77][78]
On November 10, 2011, Kelly tweeted to fans "It's
been a long time coming but I finally feel a lot
better about my throat since the surgery and this is
the first song I wrote." [79] followed with "Enjoy!"
and a link to a song titled "Shut Up". In the song,
Kelly addresses the people who doubted his ability
to comeback after the surgery and the rumors that
surrounded him while he was in recovery. Reviews for
"Shut Up" were generally positive: Spin (magazine)
wrote, "Kelly taking aim at the haters who said
"he's washed up, he's lost it." He hasn't. Dude's
voice is in prime smooth R&B form". [80] Prefix
(magazine) writer, Andrew Winistorfer described the
song as "vintage Kelly: It's all runs in the verses,
falsetto in the middle, and randomly placed vitriol.
[81]
On December 21, 2011, Kelly made a live appearance
on The X Factor (U.S.) and gave his first
performance since undergoing emergency throat
surgery in the summer. He sang his classic hit "I
Believe I Can Fly" with finalist Melanie Amaro and
received positive reviews from critics. Kelly
revealed to Rolling Stone that he felt like he was
"just starting out" and how the performance was a
"wake up call" for him. [82]
Kelly is currently working on his memoir entitled
Soulacoaster and it's expected to be released in the
Spring of 2012.
2012: Write Me Back
On January 31, 2012, Kelly revealed in a radio
interview that he's releasing a follow-up to the
Love Letter album titled Write Me Back. The album is
a mix of Kelly's previous albums; Love Letter, Happy
People and a little bit of TP-2.Com.[83] On February
1, 2012, Kelly released the first single, "Share My
Love", off his twelfth studio album, Write Me
Back.[84]
On February 18, 2012, R. Kelly performed at Whitney
Houston's memorial. Kelly performed the ballad I
Look to You, a song he wrote for Whitney that she
released on July 23, 2009. The song was included in
her seventh and final studio album, also titled I
Look to You. After singing the song he said, "We
love you Whitney. Rest in Peace." before leaving the
stage.[85]
Legal issues
After a July 1996 brawl at a Lafayette, Louisiana
health club involving bodyguard William Robert Savy,
Kelly was placed on a year's unsupervised probation
starting August 13, 1997. One of the victims,
Christopher Mahoney, needed 110 facial stitches.[86]
Kelly was arrested on April 8, 1998 on three
misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct, including
one charge on violating noise ordinance for playing
loud music from his car.[87] Prosecutors from the
district attorney's office dropped the first two
charges on May 7 and the noise charge on July 22
that year.[88][89]
On February 3, 2002, a video showing Kelly engaging
in sex with, and urinating on, an alleged underage
woman surfaced. The woman defended R. Kelly, later
saying that she consented. The story, that was
released by an unknown source, was sent to the
Chicago Sun-Times, the newspaper that broke the
story. Kelly denied that he was the man in the
video.[90] Bootleg copies of that tape became widely
available on the black market and over file sharing
networks.[91] In June 2002, Kelly was indicted in
Chicago on 21 counts of having sex with a minor,
which were later reduced to soliciting a minor for
child pornography, seven counts of videotaping the
acts, and seven counts of producing child
pornography.[92] That same month, authorities
searched Kelly's house in Davenport, Florida.
Officers found an unusual amount of commercially
manufactured and distributed adult porn in a
room.[93] During the search officers also obtained
pictures of an alleged underage woman on a digital
camera – wrapped in a towel in a duffel bag.[94]
Kelly was arrested in January 2003 on those charges.
In March 2004, these charges were dropped due to a
lack of probable cause for the search warrants.[95]
After a number of delays, on October 27, 2006, a
Cook County, Illinois, court hearing for pre-trial
motions set the date of the actual trial to February
7, 2007.[96] On the date of the trial, Kelly's
lawyer informed the court that his client was unable
to attend because he was "undergoing surgery for a
burst appendix". He also announced that Kelly was
"in good condition and was expected to be released
from the hospital later in the day." Kelly's
attorney stated that Kelly (who pleaded not guilty)
would be in attendance on the next trial date of
February 21, 2007.[97] It had previously been
announced by the court that the videotape that
allegedly showed Kelly performing sex acts with an
underage woman would be publicly shown as evidence
in the trial. The trial, however, was delayed due to
disputes over when the tape was made and to give
medical recuperation time to the sitting judge
following a fall resulting in broken bones. Later
the case was set for a September 17 date.[98] It
took more than six years for the case to go to
trial. Jury selection began on May 9, 2008, and the
trial officially started on May 20 with opening
statements from the prosecution and defense. After
two weeks, the prosecution's case wrapped on June 3
while the defense's wrapped six days later, on June
9. After less than a day of deliberations, on June
13, 2008, a Chicago jury found Kelly not guilty of
all 14 counts.[99]
Discography
Studio
12 Play (1993)
R. Kelly (1995)
R. (1998)
TP-2.com (2000)
Chocolate Factory (2003)
Happy People/U Saved Me (2004)
TP.3 Reloaded (2005)
Double Up (2007)
Untitled (2009)
Love Letter (2010)
Black Panties (2012)
Write Me Back (2012)
Collaboration albums
Born into the 90's (1992) (with Public Announcement)
The Best of Both Worlds (2002) (with Jay-Z)
Unfinished Business (2004) (with Jay-Z)
Compilation albums
The R. In R&B Collection, Vol. 1 (2003)
Remix City, Volume 1 (2005)
My Diary (2005)
Playlist: The Very Best of R. Kelly (2010)
Epic (2010)
Unreleased albums
Loveland (2002)
12 Play: 4th Quarter (2008)
Filmography
Trapped in the Closet (1–12) (2005)
Trapped in the Closet (13–22) (2007)
Trapped in the Closet (1–22) The Big Package (2007)
R. Kelly Live the Light It Up Tour (2007)
Trapped in the Closet (22-TBA) (TBA)
Official tours
The 12 Play Very Necessary Tour (w/ Salt-N-Pepa)
(1994)
The Down Low Top Secret Tour (w/ LL Cool J, Xscape,
and Solo) (1996)
The Get Up on a Room Tour (w/ Kelly Price, Nas, Foxy
Brown, and Deborah Cox) (1999)
The TP-2.com Tour (w/ Sunshine Anderson & Syleena
Johnson) (2001)
The Key in the Ignition Tour (w/ Ashanti
(entertainer)) (2003)
The Light It Up Tour (2006)
The Double Up Tour (w/ J. Holiday & Keyshia Cole)
(2007)
The Ladies Make Some Noise Tour (2009)
Love Letter Tour (w/ Keyshia Cole & Marsha
Ambrosius) (2011)
Awards
American Music Award
1993: Favorite Soul/R&B Single ("Honey Love")
1995: Favorite Soul/R&B Album (12 Play)
1997: Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist
2000: Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist
2005: Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist
2007: Favorite Soul/R&B Album (Double Up)
BET Awards
2003: Best Male R&B Artist
Billboard Awards
2001: Top R&B/Hip Hop Artist
2001: Top R&B/Hip Hop Album (TP2.com)
2001: Top R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks ("Fiesta")
2001: Top R&B/Hip Hop Artist
2001: Top R&B/Hip Hop Album Artist
2001: Top R&B/Hip Hop Album Artist – Male
BMI Awards
1998: Pop Songwriter of the Year (for "I Believe I
Can Fly", "I Can't Sleep Baby (If I)", and "I Don't
Want To" (recorded by Toni Braxton))
Grammy Awards
1998: Best R&B Song ("I Believe I Can Fly")
1998: Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ("I Believe I
Can Fly")
1998: Best Song Written for a Motion Picture,
Television or Other Visual Media ("I Believe I Can
Fly")
MOBO Awards
2001: MOBO Outstanding Achievement
NAACP Image Awards
2001: Outstanding Male Artist
2001: Outstanding Music Video ("I Wish")
Soul Train Awards
1999: Best R&B/Soul Album, Male (R.)
1999: Sammy Davis Jr. Entertainer of the Year Award
2000: Best R&B/Soul or Rap Album (R.)
2001: Best R&B/Soul Single, Male ("I Wish")
2001: Best R&B/Soul Album, Male (TP2.com)
2004: R&B/Soul Album, Male (Chocolate Factory)
2004: Quincy Jones Award for Outstanding Career
Achievements
2006: Stevie Wonder Award for Outstanding
Achievements in Song Writing
Source Hip Hop Awards
1999: R&B Artist of the Year
2001: R&B Artist of the Year
Vibe Awards
2003: R&B Vanguard Award
[100][101]
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57.^ "R. Kelly To Make African Debut – Contactmusic
News". Contactmusic.com.
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Retrieved 2009-08-05.
58.^ "R. KELLY IN THE MOTHERLAND: Singer due in
Johannesburg this week for Fashion Awards gig; will
kick off international string of concert dates".
EURweb.com. 2009-06-15.
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2009-08-05. [dead link]
59.^ R. Kelly To Address Controversy In New Book.
Yahoo Music
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World Cup In South Africa". Billboard.com.
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Retrieved 2010-07-08.
61.^ "**NEW MUSIC** R. Kelly - Tongues (feat.
Ludacris)". Global Grind. 2010-07-13.
http://globalgrind.com/channel/music/content/1686507/new-music-r-kelly-tongues-feat-ludacris/.
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62.^ "R.Kelly On Being Happy With Current State Of
R&B: "In Some Ways Yes And In Some Ways No"".
http://youheardthatnew. 2012-01-13.
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Retrieved 2012-01-14.
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Kelly". Rnbmusicblog.com. 2010-11-19.
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Retrieved 2011-02-20.
64.^ "R. Kelly Backs African Supergroup".
Billboard.biz.
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Retrieved 2011-02-20.
65.^ ABC News: R. Kelly Is Classic and Classy on
Great CD . R. Kelly News
66.^ When A Woman Loves Chart History. R. Kelly News
67.^ Celebs turn out for Pre-Grammy Gala. USA Today
68.^ Grammy Awards: Barbra Streisand stars at
MusiCares concert, R. Kelly stars at Clive Davis'
party. Los Angeles Times
69.^ R. Kelly grounded - Artiste's no-show sends
Sumfest organisers on global search for replacement.
The Gleaner
70.^ [1]. Artist Direct
71.^ R. Kelly's tweets fans. Twitter
72.^ R. Kelly Released From Hospital After Throat
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73.^ R. Kelly message to fans. Youtube
74.^ R. Kelly's Upcoming Black Panties Will Be 'The
New 12 Play. MTV
75.^ Cee-Lo Green joins 'Sparkle' cast. Variety
(magazine)
76.^ R. Kelly Wanted For Sparkle Remake.
Blackfilm.com
77.^
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/record-labels/rca-s-new-executive-team-named-under-ceo-1005324782.story
78.^ http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=2268707
79.^ R. Kelly's Twitter. Twitter
80.^ R. Kelly Croons About Tonsil Surgery in New
Track. Spin
81.^ R. Kelly: 'Shut Up'(New Track). Prefixmag
82.^ R. Kelly: 'There Is No End' to 'Trapped in the
Closet'. Rolling Stone (magazine)
83.^ New R. Kelly interview with JoJo of V101.5 . R.
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84.^ RCA Records Twitter. Twitter
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Kelly Sings Soulful Rendition of ‘I Look To You'".
International Business Times.
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Retrieved 19 February 2012.
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News. 1997-08-13.
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87.^ "R. Kelly Busted For Blasting Car Stereo". MTV
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88.^ "R. Kelly Gets Mixed Legal News In Court Date".
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89.^ "R. Kelly Free To Kick Out The Car Jams". MTV
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101.^ http://www.mobo.com/2001%20London%20Arena
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