R. Kelly

Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967), known professionally as R. Kelly, is an American singer, songwriter, and producer.

He has been credited with prolific success in both R&B and hip hop, earning nicknames such as "the King of R&B", "the King of Pop-Soul", and the "Pied Piper of R&B".

Kelly was convicted of federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges in 2022, stemming from decades of criminal allegations involving minors.

He is currently serving a 31-year prison sentence.

Robert Sylvester Kelly was born on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, on January 8, 1967, at Chicago Lying-In Hospital (now University of Chicago Medical Center) in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood.

He has five siblings (three of whom are half), two older sisters and brother, along with a younger brother and sister.

His mother, Joanne, was a schoolteacher and devout Baptist.

She was born in Arkansas.

The identity of his father, who was absent from Kelly's life and later raised two children, is not known.

His family lived in the Ida B. Wells Homes public housing project in the Black Metropolis–Bronzeville District of Chicago's Douglas neighborhood, also on the city's south side.

Around the time he was five years old, Kelly's mother married his stepfather, Lucious, who reportedly worked for an airline.

Kelly began singing in the church choir at age eight.

Kelly described having a girlfriend, Lulu, at age eight, in his autobiography.

He stated that their last play date turned tragic when, after fighting with older children over a play area by a creek, she was pushed into the water, swept downstream by a fast-moving current, and drowned.

Kelly called Lulu his first musical inspiration.

Kelly said members of his household would act differently when his mother and grandparents were not home.

This included highly provocative dress and behavior.

Kelly stated that when he was eight, an adult woman in the household coerced him into photographing her while having intercourse with an adult male partner.

From age 8 to 14, he was often sexually abused by an older female family member.

Kelly's younger brother, Carey, stated that he suffered from years of sexual abuse at the hands of his older sister, Theresa, who was entrusted with babysitting her siblings.

Carey stated that although their older brother, Bruce, was spared and allowed to play outside, both he and Kelly were punished at separate times indoors by Theresa, who refused to acknowledge the abuse when confronted years later.

In September 1980, Kelly entered Kenwood Academy in the city's Hyde Park-Kenwood district, where he met music teacher Lena McLin, who encouraged Kelly to perform Stevie Wonder's "Ribbon in the Sky" in the high school talent show.

A shy Kelly put on sunglasses, was escorted onto the stage, performed the song, and was awarded first prize.

Kelly has sold over 75 million albums and singles worldwide, making him the most successful R&B male artist of the 1990s and one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has recognized Kelly as one of the best-selling music artists in the United States with 40 million albums sold, as well as only the fifth black artist to crack the top 50 of the same list.

Kelly has released 18 studio albums and is known for hit singles such as "I Believe I Can Fly", "Bump N' Grind", "Your Body's Callin', "Fiesta (Remix)", "Ignition (Remix)", "Step in the Name of Love (Remix)", "If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time", "The World's Greatest", "I'm a Flirt (Remix)", and the hip hopera Trapped in the Closet. In 1998, he won three Grammy Awards for "I Believe I Can Fly". Kelly has also written, produced, and remixed hundreds of songs, singles, and albums for other artists such as Michael Jackson, Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston, Aaliyah and Janet Jackson. In 1996, he received a Grammy Award nomination for writing and producing Michael Jackson's single "You Are Not Alone", which also won a Guinness World Record as the first song in history to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Leaked video recordings of an encounter with an underage girl led to his prosecution for child pornography in 2002, but he was acquitted in 2008.

In March 2011, Kelly was named the most successful R&B artist of the last 25 years by Billboard.

Throughout his career, Kelly has been awarded Grammy Awards, BET Awards, Soul Train Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, NAACP Image Awards, and American Music Awards.

Investigations by law enforcement and journalists revealed that Kelly used his fame to seek out underage fans for sex.

Explaining why he never told anyone, Kelly's 2012 autobiography, Soulacoaster: The Diary of Me, explained that he was "too afraid and too ashamed".

Around age 10, Kelly was also sexually abused by an older male who was a friend of the family.

In his autobiography, Kelly describes being shot in the shoulder at age 13 by boys who were attempting to steal his bike, although a family friend claims his mother disputed this, stating that the gunshot was self-inflicted during a suicide attempt.

The 2019 documentary television series Surviving R. Kelly reexamined Kelly's alleged sexual misconduct with minors, prompting RCA Records to terminate his contract.

Kelly was arrested in July 2019 on new charges brought by multiple jurisdictions.

In 2021, he was convicted under the Mann Act and for racketeering.

In 2022, Kelly was convicted of three child pornography charges and three charges of enticing a minor.

He was sentenced to serve 31 years imprisonment in a combination of concurrent and consecutive sentences.

As of 2023, Kelly is incarcerated at FCI Butner Medium I.

He is scheduled for release on December 21, 2045, when he will be 78 years old.