R. Kelly Biography

R. Kelly Biography

Robert Kelly (born January 8, 1969) is an R&B singer and song-writer from Chicago; he generally uses the name R. Kelly.

Biography

After growing up in poor circumstances in Chicago, singing on trains for pocket change, his career took off in 1991, eventually leading to both Grammy Award and platinum albums. His best known song is the ballad "I Believe I Can Fly". Some of his rap texts have been criticized for their sexual subject matter, but other songs are close to gospel and in fact Kelly has confirmed that he has "found God".
In 1994, Kelly briefly married the then 15-year-old singer Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash in 2001.

In recent years, R. Kelly has fought or settled several civil lawsuits alleging coerced or underage sexual relationships. Because of this, many radio stations in the United States have refused to play his music.

R. Kelly has been accused of and investigated for having had a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old daughter of an associate; this accusation gained force with a video tape that was sent anonymously to a Chicago newspaper in February 2002 and allegedly shows R. Kelly having sex with the girl. While witnesses have identified Kelly and the girl, the girl herself and her parents have denied that she is shown on the tape. Bootleg copies of the tape are widely available on the black market. The tape shows seven sex acts, and in June 2002, Kelly was indicted in Chicago for seven counts of soliciting a minor for child pornography, seven counts of videotaping the acts, and seven counts of producing child pornography.

In addition R. Kelly was indicted in Florida in January 2003 on 12 counts of possession of child pornography.

Discography

Albums

  • 1991 Born into the 90's #42 US Platinum
  • 1993 12 Play #2 US, #20 UK 6x Platinum
  • 1995 R. Kelly #1 US (1 week), #18 UK 5x Platinum
  • 1998 R #2 US, #27 UK 8x Platinum
  • 2000 TP-2.com #1 (1 week) US 4x Platinum
  • 2002 Best Of Both Worlds (with Jay-Z) #2 US, #37 UK Platinum
  • 2003 Chocolate Factory #1 (1 week) US, #10 UK 2x Platinum
  • 2003 The R. In R&B Collection, Vol. 1 (compilation) #4 US, #4 UK Platinum
  • 2004 Happy People/U Saved Me #2 US, #11 UK 3x Platinum
  • 2004 Unfinished Business (with Jay-Z) #1 (1 week) US Platinum
  • 2005 TP-3: Reloaded

These albums have total sales of 32 million in the US.

Singles

  • Born Into The 90's
    • 1992 "Honey Love" (#39, US)
    • 1993 "Dedicated" (#31, US)
    • 1994 "She's Got That Vibe" [re-issue] (#3, UK)
  • 12 Play
    • 1993 "Sex Me, Pts. 1-2" (#20, US)
    • 1994 "Bump N' Grind" (#1, US; #8, UK)
    • 1994 "Your Body's Callin'" (#13, US; #19, UK)
    • 1994 "Summer Bunnies" (#23, UK)
  • 1995 "The 4 Play EPs" ["Your Body's Callin'"/"Homie, Lover, Friend"/"Honey Love"/"Slow Dance"] (#23, UK)
  • R. Kelly
    • 1995 "You Remind Me Of Something" (#4, US; #24, UK)
    • 1996 "Down Low (Nobody Has To Know)" [featuring Ronald Isley] (#4, US; #23, UK)
    • 1996 "Thank God It's Friday" (#14, UK)
    • 1996 "I Can't Sleep Baby (If I)" (#5, US)
  • Space Jam Soundtrack
    • 1996 "I Believe I Can Fly" (#2, US; #1, UK)
  • Batman & Robin Soundtrack
    • 1997 "Gotham City" (#9, US; #9, UK)
  • Sparkle (Sparkle's debut album)
    • 1998 "Be Careful" [Sparkle featuring R. Kelly] (#7, UK)
  • R.
    • 1998 "Half On A Baby" (#16, UK)
    • 1998 "Home Alone" [featuring Keith Murray] (#17, UK)
    • 1998 "I'm Your Angel" [duet with Céline Dion] (#1, US; #3, UK)
    • 1998 "When A Woman's Fed Up" (#22, US)
    • 1999 "Did You Ever Think" [featuring Nas] (#27, US; #20, UK)
    • 1999 "If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time" (#12, US; #2, UK)
    • 2000 "Only The Loot Can Make Me Happy" (#24, UK)
  • Forever (Puff Daddy's sophomore album)
    • 2000 "Satisfy You" [Puff Daddy featuring R. Kelly] (#2, US; #8, UK)
  • TP-2.Com
    • 2000 "I Wish" (#14, US; #12, UK)
    • 2001 "Feelin' On Yo' Booty" (#36, US)
    • 2001 "The Storm Is Over Now" (#18, UK)
    • 2001 "Fiesta" (#6, US; #23, UK)
  • Ali Soundtrack
    • 2002 "The World's Greatest" (#34, US; #4, UK)
  • The Best Of Both Worlds (Jay-Z & R. Kelly)
    • 2002 "Honey" [with Jay-Z] (#35, UK)
  • Chocolate Factory
    • 2003 "Ignition" [remix] (#2, US; #1, UK)
    • 2003 "Snake" [featuting Big Tigger & Cam'ron] (#16, US; #10, UK)
    • 2003 "Step In The Name Of Love" (#9, US; #14, UK [double A-side with "Thoia Thong" in the UK])
  • The R. In R&B Collection, Vol. 1
    • 2003 "Thoia Thong" (#13, US)
  • Split Personality (Cassidy's debut album)
    • 2004 "Hotel" [Cassidy featuring R. Kelly] (#4, US; #3, UK)
  • Happy People/U Saved Me
    • 2004 "Happy People/U Saved Me" (#6, UK)
  • R.U.L.E. (Ja Rule's album)
    • 2004 "Wonderful" [Ja Rule featuring R. Kelly & Ashanti] (#1, UK; #5, US)
  • Unfinished Business (Jay-Z & R. Kelly)
    • 2004 "Big Chips" [with Jay-Z] (#39, US)
  • TP-3: Reloaded
    • 2005 "Trapped In The Closet" (#22, US)
    • 2005 "Playa's Only" [featuring The Game] (#90, US)




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