“A guy like Donny Hathaway had a focused, sexual texture in his voice that I always wanted in mine. He had smooth, soulful tones, but he was spiritual at the same time.”
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R. Kelly
Robert Sylvester Kelly, known professionally as R. Kelly, is an American former singer, songwriter, and record producer who is credited with prolific commercial success in contemporary R&B, hip-hop, and pop music recordings. Nicknamed "the King of R&B", "the King of Pop-Soul", and "the Pied Piper of R&B", Billboard has him ranked as the 9th greatest R&B artist of all time. His career ended followi…
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entertainment · American singer (born 1967) · singer · songwriter · record producer · composer · musician · also R. Kelly, Kelly
Born 8 January 1967 · Q273055
111 published statements · 0 followers
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2026· 3 entries
“It will be one of the highlights of not only my career but my life. I can”
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“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”
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2025· 4 entries
Kelly was hospitalized following an apparent overdose while incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institute in North Carolina
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AFP Fact Check rated the claim “New R. Kelly song praising Ibrahim Traore” AI-generated.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
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Lead Stories rated the claim “R Kelly was pardoned by Trump and released in 2025” Didn't Happen.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
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AFP Fact Check rated the claim “R. Kelly released a music video from prison” AI-generated.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
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2024· 3 entries
Multiple news outlets reported that Kelly, alongside his lawyer Jennifer Bonjean, had asked the Supreme Court to review his child pornography case, which could potentially drop 20 years off his sentence
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PolitiFact rated the claim ““R. Kelly has been released from United States of America Federal Prison, Chicago.”” False.
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USA Today rated the claim “Images show R. Kelly has been performing on a prison concert tour” Altered.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
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2023· 1 entry
Snopes rated the claim “Photographs authentically show R. Kelly performing concerts in prison.” False.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
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2022· 4 entries
Released album “I Admit It”.
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But was taken down after it was not approved by Sony or R
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USA Today rated the claim “R. Kelly escaped from prison” False.
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PolitiFact rated the claim “R. Kelly “missing after prison security verify he’s escaped beneath facility.”” False.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
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2021· 9 entries
The Guardian: R Kelly associate jailed for intimidating singer’s accuser with arson attack
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The Guardian: Can the R Kelly verdict lead to a shift in the music industry?
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Following his New York conviction of multiple sex crimes, the key was rescinded
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USA Today rated the claim “R. Kelly is out of jail” False.
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BOOM Fact Check rated the claim “American singer R. Kelly was released from prison in June 2021.” False.
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fact checker rated the claim “R. Kelly has been released from prison.” fake.
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PolitiFact rated the claim “Photo shows R. Kelly being released from prison in 2021.” False.
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And 2022, he was convicted on multiple charges involving child sexual abuse
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Wouldn't strip Kelly of his awards despite his "disturbing" actions
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2019· 1 entry
Which led to multiple indictments and Kelly's arrest
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2017· 2 entries
Pitbull released the song "Dedicated" off his album Climate Change featuring guest appearances from Kelly and Austin Mahone
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Released ep “It's Your World (The First Take)”.
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2016· 4 entries
Released album “12 Nights of Christmas”.
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Kelly donated cases of water to the Flint water crisis
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“As I’m older, I look at it and I know that it had to be not just about me and them, but them and somebody older than them when they were younger, and whatever happened to them when they were younger. I looked at it as if there was a sort of like, I don’t know, a generational curse, so to speak, going down through the family. Not just started with her doing that to me.”
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In 2016, Kelly donated cases of water to the Flint water crisis.
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2015· 1 entry
Released album “The Buffet”.
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2014· 1 entry
Released album “The Essential R. Kelly”.
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2013· 5 entries
Released album “Black Panties”.
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Kelly and Justin Bieber debuted a collaboration titled "PYD"
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Kelly collaborated with several artists including Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Mary J
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Released album “Milestones”.
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As "an artist whose music brings generations together"
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2012· 2 entries
Released album “Write Me Back”.
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Kelly made a series of announcements including a follow-up to the Love Letter album titled Write Me Back, which was released on June 26 to little fanfare, as well as a third installment of Trapped in the Closet and The S
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2011· 9 entries
Kelly made a live appearance on The X Factor and gave his first performance after the surgery
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Released album “Shut Up”.
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After Sony's RCA Music Group announced the consolidation of Jive, Arista and J Records into RCA Records, Kelly was set to release music under the RCA brand
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Variety confirmed that Kelly had signed on to write original music for the Sparkle soundtrack
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Kelly was admitted to the Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago to undergo emergency throat surgery to drain an abscess on one of his tonsils, and was released on July 21, 2011
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Performed at a charity event in Chicago benefiting Clara's House, a facility designed to build employment, housing, health care, and education in the projects of Chicago
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Kelly was named the most successful R&B artist of the last 25 years by Billboard
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Released album “The World's Greatest”.
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Kelly worked with writer David Ritz on an autobiography entitled Soulacoaster: The Diary of Me, which was later released in the summer of 2012
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2010· 6 entries
Included 15 songs, one of which was Kelly singing "You Are Not Alone", a track Kelly originally wrote for Michael Jackson
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Released album “Love Letter”.
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Released album “I Believe I Can Fly: The Best of R.Kelly”.
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Released album “Epic”.
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Released album “Essential Mixes”.
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Penned the song "Sign of a Victory" for the FIFA World Cup, with all proceeds benefiting African charities
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2009· 1 entry
Released album “Untitled”.
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2008· 2 entries
Kelly released a rap track titled "I'm a Beast" in which he coarsely attacked his detractors, yet did not name the subjects of the song
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Before and after being acquitted on charges of producing child sexual abuse material, Billboard reported that Kelly had plans to release his newest album titled 12 Play: Fourth Quarter in the summer of that year but the
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2007· 2 entries
Released album “Double Up”.
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Released album “Live - The Light It Up Tour”.
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2005· 6 entries
Released album “Remix City, Volume 1”.
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Released album “Trapped in the Closet”.
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Released album “TP.3 Reloaded”.
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Andrea filed a restraining order against Kelly in September 2005 after a physical altercation, ultimately filing for divorce in 2006.
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Released album “My Diary”.
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A Chicago man was charged for attempting to extort Richards' husband, Gary Sheffield, by allegedly threatening to release a sex tape of Richards with an ex-boyfriend, reportedly Kelly
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2004· 3 entries
Released album “Unfinished Business”.
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Released album “Happy People / U Saved Me”.
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“experienced a lot of things at a very young age that I don’t know if I was supposed to,”
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2003· 3 entries
Released album “The R. in R&B: Greatest Hits Collection, Volume 1”.
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Kelly released Chocolate Factory, which debuted as the number-one album on the Billboard 200
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Released album “Chocolate Factory”.
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2002· 8 entries
Released album “The Best of Both Worlds”.
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The Best of Both Worlds sold 285,000 copies in its opening week and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200
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Roc-A-Fella and Jive moved the release date one week earlier in an effort to curtail piracy
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Kelly performed at the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics, a week after a news scandal broke of a sex tape that appeared to show Kelly with an underage girl
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At a press conference announcing the completion of Kelly and Jay-Z's first collaborative album, The Best of Both Worlds, celebrities such as Johnnie Cochran, Russell Simmons, Luther Vandross, and Sean Combs praised the a
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Leading to a controversial trial that ended with his acquittal in 2008 on all charges
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Released album “Love Land”.
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Released album “The Hits & Unreleased, Volume 1”.
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2001· 1 entry
Kelly won the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Music of Black Origin or MOBO Awards and Billboard magazine ranked TP-2
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2000· 2 entries
Released his fifth studio album, TP-2
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Released album “TP‐2.com”.
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1998· 7 entries
Kelly released his fourth studio and first double album, R
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Released album “R.”.
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Awarded Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for I Believe I Can Fly (1998).
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Awarded Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for I Believe I Can Fly (1998).
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Awarded Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media for I Believe I Can Fly (1998).
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Launched his own label, Rockland Records, in a distribution deal with Jimmy Iovine's Interscope Records
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Won three Grammy Awards for "I Believe I Can Fly"
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1997· 2 entries
Nunyo Demasio stated "With a voice that easily shifts from booming baritone to seductive alto, Kelly has gained international celebrity by combining streetwise rhythms with sexually explicit lyrics
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Kelly signed a contract to play professional basketball with the Atlantic City Seagulls of the USBL
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1996· 3 entries
Kelly released "I Believe I Can Fly", an inspirational song originally released on the soundtrack for the film Space Jam
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Kelly married Andrea Kelly (née Lee), his former backup dancer and mother of his three children, the aforementioned JoAnn, as well as Jaah (b
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When Tiffany Hawkins alleged that, starting in 1991 when she was age 15, Kelly, aged 24, had sexual relations with her and encouraged her to entice underaged friends
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1995· 4 entries
Released album “R. Kelly”.
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Released ep “The 4 Play EP”.
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Released ep “the 4 play ep part 2”.
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Kelly garnered his first Grammy nominations; two for writing, producing, and composing Michael Jackson's last number-one hit, "You Are Not Alone"
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1994· 2 entries
12 Play was certified Gold by the RIAA, eventually going six times platinum
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Kelly established himself as a leading producer by producing songs for various artists, including Aaliyah, Janet Jackson, and Changing Faces
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1993· 3 entries
Released album “12 Play”.
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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
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Kelly's mother, Joanne, died from cancer in 1993.
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1992· 2 entries
Released ep “Most Requested Hits”.
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Released album “Born Into the ’90s”.
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1991· 1 entry
Kelly signed with Jive Records
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1990· 1 entry
MGM were offered a contract with an independent label, Tavdash Records
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1989· 1 entry
With Robert Kelly, Marc McWilliams, Vincent Walker and Shawn Brooks
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1967· 2 entries
Born 1967-01-08.
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At Chicago Lying-In Hospital (now University of Chicago Medical Center) in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood
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