In February 2002, the Chicago Sun-Times said it had received a videotape of R. Kelly, 26 minutes and 39 seconds long, that allegedly showed him having sex with a minor. That same day he performed at the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. It is a fair picture of a career that kept running a few steps ahead of its own accusations, until it could not.
From the L tracks to a million sellers
Robert Sylvester Kelly was born in Chicago on January 8, 1967, the third of four children, and grew up in the city’s housing projects. He was singing in church at eight. His mother put a nickel on a record player needle to slow Stevie Wonder down so he could learn the runs. At Kenwood Academy a music teacher, Lena McLin, put him into a talent show to sing “Ribbon in the Sky,” and he later told Newsweek the night felt like being bitten by Spider-Man.
After that he played Chicago’s subway stations full time with a Casio keyboard. His group MGM won the $100,000 grand prize on the talent show “Big Break” in 1990, and a Jive Records executive found him singing at a barbecue that summer. His first album with Public Announcement, “Born Into The ’90s,” arrived in 1992. The solo debut “12 Play” followed in November 1993 and eventually sold more than 5 million copies. One of its singles, “Bump N’ Grind,” became the longest-running No. 1 R&B song in more than 30 years.
He wrote and produced for others, too. He produced Aaliyah’s debut album, “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number,” and Michael Jackson’s “You Are Not Alone,” and he made songs for Whitney Houston, Quincy Jones, Toni Braxton and Janet Jackson. In 1998 he won three Grammys for “I Believe I Can Fly,” including best R&B song. Billboard later named him the most successful R&B artist of the 25 years from 1985 to 2010.
Allegations that would not go away
The trouble began early. On August 31, 1994, Kelly, then 27, married 15-year-old Aaliyah in a secret ceremony at a Chicago hotel. The marriage was annulled months later because of her age. In 1997 Tiffany Hawkins filed a complaint alleging sexual battery and harassment while she was a minor, and the suit was reportedly settled for $250,000 the next year.
A June 2002 indictment in Chicago listed 21 counts of child pornography. Kelly pleaded not guilty and was released on $750,000 bail. The trial took until May 2008 to start. On June 13, 2008, jurors acquitted him on all counts after less than a full day of deliberation.
He kept releasing records, and kept topping charts. Then in July 2017 BuzzFeed reported parents’ claims that he held their daughters in an abusive “cult,” and activists started the #MuteRKelly movement. Spotify pulled his music from its playlists in May 2018. In January 2019 Lifetime aired “Surviving R. Kelly,” which revisited old allegations and brought new ones.
Convictions and prison
In September 2021 a Brooklyn jury found him guilty of nine counts of sex trafficking and racketeering. On June 29, 2022, Judge Ann M. Donnelly sentenced him to 30 years. “These crimes were calculated and carefully planned and regularly executed for almost 25 years,” she told him. Prosecutors had written that his conduct was fueled by “a belief that his musical talent absolved him of any need to conform his conduct,” The Fader reported.
A second federal case followed in Chicago. Jurors convicted him in September 2022 on three counts of producing child pornography and three counts of enticing a minor. On February 2, 2023, he was given 20 years. Under the ruling he serves 19 years alongside the New York term, plus one additional year, according to ABC7 Chicago. His lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, called the outcome fair and said she planned to appeal both convictions. Kelly declined to speak at the hearing.
Sources
- Timeline Of R. Kelly's Life And Career – CBS New York
- R. Kelly sentenced to 30 years in Brooklyn racketeering and sex trafficking case | The FADER
- R. Kelly sentenced to 20 years in prison in Chicago federal sex crimes case – ABC7 Chicago
