by Can Tran

Created on: May 26, 2008

The American R&B singer known as R. Kelly was born as Robert Sylvester Kelly on January 5, 1961 in Chicago, Illinois. Currently, R. Kelly is 41 years old. Asides being known as R. Kelly, Robert Sylvester Kelly has been known as Kells, the Pied Piper of R&B, and The King of R&B.

His current record label is known as Jive. Asides being an R&B singer; R. Kelly is known as a songwriter and a record producer. Like many R&B singers, R. Kelly has turned to the path of record producing. Depending on what genre you sing in and how early, you only have a few good years left in you.

R. Kelly was very young upon getting into music. It seemed that his music teacher was right about him. His music teacher said that he would become a star. R. Kelly did indeed become a star.

He was raised in the Southside projects of Chicago. He has two bothers and a sister. His mother had attempted suicide. However, Kelly told the reporters that his mother was shot by a mugger. He tried to cover up his mother's attempted suicide. She died of cancer in 1993, the same year that Kelly started to go solo after splitting from Public Announcement.

He attended Kenwood Academy High School in Chicago, Illinois. Then, he would drop out of school. Asides from music, Kelly would also turn to basketball as an escape.

Soon, he and his friend Marc McWilliams would form the group known as MGM and then change it to Public Announcement. The group signed with Jive Records in 1991. With Kelly, the group scored many hits and went platinum. R. Kelly was the core of the group's foundation.

Then, Kelly would leave the group to go solo. While Kelly became a successful solo artist, Public Announcement's success started to drop. To this very day, none of their songs have been as successful as the songs they released when Kelly was still around. Currently, the group is with the label of Universal Records.

This could be attributed to the group being dubbed as "R. Kelly and Public Announcement. Instead of the group being one unit, Kelly was the main singer and the others were backups. It is highly likely that the group's success descended after Kelly had left.

His solo career skyrocketed. In 1993, Kelly's debut album as a solo artist called "12 Play" was released. Then, he would be working with artists such as Aaliyah, Janet Jackson, and Michael Jackson.

In 1994, Kelly and Aaliyah were "married." But, nothing is in concrete in that regard. It is reported that Aaliyah lied about her age in which the marriage between the two had

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