by bluephin

Created on: May 27, 2008

Hit singles including "Bump N' Grind", "I Believe I Can Fly", "Ignition" and "Trapped in the Closet" are known to have come from R&B artist Robert Sylvester Kelly. More popularly known as R. Kelly, this American R&B and pop singer is also a known songwriter, producer and occasional rapper. Born on January 8, 1967, R. Kelly debut in the music industry via the group Public Announcement. In 1993, he left the group in a quest to make it big solo and released his first solo album entitled "12 Play".

Predicted to be a star and will perform with the likes of Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, R. Kelly displayed musical prowess as early as his childhood. Street corners and bus stations were his first concert stage performing with friend Marc McWilliams. Together, they eventually formed the group MGM (which they later renamed as Public Announcement).

Apart from making it big when he decided to go solo, he also produced for young female singers like Aaliyah and the duo Changing Faces and singles for known artists like Janet Jackson ("Any Time, Any Place", 1994) and Michael Jackson ("You Are Not Alone", 1995). His second album "R. Kelly" experienced the same success that his first solo album did.

Space Jam soundtrack "I Believe I Can Fly" was among R. Kelly's most successful singles. It reached No. 2 in the Billboard Hot 100 and made it No. 1 on the UK pop charts. The single gave R. Kelly worldwide recognition and has become his "signature song". Following its success, R. Kelly released a double album simply title "R". "R" has become his biggest-selling album to date and yielded popular singles such as "I'm your Angel" and "When a Woman's Fed Up".

In 2002, he released the album TP-2 from where hit singles 'I Wish' and remix to 'Fiesta' came from. His supposed-to-be next album "Loveland" has t take he backseat for a while and "Chocolate Factory" was released first. It became a runaway success and boasts o the singles "Ignition", "Snake" and "Step In the Name of Love". His next album "TP-3: Reloaded" did not make a hit. In May 2007 he released his album entitled "Double Up" where the hit single "I'm a Flirt (Remix)" came from. Also from the same album is the single "Rise Up" which is a tribute to the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre.

According to RIAA, R. Kelly is among the top 40 best selling artists in history holding record sales of over 33 million albums in the United States alone.

Despite his success in the music arena, R. Kelly's life was swarmed with legal cases, law suits and controversies. His alleged illegal marriage to then fifteen year old Aaliyah, sex suits filed against him by underage girls, were just to name a few of them. R. Kelly also faced lawsuits from former employee Henry Vaughn for cases of assault, false imprisonment and breach of contract.

To date, R. Kelly is facing trial for 14 counts of child pornography charges which he pleaded not guilty to.

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