R Kelly is one of the most successful American R&B singers in America with more than 75 million albums sold. He is also a record producer, actor, and former semi-professional basketball player.
Best known in the 90s for his distinctive voice and extensive range of musical genres, he wrote, produced, and remixed various songs which topped charts, meriting him the nickname “King of R&B.”
Kelly has been musically inclined at a young age and was encouraged to pursue a music career by his high school music teacher. This led the teenager to form his own group with some of his friends, performing in the streets and joining TV talent shows, which the group won and provided funds for him to finally launch his anticipated music career as a solo artist.
Despite his success in the last two decades, Kelly has become a controversial figure in pop culture. He’s been involved in multiple legal issues such as sex crimes, child pornography and kidnapping, and forced labor.
If you want to know more about this pop-cultural figure, then keep reading as we’ll talk about his personal life, career, and net worth.
Personal Details
Celebrity Name: R Kelly
Full Name: Robert Sylvester Kelly
Gender: Male
Birthday: January 8, 1967
Place of Origin: Chicago, Illinois
Age: 53
Height: 6’1” ft
Weight: 91 Kg
Nationality: American
Sexual Orientation: Straight
Status: Single
Wife: Aaliyah (1994-1995), Andrea Lee (1996-2009)
Profession: Songwriter, Producer, Singer
Total Net Worth: $1 million
Childhood and Early Life
Robert Sylvester Kelly or more commonly known as R Kelly was born on the 8th of January 1967, in Chicago Illinois. He was one of three children to Joanne Kelly, a single mother who worked as a professional singer while also serving as a lead choir in their local church.
During his early life, Kelly and his family struggled to make ends meet which made it a difficult time in his life. He confessed back in 2012 that he experienced being sexually assaulted by a woman during his childhood. When he was 11 years old, R Kelly has also experienced being shot in the shoulder when he was going home.
He had his studies in “Kenwood Academy” in Chicago where he went on to play basketball due to his athletic ability. During his time here, he eventually started to be more interested in music when his music teacher advised him to leave his sports career to focus on making music.
Kelly eventually had to drop out of high school as his grades weren’t able to improve due to a learning disability which made it hard for him to read and write.
Personal Life
Kelly had an illegal marriage with Aaliyah back in 1994 when she was still 15 years old during that time. This sparked various controversy until Aaliyah’s parents forced them to break up the following year.
By 1996, he and his former wife, Adrea Lee, were married and had children named Jaya, Joann, and Robert Kelly Jr. Although they were able to continue their marriage for more than a decade, they eventually broke up in 2009.
The rapper is also currently having several legal issues due to the sexual assault allegations that he’s been accused of.
Career as a Rapper
Kelly started to gain popularity during 1989 where he joined the TV show “Big Break” and won a $100,000 grand prize. He then created the group “MGM” along with Marc Williams, Vincent Walker, and Shawn Brooks. Although their group didn’t last that long, they were able to release a single in 1990 called “Why You Wanna Play Me”.
In 1992, he was able to release his first debut album “Born into the ‘90s” which eventually became certified platinum. The following year, his first solo album “12 Play”, which had the song “Bump N’ Grind” was able to stay on the “Billboard Hot R&B Singles” chart.
Kelly then went on to release more hit R&B Albums like his 1998 commercially successful “R” which was able to win many awards and nominations. “Chocolate Factory” was debuted in 2003 which became an international success and was filled with positive reviews.
By 2005, he released “TP.3 Reloaded” which had multiple songs that we’re able to stay in the “Billboard 200” for a couple of weeks. His next album, which was called “Double Up”, was filled with multiple collaborations with rappers like Swizz Beats, Snoop Dogg, and T-Pain. The album has contained the song “I’m a Flirt Remix” which managed to peak at the “Hot Rap Tracks Chart”.
The album that Kelly released in 2010, “Love Letter”, also became a big hit and got quite popular due to the sexually explicit themes that it contained. The album mostly talked about love and forgiveness.
Awards and Achievements
With the major success that Kelly has managed to get in his career, he was able to get more than a hundred awards and nominations to his belt. He was able to get over 3 Grammy Awards and his songs were able to win several Billboard Awards in R&B categories.
R Kelly Total Net Worth
The rapper managed to have a total net worth of over $150 million with the success that his albums have given him. Though due to the various legal issues that he’s face and the spending habits that he’s had. R Kelly has told the public that he has gone broke with only a net worth of $1 million.
Legal Troubles
Although R Kelly was able to have a successful career in music, his life eventually became highly controversial due to the legal issues that he had. Aside from the illegal marriage that Kelly had from his first wife, there were also videos of him engaging in sexual acts to minors during 2002.
In 2017 he was also accused of abusing a number of women and forcing them to stay in an abusive cult to force them to do sexual acts. By 2019, he had a total of 18 federal counts causing him to be indicted into a correctional facility in Chicago.
