R. KellyBackground InformationBirth Name: Robert Sylvester KellyAlias Name(s): Kel
lz
,The Pied Piper of R&BBorn: January 8 1967 (1967--) (age 40)Origin: Chicago, Illinois, United StatesReligion: BaptistGenre(s): R&B/Hip-HopOccupation(s): Singer, songwriter, record producerYears Active: 1991–presentLabel(s): Jive RecordsOfficial Website: http://www.R-Kelly.comson of Joann (a schoolteacher); married Aaliyah (a singer), 1994 (annulled); married Andrea Lee (a dancer), 1996; children: Joanne, Jaya, and one son.Recording and performing artist, 1989-; MGM (R&B group), founder, late 1980s; music producer, 1990-; Atlantic City Seagulls, professional basketball player, 1997.

Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Steve Huey Urban R&B producer/vocalist/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter R. Kelly and his supporting band Public Announcement began recording in 1992 at the tail end of the new jack swing era, yet he was able to keep much of its sound alive while remaining commercially successful. While he created a smooth, professional mixture of hip-hop beats, soul-man crooning, and funk, the most distinctive element of Kelly's music is its explicit carnality. He was able to make songs like "Sex Me," "Bump n' Grind," "Your Body's Callin'," and "Feelin' on Yo Booty" into hits because his production was seductive enough to sell such blatant come-ons. As his crossover success broadened, Kelly also developed a flair for pop balladry that helped cement his status as one of the biggest-selling male artists of the '90s.

In the wake of "Fiesta," Kelly and Jay-Z teamed up to record an entire album together. The Best of Both Worlds was heavily hyped and even more heavily bootlegged, but problems of a much more serious nature arose in February 2002, when the Chicago Sun-Times reported that it had been given a videotape showing Kelly having sex with a 14-year-old girl. When the scandal broke, other reports surfaced that Kelly had settled a civil suit in 1998 involving a sexual relationship with a then-underage girl, and that he was in the process of settling another suit brought by an Epic Records intern making similar allegations. Copies of the tape in question were sold as bootlegs and on the Internet, and while there was some question as to whether the man was really Kelly, and whether the girl really was underage, Kelly's past history seemed to lend credence to the charge. Some radio stations dropped him from their play lists, and anti-Kelly protests were staged in Chicago. Meanwhile, The Best of Both Worlds entered the charts at number two, but sold disappointingly; some blamed the scandal, others the extensive pre-release bootlegging, although the generally unfavorable reviews suggested that the record's overall quality might also have been to blame.