Geshu Han (Chinese: 哥舒翰; pinyin: Gēshū Hàn) (died December 1, 757^[1]), formally Prince Wumin of Xiping (西平武愍王), was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty of Tuqishi (突騎施, subordinate tribe of Tujue (Göktürks)) extraction. He became a powerful general late in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong and in 756 became responsible for defending Tong Pass against the rebel forces of An Lushan. After being forced by the chancellor Yang Guozhong to engage An's forces, he was defeated and subsequently kidnapped by his own subordinate Huoba Guiren (火拔歸仁) to An's camp. An tried to use him to get his subordinate generals Li Guangbi, Lai Tian (來瑱), and Lu Gui (魯炅) to surrender as well, but when those generals refused to do so, put him under house arrest in Luoyang, the capital of An's newly established state of Yan. In 757, after An's son and successor An Qingxu was defeated by Tang forces and forced to abandon Luoyang, An Qingxu executed Geshu and some 30 other captive Tang generals.

Background[link]

It is not known when Geshu Han was born. His ancestors were Geshu tribal chiefs, of Tuqishi extraction. His grandfather Geshu Ju (哥舒沮) served as an officer in the Tang army, and his father Geshu Daoyuan (哥舒道元) served as the deputy to the Protectorate General to Pacify the West, and thus lived in Anxi Circuit (安西, headquartered in modern Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang). Geshu Han's household was said to be rich, and he used the wealth to further what he saw were just causes, and he also drank heavily. When he was 39, his father died, and he spent three years in the Tang capital Chang'an. On one occasion, he was disrespected by the sheriff of Chang'an County, and he took this disrespect as a reason to serve in the military.

Military service[link]

Geshu Han first served under Wang Chui (王倕), the military governor (jiedushi) of Hexi Circuit (河西, headquartered in modern Wuwei, Gansu). He later served under Wang Chui's successor Wang Zhongsi, and, on one expedition that he commanded, an officer of the same rank was his deputy, but, because they were of the same rank, refused to follow Geshu's orders. Geshu had him executed by hammering, and this shocked the other officers into submission. He later distinguished himself in defending against multiple Tufan attacks.

In 747, Geshu was promoted to be a general, as well as deputy military governor of Longyou Circuit (隴右, headquartered in modern Haidong Prefecture, Qinghai), which Wang Zhongsi governed at the time as well. At that time, Tufan forces were accustomed to pillage the Tang farms around Jishi Base (積石軍, in modern Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai) every year at harvest time, to seize the wheat grown in the area -- so much so that the people of the region jokingly referred to their region as "Tufan Farms." Geshu, after he took office, had his subordinates Wang Nande (王難得) and Yang Jinghui (楊景暉) hide with their troops, and then confronted the Tufan troops on their next raid. After he engaged them, Wang and Yang cut off the escape, and the Tufan forces were wiped out; this ended the periodic raids on the region.

Later that year, Wang Zhongsi was accused of hindering an attack against Tufan by the general Dong Yanguang (董延光), summoned to Chang'an, and put under interrogation. Geshu, who was then made the acting military governor of Longyou and acting governor of Xiping Commandery (西平, roughly modern Haidong Prefecture), was also summoned to Chang'an to meet Emperor Xuanzong, who was impressed by his achievements. Geshu's subordinates suggested that he bring much treasure to bribe the central government officials to try to save Wang. Geshu responded:

If there is still justice in the world, Lord Wang will not die. If there is no justice, what can money get us?

Geshu subsequently met with Emperor Xuanzong and begged for forgiveness for Wang, offering to give up his own offices and titles to save Wang from death. Emperor Xuanzong initially became irritated and refused to talk with him further, but Geshu kneeled, hit the ground with his head, and cried bitterly. Emperor Xuanzong relented and spared Wang, but demoted him to be the governor of Hanyang Commandery (漢陽, in modern Wuhan, Hubei). Geshu's intercession for Wang, at much risk to himself, was praised by others of righteousness.

In 748, Geshu built Shenwei Base (神威軍) upon Qinghai Lake, and Yinglong Castle (應龍城) on an island in the lake itself, as defensive posts against Tufan. When Tufan attacked those outposts, he defeated them, and it was said that thereafter Tufan forces did not dare to come close to Qinghai Lake. In 749, he also recaptured Shibao Castle (石堡城, in modern Xining, Qinghai), which Wang had refused to attack earlier, leading to Dong's campaign. However, Yinglong Castle fell to Tufan after the Qinghai Lake froze, allowing Tufan forces to attack it over the ice.

In 752, Geshu began to become part of the central government intrigue, in the power struggle between the chancellor Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong, the second cousin of Emperor Xuanzong's favorite concubine Consort Yang Yuhuan, as both he and the chancellor Chen Xilie corroborated accusations that Li Linfu had friendly relations with Li Xianzhong (李獻忠), an ethnically Tujue general who was forced into rebellion earlier that year. This facilitated Yang Guozhong's aggrandizement of power and the reduction of Li Linfu's influence.

Later that year, when Emperor Xuanzong, seeing that Geshu had poor relations with An Lushan, then the military governor of Fanyang Circuit (范陽, headquartered in modern Beijing) and An Sishun (whose uncle was An Lushan's stepfather), then the military governor of Shuofang Circuit (朔方, headquartered in modern Yinchuan, Ningxia), and wanted to improve relations between these three key border troop commanders, he summoned all three to the capital and had the powerful eunuch Gao Lishi host a feast for the three of them, trying to get them to resolve their unpleasantries. However, instead, at the feast, Geshu and An Lushan got into an argument, which only stopped after Gao gazed at Geshu, stopping him from responding to An Lushan's insults.

In 753, Geshu attacked Tufan again, capturing Hongji (洪濟) and Damommen (大漠門) (both in modern Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture) and seizing back the nine bends of the Yellow River. He was created the Duke of Liang. Meanwhile, Li Linfu had died, and Yang Guozhong had taken power as chancellor, and soon began to develop a rivalry with An Lushan. He knew that Geshu and An had poor relations, and therefore tried to ingratiate himself with Geshu to build an alliance. At his suggestion, Geshu was given the command of Hexi as well, and was created the Prince of Xiping. In 754, at Geshu's suggestion, two commanderies, Taoyang (洮陽) and Jiaohe (澆河), as well as a military base, were established over the recaptured region. Around that time, however, Geshu, while bathing, suffered a stroke. He therefore left his command and returned to Chang'an to recuperate.

In 755, An Lushan, after Yang Guozhong repeatedly provoked him, rebelled, and the generals Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing, after failing to defeat An, were executed. Emperor Xuanzong put Geshu in charge of 200,000 soldiers and had him take up command at Tong Pass, succeeding Gao Xianzhi. In 756, Emperor Xuanzong also gave Geshu the honorary titles of Zuo Pushe (左僕射), one of the heads of the executive bureau of government (尚書省, Shangshu Sheng) and chancellor de facto (同中書門下平章事, Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi).^[2] Once Geshu got to Tong Pass, his subordinates suggested that he make a surprise attack on Chang'an and kill Yang Guozhong, seeing Yang Guozhong as the cause of An's rebellion -- which Geshu rejected, stating, "If that happens, it is Geshu Han who is a rebel, not An Lushan." However, the news was leaked to Yang Guozhong, who, in apprehension, gave his associate Du Qianyun (杜乾運) a separate command, nominally under Geshu. Geshu, now suspicious of Yang Guozhong's intentions, took an opportunity where he summoned Du to Tong Pass to discuss military affairs to execute Du, increasing the tension with Yang Guozhong. Meanwhile, Geshu was still inimical to An Sishun. Geshu forged a letter from An Lushan to An Sishun, and then had the messenger captured at a pass. He presented the letter to Emperor Xuanzong, along with a petition accusing An Sishun of seven crimes. As a result, An Sishun and An Yuanzhen were executed, and their families were exiled to the Lingnan region, despite Yang Guozhong's attempt to intercede on An Sishun's behalf.

Soon thereafter, intelligence reports indicated that An's forward commander Cui Qianyou (崔乾祐) had weak forces outside the Tong Pass, and Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guozhong became convinced that it was the time to counterattack to recapture the eastern capital Luoyang -- despite repeated petitions by Geshu that it was inadvisable, agreed with by Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, who were then attacking An's holdings north of the Yellow River and believed that the proper strategy was for Geshu to hold Tong Pass and for them to destroy An's power base first. Yang Guozhong, in particular, was concerned that Geshu was intending to attack him instead, and therefore had Emperor Xuanzong issue repeated edicts ordering Geshu to engage Cui. Geshu was forced to do so, and once he engaged Cui's troops, he fell into a trap Cui set, and most of the Tang army was wiped out. Geshu was only able to gather 8,000 soldiers to return to Tong Pass. He prepared to defend it anyway, but his subordinate Huoba Guiren, believing the situation to be hopeless, tried to convince him to surrender to Cui, pointing out that he was putting himself in the same position as Gao Xianzhi. Despite Geshu's protestations that he would rather be like Gao than to surrender, Huoba bound him to a horse and then took him to surrender to Cui.

After capture by An Lushan[link]

Cui Qianyou delivered Geshu Han and Huoba Guiren to Luoyang, which An Lushan had made the capital of his new state of Yan after claiming imperial title. An executed Huoba for his treacherousness, and asked Geshu how he felt now, after having slighted An for years. Geshu responded that he simply did not see An's greatness at that time, and offered to write letters to Li Guangbi, Lai Tian, and Lu Gui, to ask them to surrender to An.^[3] An was pleased, and gave Geshu the titles of Sikong (司空, one of the Three Excellencies) and Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi. Soon, however, those subordinates Geshu wrote to wrote back, rebuking him for his failure to die for Tang. An realized that Geshu was of no use to him, and put him under arrest.

In spring 757, An Lushan was assassinated by his son An Qingxu, who took the throne subsequently. Geshu remained under arrest. In winter 757, when Tang forces under Li Chu the Prince of Guangping and allied Huige forces were arriving at Luoyang, An Qingxu decided to abandon Luoyang, and, as he did so, executed Geshu, Cheng Qianli (程千里), and 30 some other captured Tang generals. Geshu's son Geshu Yao (哥舒曜) was then a Tang general, and possibly because of this, Emperor Xuanzong's son and successor Emperor Suzong posthumously honored Geshu Han despite his having submitted to An Lushan, and gave him the posthumous name of Wumin (literally, "martial and suffering").

Notes[link]

1. ^ 兩千年中西曆轉換
2. ^ However, because Geshu's titles appeared to be honorary, and he did not exercise actual chancellor powers, he was not considered by traditional historians to be among the rolls of Tang chancellors. See New Book of Tang, vol. 62.
3. ^ This list was per Geshu's biographies in the Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang. The Zizhi Tongjian gave a somewhat different list, listing Li Zhi (李祇) instead of Lai Tian. Compare Book of Tang, vol. 104 and New Book of Tang, vol. 135 with Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 218.

References[link]

• Book of Tang, vol. 104.
• New Book of Tang, vol. 135.
• Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 215, 216, 217, 218, 220.

R. Kelly
R. Kelly performs at the Light it Up Tour in 2006.
Background information
Birth name	Robert Sylvester Kelly
Born	(1967-01-08) January 8, 1967 (age 45) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres	R&B, hip hop, gospel
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, record producer, Musician, Rapper, Actor
Instruments	Vocals, piano, keyboard, guitar
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Jive, RCA
Associated acts	Public Announcement, Ronald Isley, Jay-Z, Fat Joe, Aaliyah, Usher, Snoop Dogg
Website	r-kelly.com

Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967), better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. Often referred to as the King of R&B, Kelly is recognized as one of the most successful R&B artists of all-time. A native of Chicago, Kelly began performing during the late 1980s and debuted in 1992 with the group Public Announcement. In 1993, Kelly went solo with the album 12 Play. He is known for a collection of major hit singles including "Bump n' Grind", "Your Body's Callin'", "I Believe I Can Fly", "Gotham City", "Ignition (Remix)", "If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time", "The World's Greatest", "I'm a Flirt", and the hip-hopera "Trapped in the Closet". In 1998, Kelly won three Grammy Awards for "I Believe I Can Fly".

Kelly has written, produced, and remixed songs for many artists including The Winans, The Isley Brothers, Charlie Wilson, Quincy Jones, K-Ci & JoJo, Aaliyah, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton, Michael Jackson, Hi-Five, Nivea, Ciara, Mary J. Blige, Luther Vandross, Gerald LeVert, Raheem DeVaughn, Ruben Studdard, Jaheim, Kelly Price, Tamia, Maxwell, Celine Dion, Britney Spears, Usher, B2K, Twista, Tyrese, Jennifer Lopez, Trey Songz, and others in the U.S. and abroad.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), has recognized R. Kelly as one of the best-selling music artists in the United States with 33.5 million albums sold as well as only the fifth Black artist to crack the top 50 of the same list.^[1] In March 2011, R. Kelly was named the most successful R&B artist of the last 25 years by Billboard.^[2][3][4] Kelly has released 10 studio albums, sold 35 million albums in the U.S., 15 million singles, and over 50 million albums worldwide making him the most successful R&B male artist of 1990s.^[5][6]

Early life[link]

Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, Kelly was the third of four children.^[7] Kelly's single mother, Joan, was a singer and a Baptist. Kelly's father was absent throughout most of Kelly's life.^[8] Kelly began singing in church at age eight.^[7] In Chicago, Kelly's family lived in the projects at 63rd Street before relocating to a small house at 107th and Parnell Streets. Kelly entered Kenwood Academy in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood in the fall of 1980 where he met his music teacher Lena McLin, who encouraged Kelly to perform the Stevie Wonder classic Ribbon in the Sky in a highschool talent show.^[8][9][10]

As a teenager, Kelly began street performing (or busking) under the Chicago 'L' trains before he eventually formed a group with his friend Marc McWilliams. In 1989, Kelly and McWilliams formed the group MGM (Musically Gifted Men). In 1991, Along with Vincent Corey Walker and Shawnth Brooks, Kelly performed on the TV talent show Big Break, hosted by Natalie Cole, and went on to win the $100,000 grand prize.

Recording career[link]

[edit] 1992: Born into the 90's

Credited as R. Kelly and Public Announcement, the debut album Born into the 90's was released in early 1992, during the new jack swing period of the early nineties. The album yielded the R&B hits "She's Got That Vibe", "Honey Love", "Dedicated", and "Slow Dance (Hey Mr. DJ)", all of which were led by Kelly.^[11] During late 1992, Kelly and Public Announcement embarked on a tour called "60653", whose title was the zip code of Kelly's neighborhood.^[7] This would be the only album co-credited with Public Announcement. Kelly separated from the group in January 1993.^[8]

[edit] 1993–94: 12 Play

Kelly's first solo album, 12 Play, was released on November 9, 1993 and yielded the singer's first number-one hit, "Bump N' Grind", which spent a record-breaking 12 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart. Subsequent hit singles: "Your Body's Callin'" (U.S. Hot 100: #13, U.S. R&B: #2) and "Sex Me" (U.S. Hot 100: #20, U.S. R&B: #8). Both singles sold 500,000 copies in the United States and were certified Gold by the RIAA. ^[11] In 1994, 12 Play was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), eventually going six times platinum.^[13]

Following the success of 12 Play, Kelly found himself in huge demand as a writer, producer, and mixer. On June 13, 1994, Kelly's protégé Aaliyah released her debut album titled Age Ain't Nothing But a Number which was entirely written and produced by R. Kelly. The album peaked at number 18 on the Billboard 200 and sold over three million copies in the United States. Age Ain't Nothing But a Number spawned two hit singles: "Back & Forth" (U.S. Hot 100: #5, U.S. R&B: #1); blocked Kelly's "Your Body's Callin' from the top spot and "At Your Best (You Are Love)" (U.S. Hot 100: #6, U.S. R&B: #2). Kelly also wrote and produced the female R&B duo Changing Faces first two hit singles, "Stroke You Up" (U.S. Hot 100: #3, U.S. R&B: #2) and "Foolin' Around" (U.S. R&B: #9). During this time, Kelly also became widely known for his remixes. He remixed his own songs, Bump N' Grind, Sex Me and "Homie Lover Friend", a remix featured on the A Low Down Dirty Shame (soundtrack) along with Aaliyah's song, "The Thing I Like" which was written and produced by Kelly, as well. Kelly remixed songs for other artists including Aaliyah, Barry White and Toni Braxton. He produced the popular remix for Janet Jackson's 1994 hit "Any Time, Any Place" and was featured on Jackson's remix album, Janet Remixed.

[edit] 1995–96: R. Kelly

In 1995, Kelly garnered his first-ever Grammy nominations; two nominations for writing, producing and composing Michael Jackson's last number one hit "You Are Not Alone".^[14] Kelly's success continued with the release of his second studio album, R. Kelly which was released on November 14, 1995 in the United States (see 1995 in music). Critics praised Kelly for his departure from salacious bedroom songs to embracing vulnerability. New York Time's Stephen Holden described Kelly as "The reigning king of pop-soul sex talks a lot tougher than Barry White, the father of such fluffed-up pillow talk and along with Marvin Gaye and Donny Hathaway, a major influence on Kelly." ^[15] In December 1995, Professor Michael Eric Dyson critiqued Kelly's self-titled album for Vibe (magazine). Dyson described Kelly's growth from the 12 Play album: "Kelly reshapes his personal turmoil to artistic benefit" and noted that Kelly is "reborn before our very own ears." ^[16]

The album reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming Kelly's first number one album on the chart, and reached number one on the R&B album charts; his second. R. Kelly spawned three platinum hit singles: "You Remind Me of Something" (U.S. Hot 100: #4, U.S. R&B: #1), "I Can't Sleep (Baby If I)" (U.S. Hot 100: #5, U.S. R&B: #1), and "Down Low (Nobody Has To Know)" (U.S. Hot 100: #4, U.S. R&B: #1); a duet with Ronald Isley. Kelly's self-titled album sold four million copies, thus receiving 4× platinum certification from the RIAA.^[13] Kelly promoted the album with a 50-city "Down Low Top Secret Tour" with LL Cool J, Xscape, and Solo.^[17]

In May 1996, Kelly was featured on the cover of Ebony Man (EM) magazine with the headline proclaiming "R. Kelly The new King of R&B" where he discussed touring, working with Quincy Jones, Toni Braxton, and Janet Jackson ("When I first met them, I could tell they liked my albums. There was always a certain song they named off my album. They said they wanted something like that." Braxton liked "Your Body's Callin'".), as well as his influences Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway ("The way he approached the woman he loved in his songs. He didn't hold back" he says of Hathaway. "He was raw with what he had to say. And Marvin Gaye was the same.") and Michael Jackson's dedication to music ("He's another person that I feel is married to his music. That's why we related so well.")

In 1996, Kelly released one of his most successful singles with "I Believe I Can Fly", an inspirational song originally released on the soundtrack for the film Space Jam. "I Believe I Can Fly" reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 1 on the UK charts for three weeks and won three Grammy Awards in 1998.^[11] Rolling Stone magazine named it as the 406th of its top 500 songs of all time.^[18]

[edit] 1997–99: R.

In 1997, Kelly fulfilled a longtime dream of his and signed a contract to play basketball with the Atlantic City Seagulls of the USBL. Kelly wore the number 12 in honor of his album 12 Play.^[19] Kelly said "I love basketball enough to not totally let go of my music, but just put it to the side for a minute, and fulfill some dreams of mine that I've had for a long time." Kelly's USBL contract contained a clause that would allow him to fulfill a music obligation when necessary. "If Whitney Houston needs a song written", Gross said, "he would be able to leave the team to do that and come back". "It wasn't a gimmick," said Ken Gross, the Seagulls owner who signed Kelly. "He's a ballplayer. He can play."^[20] Kelly is the first music artist to play professional basketball.^[21]

In 1998, Kelly released R., his fourth studio album and first double album. The album spans different genres from radio pop (Celine Dion), street rap (Nas and Jay-Z) to Blues ("Suicide"). It was released in the United States on November 17, 1998 (see 1998 in music). Dave Hoekstra of the Los Angeles Times described the album as "easily the most ambitious project of his career."^[22] R. is the first album that Kelly allowed other record producers to contribute on his album, as opposed to producing the entire album himself, and his first time collaborating with various artists on his album. The album remains Kelly's biggest selling album to date having sold 8 million copies in the United States and 4 million copies internationally.

R. reached number one on the R&B albums chart, becoming Kelly's third number one album to do so, and entered at number two on the Billboard 200 chart. It spawned Kelly's second number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, "I'm Your Angel", a duet with Celine Dion and notable classics such as "When A Woman's Fed Up" (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop: #5) and "If I Could Turn Back The Hands of Time" (Hot 100: #12, UK: #2).^[23][24][25] The album also contains Kelly's international hit, "I Believe I Can Fly", which had been released two years prior on the Space Jam soundtrack.

In 1998, Kelly wrote and produced the debut album of his protégé Sparkle, which was released under his Rockland label and distributed through Interscope. In 2000,Sparkle went Gold due to the success of the first single, "Be Careful", a duet featuring R. Kelly.^[26] Since the success of Space Jam's "I Believe I Can Fly", Kelly gained notoriety for penning songs to popular soundtracks such as Batman & Robin ("Gotham City") and Life ("Fortunate"). In 1999, Kelly wrote and produced, along with contribution from Wyclef Jean, the majority of the soundtrack to the Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence film Life. Kelly composed ten songs on the soundtrack, while Jean composed five.

[edit] 2000: TP-2.com

As the year 2000 commenced, Kelly racked up a slew of new awards reflecting his status as an established R&B superstar. In January 2000, Kelly had won Favorite Male Soul/R&B Artist at the American Music Awards, and in February, was nominated for several Grammy Awards, including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ("When A Woman's Fed Up"), Best R&B Album (R.), and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group ("Satisfy You") with P. Diddy.^[27]

On November 7, 2000, Kelly released his fifth studio album TP-2.com, an album harking back to his breakthrough album, 12 Play. Unlike Kelly's previous effort, R., all songs on TP-2.com was written, arranged, and produced entirely by Kelly. Allmusic's Jason Birchmeier rated TP-2.com with 4 stars and described Kelly's style: "Kelly knows how to take proven formulas and funnel them through his own stylistic aesthetic, which usually means slowing down the tempo, laying on lush choruses of strings and background vocals, taming down the lyrics for radio, and catering his pitch primarily to wistful women.^[28]

The album was Kelly's second album to peak at #1 on the Billboard 200 and the fourth to top the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts.^[29] TP-2.com yielded the hits "I Wish (R. Kelly song)" (U.S. Hot 100: #14, U.S. R&B: #1), "Feelin' On Yo Booty" (U.S. R&B: #9), and the remix to "Fiesta (R. Kelly song)" (U.S. Hot 100: #6, U.S. R&B: #1), which featured Jay-Z.^[30][31][32]

In 2001, Kelly won the Outstanding Achievement Award at the MOBO Awards and Billboard magazine ranked TP-2.com at number 94 on the magazine's Top 200 Albums of the Decade.^[33][34]

[edit] 2001–02: Loveland and Best of Both Worlds

"The World's Greatest", from the Ali soundtrack, was a hit, and Kelly performed at the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics.^[35]

In 2001, Kelly began discussing the possibility of a joint album with Jay-Z after the positive reception of Jay-Z's "Guilty Until Proven Innocent", which featured Kelly and the remix to "Fiesta (R. Kelly song)" which featured Jay-Z. In December 2001 at the Billboard Music Awards, Kelly confirmed the album's existence and announced the title of the album,Best of Both Worlds. During this time, Kelly began working on the follow-up to his fifth studio album TP-2.com, titled Loveland.

On January 24, 2002, at the press conference announcing the Best of Both Worlds completion, celebrities such as Johnnie Cochran, Russell Simmons, Ronald Isley and Sean Combs lined up to praise the album, with Jay-Z stating that he hoped the collaboration represents "more unity for black people on a whole."^[36] Black Electorate described the collaboration as "one of the greatest power moves in Black music history."^[37] MTV's Shaheem Reid wrote: "And if Jay and Kelly can put their egos to the side long enough to wrap up and promote their album, then their labels — Def Jam and Jive, respectively — can surely figure out a way to join forces and make cheddar together. As determined by a coin toss, the album will be distributed on Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam in the U.S. and Canada, while Jive will handle distribution internationally."^[36]

When the joint album leaked on February 22, 2002 it caused the label, Roc-A-Fella, to push the album's release date up from the initial date, March 26, to March 19.^[38][39] Jay-Z expressed his frustration about the album leak to MTV News: "It's the gift and the curse. It's an honor that everybody wants your music fast, but on the other hand, it's another thing when the music gets out before you [want it to]. Because that's your art. You feel attached to it. You feel a certain way and you want people to go out and support it. The time that you take, it's like a piece of your life. You take parts of your life and you put it on these records and then for it to just be traded and moved around [is frustrating].^[39]

The release date for Best of Both Worlds was eventually moved back to the initial date March 26. The album sold 285,000 copies in its opening week and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart.^[38]

In May 2002, Kelly's initial sixth studio album, Loveland, leaked and was delayed to release in November.^[40] Instead Kelly re-recorded the entire album, titled it Chocolate Factory and featured several of the bootlegged tracks on the bonus Loveland disc.

[edit] 2003: Chocolate Factory

In early 2003, Chocolate Factory became a runaway success for Kelly, selling over three million copies due to the success of singles such as "Ignition". "Snake" and "Step in the Name of Love" were also popular singles. "Snake", incidentally, became the basis of the dancehall reggae riddim known as Baghdad. Later that year Kelly followed that success by releasing his first greatest hits collection The R in R&B Collection Volume 1, the album as well as a DVD collection.

[edit] 2004: Happy People/U Saved Me and Unfinished Business

In 2004, Kelly released the ambitious two-disc set Happy People/U Saved Me, with the first disc including feel-good, stepping-inspired tracks, while focusing on gospel and inspirational material on the second disc. That same year, Kelly performed The Star-Spangled Banner during the introduction of the world championship boxing fight between Bernard Hopkins and Jermain Taylor. His performance, which included a line of dancers doing the "stepping" routine and a prerecorded instrumental track set to the sound of "Happy People", was met with a mixed reaction. In October 2004, Kelly reunited with Jay-Z to do a follow-up to their Best of Both Worlds album shortly after announcing a tour to coincide with the project after the duo performed together during Jay-Z's "farewell" concert at Madison Square Garden a year before. The duo's Unfinished Business album was released and peaked at number one on the Billboard chart.

The Unfinished Business tour was plagued by a rivalry between the two stars and Kelly reportedly showing up late or not at all to gigs. The singer, according to Jay-Z, often complained that the touring lights were not directed towards him and often left during the middle of sets. Another night during the concert, Kelly stayed on his tour bus for two hours before finally coming out to perform an uninspired set. Jay-Z eventually removed R. Kelly halfway through the tour, after a member of Jay-Z's entourage attacked R. Kelly with Mace or pepper spray. On April 25, 2006, it was confirmed that Jay-Z's younger cousin, Tyran (Ty-Ty) Smith confessed in a Manhattan Criminal Court to pepper-spraying R. Kelly and four of his bodyguards at Madison Square Garden in October 2004. Smith had been charged with assault, but was allowed to plead guilty to disorderly conduct for four days of community service. After the original incident, Jay-Z made Smith an executive of Def Jam Records.^[41] Kelly also launched a $75 million lawsuit against Jay-Z for removing him from the tour, which received a countersuit by Jay-Z which was thrown out by the judge.^[42]

[edit] 2007–08: Double Up

On May 29, 2007, R Kelly released his eighth studio album Double Up, which included the hit single "I'm a Flirt (Remix)", featuring T.I. and T-Pain. The original track entitled "I'm a Flirt", also produced and co-written by R. Kelly, appeared as a hidden track on Bow Wow's The Price of Fame (2006). However, Kelly never gave the rights for the song to be released as a formal single, although it was played by many radio stations before the remix version. Kelly's first single from Double Up was "I'm a Flirt (Remix)", Bow Wow was not featured on this version of the song. In Kelly's video for "I'm a Flirt (Remix)", he encourages fans to call a number which flashes up quickly on the screen. Fans who called the number were greeted by a recording of Kelly talking about his upcoming album and playing snippets of new songs in the studio. "I'm a Flirt (Remix)" was successful for Kelly. The song peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached number one on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks. Another hit on the album, "Same Girl", was a collaboration between Kelly and Usher. The single peaked at number 20 on the Hot 100 and peaked at number four on the R&B chart. Other singles such as "Rock Star" featuring Ludacris and Kid Rock, "Sex Planet" and "Freaky in the Club" were R&B charters, although the latter two were not officially released as singles, nor was the title track featuring Snoop Dogg.

Kelly's other single from Double Up titled "Rise Up" was a tribute to the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre. The song was officially released as a digital download May 15, 2007. Proceeds were donated to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, a fund that helped family members of the victims of the shootings.^[43]

Kelly began his Double Up tour with Ne-Yo, Keyshia Cole and J. Holiday opening for him. After two shows, promoter Leonard Rowe had Ne-Yo removed from the tour because of a contract dispute. However, Ne-Yo alleges that the reason for the dropout was because Ne-Yo believes he received a better response from critics and fans, even though he only performed at two shows. Ne-Yo filed a lawsuit against Rowe Entertainment. It was shown that Kelly was not mentioned in the lawsuit. In December 2007, Kelly was showing up to another preliminary court hearing on his case due to his tour bus being held up in Utah.^[44] The judge threatened to revoke Kelly's bond, but the judge eventually decided not to. In 2008, Kelly released a rap track titled "I'm a Beast" in which he coarsely attacked his detractors, though Kelly himself never mentioned by name whom the song was directed to.^[45]

In 2008, Billboard reported that Kelly had plans to release his newest album titled 12 Play: Fourth Quarter in the summer of that year but the album was postponed. Billboard also named Kelly among the most successful artists ever for its 50th Anniversary List.^[46] In the spring, the first promotional single "Hair Braider", peaked at No. 56 on Billboard's R&B chart. On July 28, the entire album leaked online.^[47] The album was then pushed back to be released in the fall. On September 18, Kelly released the video to the second promotional single "Skin". However, the album still has no official release date. Though Kelly has not released an album, he has kept busy in the studio doing featured guest spots on numerous remixes including "Lookin Boy" remix by Hotstylz, Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body" remix, a verse for a remix to Kanye West's single "Love Lockdown", Raheem DeVaughn's "Customer" remix, Beyoncé Knowles' "If I Were a Boy" remix, T-Pain's "Chopped 'n' Skrewed" remix, among others. A recent track was leaked on the internet titled "I Believe". Kelly states on his official MySpace page that Obama's election inspired him to write the song, which contains an excerpt from Barack Obama's presidential acceptance speech. This song was available on iTunes as a free download the first week it was released.

[edit] 2009: Untitled

On June 3, 2009, Kelly released his first ever mixtape, The Demo Tape (Gangsta Grillz) presented by DJ Skee and DJ Drama as a way to reintroduce himself to fans.^[48]

While at the Velvet Room in Atlanta in February 2009, Kelly announced that he was out there working on the album and that it would be called Untitled.^[49] The album was given a September 29, 2009 release date,^[50] but was delayed until October 13, 2009. The album release was again delayed and was released under Jive Records on December 1, 2009. It got mixed to positive reviews from critics. The single "Number One", which features Keri Hilson, peaked at #8 on the US R&B Chart.

Kelly performed for the first time in Africa headlining the Arise African Fashion Awards in Johannesburg, South Africa on June 20, 2009.^[51] Kelly scheduled to perform in Cape Town before heading to Nigeria as part of the annual ThisDay music and fashion festival in July. Kelly also performed in Kampala, Uganda in January 2010. He also scheduled to perform in London as part of his first international tour in eight years, but he did not make his London concert. "I'm very excited about my first visit to Africa, I've dreamed about this for a long time and it's finally here," Kelly said in a statement. "It will be one of the highlights of not only my career but my life. I can't wait to perform in front of my fans in Africa — who have been some of the best in the world."^[52]

In December 2009, Kelly teamed up with biographer David Ritz and Tavis Smiley's SmileyBooks publications to write his memoirs entitled Soulacoaster. SmileyBooks publisher and founder, Tavis Smiley stated that the memoir's main focus won't be on Kelly's trials and tribulations. Smiley was quoted saying "If anyone thinks this bookis going to fixate on [R. Kelly's trials], they are going to be sadly mistaken. It is going to be a holistic look at his life thus far and the life and legacy that he's building." ^[53]

[edit] 2010: Epic and Love Letter

Kelly performed the inspirational song "Sign of a Victory" at the 2010 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony on June 11, 2010.^[54]

On July 13, 2010, a song called "Tongues" surfaced, reportedly the lead single from Kelly's upcoming album Zodiac. The song is produced by Bangladesh and features Ludacris.^[55]

In an interview in the September 2010 issue of XXL magazine, Kelly mentioned that he is currently working on three new albums (Epic, Love Letter, and Zodiac) and detailed that the new material is basically him "remixing himself". ^[56]

On September 13, 2010, Kelly released one of his three new albums, Epic. A collection of Kelly's most "epic" ballads, including five brand-new inspirational songs; the compilation was only released in Europe. In the September 2010 issue of XXL magazine, Kelly mentioned that the song Sign of Victory gave him the idea to do an international album called Epic.

In November 2010, Kelly collaborated with several African musicians forming a supergroup known as One8. The group features 2Face from Nigeria, Alikiba from Tanzania, Congolese singer Fally Ipupa, 4X4 from Ghana, hip-hop artist Movaizhaleine from Gabon, Zambia's JK, Ugandan hip-hop star Navio and Kenya's Amani, the only female in the group. The first release from the group is "Hands Across the World" written and produced by Kelly.^[57][58]

Kelly's latest album Love Letter was released on December 14, 2010 worldwide. The album includes 15 songs, the latter being a bonus track; a cover of Michael Jackson's You Are Not Alone, which was written and produced by Kelly as well. Love Letter has been critically acclaimed by music critics and highly-praised by critics and fans alike. ABC News declared "The genius of R. Kelly has been resurrected and is on full display on Love Letter" ^[59] The first single "When a Woman Loves" was nominated for a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards. ABC News music critic named "When a Woman Loves" the best single of 2010 saying: "An absolutely stunning love song with a pitch-perfect vocal performance that will send chills down your spine — for the right reasons." ^[60] The next single, "Love Letter" and "A Love Letter Christmas", the Christmas remix to "Love Letter", were released as singles on November 22, 2010. In promotion of the Love Letter album he performed at the 2010 Soul Train Music Awards and on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. All songs on the album were written and produced by Kelly.

2011: Throat surgery[link]

On February 12 at the 2011 Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala in Los Angles, Kelly performed a medley of hits including Happy People, When a Woman's Fed Up and Bump N' Grind, which brought Usher, Mary J. Blige and Katy Perry to their feet. ^[61] Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times wrote "Kelly is a single-bound kind of leaper who dips into everything from soft porn to opera in his music. His supreme chutzpah, a quality he shares with Streisand, allows him to feel secure within pop's traditions while taking them wherever he pleases. He made Davis' musical program, which at times got lost amid the chatter of the A-list crowd, come alive. It was all so simple then: an instant when one of pop's key traditional elements, that determination to wow, took on new dimension in the hands of an expert." ^[62]

In March 2011, Kelly was named the #1 R&B artist of the last 25 years by Billboard.^[2] In his career Kelly has amassed 35 top 10 hits and 11 #1 hits on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

On July 19, 2011, Kelly was rushed to the Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago to undergo emergency throat surgery. He cancelled his heavily advertised performance at the Reggae Sumfest in Jamaica that was scheduled the following Friday. In a statement the organizers said, "Kelly's unforeseen and unavoidable health issues will prevent him from making a scheduled appearance on the music festival." Johnny Gourzong, Sumfest Productions executive director, also commented, saying, "We are truly going to miss his presence on the festival." ^[63] On July 20, 2011, in a press release, representatives for R. Kelly explained that he was rushed to the hospital to drain an abscess on one of his tonsils and "will be laid up for an indefinite amount of time".^[64] Shortly after, Kelly tweeted fans "I WILL BE BACK!" he promised and "I'd like to thank everybody for their love, concern and support." ^[65] On July 21, 2011, Kelly's spokesman, Allan Mayer, reported that Kelly was released from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and is recuperating at home. It was not immediately clear when Kelly might be well enough to resume performing. ^[66] On July 21, 2011, in a video message to fans, Kelly spoke out for the first time since throat surgery and reassured his fans that he's doing well. He said "Yo what's up, y'all, it's your boy Kellz, fresh out the hospital. Just want to say thanks to my fans for supporting me. I want to say thanks to all the prayer warriors out there for supporting me." ^[67]

On September 23, 2011, Variety (magazine) confirmed that Kelly has signed on to write original music for the Sparkle soundtrack. ^[68] On April 25, 2011, Director Salkim Akli was quoted saying, "Hopefully, R. Kelly will come on and do some of the music for the film. His latest music sounds like it came from a time period. Here's a guy who can write about a woman being a jeep to 'I Believe I Can Fly' and he's an artist. Whether you like him or dislike him, I love artists, and I know that he will just go deep into it and come up with something unique." ^[69]

On October 7, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding Jive Records along with Arista Records and J Records. With the shutdown, Kelly (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release his future material on the RCA Records brand.^[70][71]

On November 10, 2011, Kelly tweeted to fans "It's been a long time coming but I finally feel a lot better about my throat since the surgery and this is the first song I wrote." ^[72] followed with "Enjoy!" and a link to a song titled "Shut Up". In the song, Kelly addresses the people who doubted his ability to comeback after the surgery and the rumors that surrounded him while he was in recovery. Reviews for "Shut Up" were generally positive: Spin (magazine) wrote, "Kelly taking aim at the haters who said "he's washed up, he's lost it." He hasn't. Dude's voice is in prime smooth R&B form". ^[73] Prefix (magazine) writer, Andrew Winistorfer described the song as "vintage Kelly: It's all runs in the verses, falsetto in the middle, and randomly placed vitriol. ^[74]

On December 21, 2011, Kelly made a live appearance on The X Factor (U.S.) and gave his first performance since undergoing emergency throat surgery in the summer. He sang his classic hit "I Believe I Can Fly" with finalist Melanie Amaro and received positive reviews from critics. Kelly revealed to Rolling Stone that he felt like he was "just starting out" and how the performance was a "wake up call" for him. ^[75]

Kelly is currently working on his memoir entitled Soulacoaster and it's expected to be released in the Spring of 2012.

[edit] 2012: Write Me Back and Trapped in the Closet Revival

On January 31, 2012, Kelly revealed in a radio interview that he's releasing a follow-up to the Love Letter album titled Write Me Back. The album is a mix of Kelly's previous albums; Love Letter, Happy People and a little bit of TP-2.Com.^[76] On February 1, 2012, Kelly released the first single, "Share My Love", off his twelfth studio album, Write Me Back.^[77]

On February 18, 2012, R. Kelly performed at Whitney Houston's memorial. Kelly performed the ballad I Look to You, a song he wrote for Whitney that she released on July 23, 2009. The song was included in her seventh and final studio album, also titled I Look to You. After singing the song he said, "We love you Whitney. Rest in Peace." before leaving the stage.^[78]

On March 20, 2012, IFC announced a third installment of the Trapped in the Closet will be coming soon. ^[79]

Personal life[link]

Robert Kelly, the third of four children, grew up in a single parent home. Kelly was reared in the church, where he sang in the choir. ^[80] His mother, Joanne, died in 1993.

Kelly has three children: Two daughters Joann (born 1998) and Jaya (born 2000), and a son Robert Jr. (born 2002).^[81]

In 1996, Kelly married Andrea Kelly, his former backup dancer and children's mother. In January 2009, after 12 years of marriage, the couple divorced.^[82]

Legal issues[link]

After a July 1996 brawl at a Lafayette, Louisiana health club involving bodyguard William Robert Savy, Kelly was placed on a year's unsupervised probation starting August 13, 1997. One of the victims, Christopher Mahoney, needed 110 facial stitches.^[83]

Kelly was arrested on April 8, 1998 on three misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct, including one charge on violating noise ordinance for playing loud music from his car.^[84] Prosecutors from the district attorney's office dropped the first two charges on May 7 and the noise charge on July 22 that year.^[85][86]

On February 3, 2002, a video showing Kelly engaging in sex with, and urinating on, an allegedly underage woman surfaced. The woman defended R. Kelly, later saying that she consented. The story, which was released by an unknown source, was sent to the Chicago Sun-Times, the newspaper that broke the story. Kelly denied that he was the man in the video.^[87] Bootleg copies of that tape became widely available on the black market and over file sharing networks.^[88] In June 2002, Kelly was indicted in Chicago on 21 counts of having sex with a minor, which were later reduced to soliciting a minor for child pornography, seven counts of videotaping the acts, and seven counts of producing child pornography.^[89] That same month, authorities searched Kelly's house in Davenport, Florida. Officers found an unusual amount of commercially manufactured and distributed adult porn in a room.^[90] During the search officers also obtained pictures of an allegedly underage woman on a digital camera – wrapped in a towel in a duffel bag.^[91] Kelly was arrested in January 2003 on those charges. In March 2004, these charges were dropped due to a lack of probable cause for the search warrants.^[92]

After a number of delays, on October 27, 2006, a Cook County, Illinois court hearing for pre-trial motions set the date of the actual trial to February 7, 2007.^[93] On the date of the trial, Kelly's lawyer informed the court that his client was unable to attend because he was "undergoing surgery for a burst appendix". He also announced that Kelly was "in good condition and was expected to be released from the hospital later in the day." Kelly's attorney stated that Kelly (who pleaded not guilty) would be in attendance on the next trial date of February 21, 2007.^[94] It had previously been announced by the court that the videotape that allegedly showed Kelly performing sex acts with an underage woman would be publicly shown as evidence in the trial. The trial, however, was delayed due to disputes over when the tape was made and to give medical recuperation time to the sitting judge following a fall resulting in broken bones. Later the case was set for a September 17 date.^[95] It took more than six years for the case to go to trial. Jury selection began on May 9, 2008, and the trial officially started on May 20 with opening statements from the prosecution and defense. After two weeks, the prosecution's case wrapped on June 3 while the defense's wrapped six days later, on June 9. After less than a day of deliberations, on June 13, 2008, a Chicago jury found Kelly not guilty of all 14 counts.^[96]

Discography[link]

Filmography[link]

• Trapped in the Closet (1–12) (2005)
• Trapped in the Closet (13–22) (2007)
• Trapped in the Closet (1–22) The Big Package (2007)
• R. Kelly Live the Light It Up Tour (2007)
• Trapped in the Closet (22–54) (TBA)

Official tours[link]

• The 12 Play Very Necessary Tour (w/ Salt-N-Pepa) (1994)
• The Down Low Top Secret Tour (w/ LL Cool J, Xscape, and Solo) (1996)
• The Get Up on a Room Tour (w/ Kelly Price, Nas, Foxy Brown, and Deborah Cox) (1999)
• The TP-2.com Tour (w/ Sunshine Anderson & Syleena Johnson) (2001)
• The Key in the Ignition Tour (w/ Ashanti (entertainer)) (2003)
• The Light It Up Tour (2006)
• The Double Up Tour (w/ J. Holiday & Keyshia Cole) (2007)
• The Ladies Make Some Noise Tour (2009)
• Love Letter Tour (w/ Keyshia Cole & Marsha Ambrosius) (2011)

Awards[link]

• American Music Award
  • 1993: Favorite Soul/R&B Single ("Honey Love")
  • 1995: Favorite Soul/R&B Album (12 Play)
  • 1997: Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist
  • 2000: Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist
  • 2005: Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist
  • 2007: Favorite Soul/R&B Album (Double Up)

• BET Awards
  • 2003: Best Male R&B Artist

• Billboard Awards
  • 2001: Top R&B/Hip Hop Artist
  • 2001: Top R&B/Hip Hop Album (TP2.com)
  • 2001: Top R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks ("Fiesta")
  • 2001: Top R&B/Hip Hop Artist
  • 2001: Top R&B/Hip Hop Album Artist
  • 2001: Top R&B/Hip Hop Album Artist – Male

• BMI Awards
  • 1998: Pop Songwriter of the Year (for "I Believe I Can Fly", "I Can't Sleep Baby (If I)", and "I Don't Want To" (recorded by Toni Braxton))

• Grammy Awards
  • 1998: Best R&B Song ("I Believe I Can Fly")
  • 1998: Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ("I Believe I Can Fly")
  • 1998: Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media ("I Believe I Can Fly")

• MOBO Awards
  • 2001: MOBO Outstanding Achievement

• NAACP Image Awards
  • 2001: Outstanding Male Artist
  • 2001: Outstanding Music Video ("I Wish")

• Soul Train Awards
  • 1999: Best R&B/Soul Album, Male (R.)
  • 1999: Sammy Davis Jr. Entertainer of the Year Award
  • 2000: Best R&B/Soul or Rap Album (R.)
  • 2001: Best R&B/Soul Single, Male ("I Wish")
  • 2001: Best R&B/Soul Album, Male (TP2.com)
  • 2004: R&B/Soul Album, Male (Chocolate Factory)
  • 2004: Quincy Jones Award for Outstanding Career Achievements
  • 2006: Stevie Wonder Award for Outstanding Achievements in Song Writing

• Source Hip Hop Awards
  • 1999: R&B Artist of the Year
  • 2001: R&B Artist of the Year

• Vibe Awards
  • 2003: R&B Vanguard Award

^[97][98]

References[link]

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External links[link]

	R&B and Soul Music portal
	Hip hop portal
	Chicago portal
	Biography portal

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