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1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar. It was also the first year of the 20th century.

Events[link]

January[link]

January 1: The Commonwealth of Australia forms as British colonies federate.

• January 1
  • The world celebrates the beginning of the 20th century.
  • The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia. Edmund Barton becomes first Prime Minister.
  • Nigeria becomes a British protectorate.
  • The birth of Pentecostalism at a prayer meeting at Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas.
• January 5 – Typhoid fever breaks out in a Seattle jail, the first of two typhoid outbreaks in the USA during the year.
• January 7 – Alferd Packer is released from prison after serving 18 years for cannibalism.
• January 10 – In the first great Texas gusher, oil is discovered at Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas.
• January 22 – The Grand Opera House in Cincinnati is destroyed in a fire.
  • Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom dies at age 81.
  • The Prince of Wales formally becomes King Edward VII.
• January 28 – Baseball's American League declares itself a Major League.

January 22: King Edward VII ascends the British throne and also becomes Emperor of India.

February[link]

• February 2 – Funeral of Queen Victoria in London.
• February 5
  • Hay-Pauncefote Treaty signed by United Kingdom and United States, ceding control of the Panama Canal to the United States
  • J Pierpont Morgan buys mines and steel mills in the United States, marking the first billion dollar business deal
  • In Evansville, IN, a fire burns through the business district, causing $175,000 of damage.
• February 6 – First public telephones at railway stations in Paris
• February 11 – Anti Jesuit riots sweep across Spain
• February 12 – India Viceroy Lord Curzon creates new frontier province in the north of the Punjab, bordering Afghanistan
• February 14 – Edward VII opens his first parliament
• February 15 – The Alianza Lima Foundation is created in Peru.
• February 20 – The Hawaii Territory Legislature convenes for the first time.
• February 22 – Pacific mail steamer sinks in Golden Gate Harbor, killing 128
• February 23 – United Kingdom and Germany agree the frontier between German East Africa and the British colony of Nyasaland
• February 26
  • Chi-hsui and Hsu-cheng-yu, Boxer Rebellion leaders, executed in Peking
  • Middelburg peace conference fails in South Africa as Boers continue to demand autonomy
• February 27 – The Sultan of Turkey orders 50,000 troops to the Bulgarian frontier because of unrest in Macedonia

March[link]

• March 1 – United Kingdom, Germany and Japan protest at Sino-Russian agreement on Manchuria.
• March 2 – The U.S. Congress passes the Platt Amendment, limiting the autonomy of Cuba as a condition for the withdrawal of American troops.
• March 4 – United States President William McKinley begins his second term. Theodore Roosevelt becomes Vice President of the United States.
• March 5 – Irish nationalist demonstrators ejected by police from House of Commons of the United Kingdom in London.
• March 6 – In Bremen, an assassin attempts to kill Wilhelm II of Germany
• March 11 – United Kingdom rejects amended Hay-Pauncefote treaty.
• March 13 – Benjamin Harrison, 23rd president of the United States, dies of pneumonia at age 67.
• March 17
  • A showing of 71 Vincent van Gogh paintings in Paris, 11 years after his death, creates a sensation.
  • Student riots in St Petersburg and Moscow.
• March 18 – Patrick Donahoe, businessman and publisher of the Catholic newspaper the Boston Pilot, dies of old age at 90.
• March 31 – The United Kingdom Census 1901 is taken.

March 6: Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany survives an assassination attempt.

April[link]

• April 25 – New York State becomes the first to require automobile license plates.
• April 29 – Anti-Jewish rioting breaks out in Budapest.

May[link]

• May 3 – The Great Fire of 1901 begins in Jacksonville, FL.
• May 5 – The Caste War of Yucatán officially ends, although Mayan skirmishers continue sporadic fighting for another decade.
• May 9 – Australia opens its first parliament in Melbourne.
• May 17 – The U.S. stock market crashes.
• May 24 – 78 miners die in the Caerphilly pit disaster in South Wales.
• May 25 – The Club Atlético River Plate is founded in Argentina.
• May 27 – In New Jersey, the Edison Storage Battery Company is founded.
• May 28 – Iran (known as Persia until 1935) grants William Knox D'Arcy a concession, giving him the right to prospect for oil.

June[link]

• June 2 – Katsura Taro becomes Prime Minister of Japan.
• June 12 – Cuba becomes a U.S. protectorate.

June 12: Cuba becomes a United States protectorate.

July[link]

• July 1 – Bureau of Chemistry within Department of Agriculture.
• July 4 – The 1,282 foot (390 m) covered bridge crossing the St. John River at Hartland, New Brunswick, Canada opens. It is the longest covered bridge in the world.
• July 4 – William Howard Taft becomes Governor-General of the Philippines/
• July 24 – O. Henry is released from prison in Columbus, Ohio after serving 3 years for embezzlement from the First National Bank in Austin, Texas.

August[link]

Silliman University is the first American private school in the Philippines.

• August 5 – Peter O'Connor sets the first International Association of Athletics Federations recognised long jump world record of 24 ft 11¾ins. The record will stand for 20 years.
• August 6 – Discovery Expedition: Robert Falcon Scott sets sail on the RRS Discovery to explore the Ross Sea in Antarctica.
• August 28 – Silliman University is founded in the Philippines. The first American private school in the country.^[1]
• August 30 – Hubert Cecil Booth patents an electric vacuum cleaner.

September[link]

September 7: The Boxer Rebellion in China ends with the signing of the Peking Protocol.

September 14: Theodore Roosevelt becomes President of the United States on the death of William McKinley.

• September 2 – U.S. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt utters the famous phrase, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" at the Minnesota State Fair.
• September 5 – The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (later renamed Minor League Baseball), is formed in Chicago.
• September 6 – American anarchist Leon Czolgosz shoots U.S. President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley dies 8 days later.
• September 7 – The Boxer Rebellion in China officially ends with the signing of the Boxer Protocol.
• September 14 – Theodore Roosevelt succeeds William McKinley as President of the United States.
• September 26 – The body of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is exhumed and reinterred in concrete several feet thick.

October[link]

• October 2 – The Royal Navy's first submarine is launched at Barrow.
• October 4 – The American yacht Columbia defeats the Irish Shamrock in the America's Cup yachting race.
• October 16 – U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt invites African American leader Booker T. Washington to the White House. The American South reacts angrily to the visit, and racial violence increases in the region.
• October 23 – Yale University celebrates its bicentennial.
• October 24 – Michigan schoolteacher Annie Taylor goes down Niagara Falls in a barrel and survives.
• October 29 – In Amherst, New Hampshire, nurse Jane Toppan is arrested for murdering the Davis family of Boston with an overdose of morphine.

November[link]

• November 1 – Sigma Phi Epsilon is founded in Richmond, VA.
• November 9 – The Prince George, Duke of Cornwall (later George V) becomes Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester.
• November 15 – The Alpha Sigma Alpha Fraternity is founded at Longwood University.
• November 25 – Auguste Deter is first examined by German psychiatrist Dr Alois Alzheimer, leading to a diagnosis of the condition that will carry his name.^[2]
• November 28 – The new state constitution of Alabama requires voters to have passed literacy tests.

December[link]

• December 3 – U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt delivers a 20,000-word speech to the House of Representatives asking Congress to curb the power of trusts "within reasonable limits".
• December 10 – The first Nobel Prize ceremony is held in Stockholm on the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.
• December 12 – Guglielmo Marconi receives the first trans-Atlantic radio signal, sent from Poldhu in England to Newfoundland, Canada; it is the letter "S" in Morse.^[3]
• December 20 – The final spike is driven into the Mombasa-Victoria-Uganda Railway in what is now Kisumu, Kenya.

Date unknown[link]

• Scotland Yard creates a fingerprint archive.
• Europium is isolated by Eugène-Anatole Demarçay.
• William S. Harley draws up plans for his first prototype motorcycle.
• The okapi is observed for the first time (previously known only to local natives).
• The Independent Maya of Eastern Yucatán surrender to Mexico.
• The Intercollegiate Prohibition Association is established in Chicago.
• Shō Tai (Shang Tai), the last king of the Ryūkyū Kingdom in modern Okinawa, Japan, dies.
• New Zealand inventor Ernest Godward invents the spiral hairpin, one of the most widely used devices on the planet.
• The first reliable census in India is taken.
• RMS Lucania is the first Cunard ship to receive a Wireless Radio set.

Births[link]

January–February[link]

• January 1 – Julia Bathory, Hungarian glass designer (died 2000)
• January 3 – Ngo Dinh Diem, 1st President of South Vietnam (died 1963)
• January 4 – CLR James, Trinidad-born writer and journalist (died 1989)
• January 9 – Chic Young, American cartoonist (died 1973)
• January 10 – Henning von Tresckow, Major General in the German Wehrmacht (died 1944)
• January 11 – Kwon Ki-ok, Korean pilot (died 1988)
• January 13
  • A. B. Guthrie, American novelist, historian (died 1991)
  • Mieczysław Żywczyński, Polish historian and priest (died 1978)
• January 14
  • Bebe Daniels, American actress (died 1971)
  • Alfred Tarski, Polish logician and mathematician (died 1983)
• January 16
  • Fulgencio Batista, Cuban leader (died 1973)
  • Frank Zamboni, American inventor (died 1988)
• January 20 – Mohammed Naguib, 1st President of Egypt (died 1984)
• January 21 – Marcellus Boss, American politician and lawyer, member of Kansas Senate and 5th Civilian Governor of Guam (died 1967)
• January 24
  • Hans Erich Apostel, Austrian composer (died 1972)
  • Harry Calder, South African cricketer (died 1995)
• January 26 – Stuart Symington, American politician (died 1988)
• January 27 – Art Rooney, American football team owner (died 1988)
• January 29 – E. P. Taylor, Canadian business tycoon (died 1989)
• January 30 – Rudolf Caracciola, German race car driver (died 1959)
• February 1
  • Frank Buckles, last surviving American veteran of World War I (died 2011)
  • Clark Gable, American actor (died 1960)
• February 2 – Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian violinist (died 1987)
• February 8 – Virginius Dabney, American teacher, journalist, writer and editor (died 1995)
• February 10 – Stella Adler, American actress (died 1992)
• February 15 – João Branco Núncio, Portuguese bullfighter (died 1976)
• February 19 – Florence Green, Last surviving World war I veteran (died 2012)
• February 22 – Mildred Davis, American actress (died 1969)
• February 25 – Zeppo Marx, American comedian (died 1979)
• February 27 – Horatio Luro, Argentine horse trainer (died 1991)
• February 28 – Linus Pauling, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Peace (died 1994)

March–April[link]

• March 3 – Claude Choules, British WWI veteran and last combat veteran from any nation (died 2011)
• March 4
  • Charles Goren, American bridge player (died 1991)
  • Jean Joseph Rabearivelo, Malagasy-French poet (died 1937)
• March 17 – Alfred Newman, American film composer (died 1970)
• March 21
  • Karl Arnold, German politician (died 1958)
  • Carmelita Geraghty, American actress (died 1966)
• March 22 – Greta Kempton, American artist (died 1991)
• March 24 – Ub Iwerks, American cartoonist (died 1971)
• March 27
  • Carl Barks, American cartoonist (died 2000)
  • Erich Ollenhauer, German politician (died 1963)
  • Enrique Santos Discépolo, Argentine tango and milonga musician and composer (died 1951)
  • Eisaku Sato, Prime Minister of Japan, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (died 1975)
  • Kenneth Slessor, Australian poet (died 1971)
• March 28 – Jack Weil, American entrepreneur (died 2008)
• April 1 – Whittaker Chambers, American spy (died 1961)
• April 15 – Joe Davis, English snooker and billiards player (died 1978)
• April 18 – Al Lewis, American songwriter (died 1967)
• April 29 – Emperor Hirohito of Japan (died 1989)
• April 30 – Simon Kuznets, Ukrainian-born economist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1985)

May–June[link]

• May 7 – Gary Cooper, American actor (died 1961)
• May 17 – Werner Egk, German composer (died 1983)
• May 18 – Vincent du Vigneaud, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1978)
• May 20 – Max Euwe, Dutch chess player (died 1981)
• May 21
  • Manfred Aschner, German-born Israeli microbiologist and entomologist, recipient of the Israel Prize (died 1989).
  • Horace Heidt, American bandleader (died 1986)
  • Sam Jaffe, American film producer (died 2000)
  • Suzanne Lilar, Belgian essayist, novelist, and playwright (died 1992)
• May 25 – Antônio de Alcântara Machado, Brazilian novelist (died 1935)
• May 31 – Alfredo Antonini, American conductor and composer (died 1983)
• June 3 – Chang Hsüeh-liang, Chinese military leader (died 2001)
• June 6 – Sukarno, first President of Indonesia (died 1970)
• June 12 – Arnold Kirkeby, American hotelier, art collector, and real estate investor (d. 1962)
• June 13 – Tage Erlander, Swedish politician (social democrat), prime minister of Sweden for 23 years (1946–1969) (died 1985)
• June 17 – F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas, English World War II hero (died 1964)
• June 18 – Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia (died 1918)
• June 23 – Chuck Taylor, American basketball player and salesman (died 1969)
• June 24 – Marcel Mule, French saxophonist (died 2001)
• June 24 – Harry Partch, American composer (died 1974)
• June 29 – Nelson Eddy, American singer and actor (died 1967)

July–August[link]

• July 7 – Eiji Tsuburaya, Japanese film director and special effects designer (died 1970)
• July 9 – Barbara Cartland, English novelist (died 2000)
• July 17 – Bruno Jasieński, Polish poet (died 1938)
• July 20 – Heinie Manush, American baseball player (died 1971)
• July 21 – Albert Hamilton Gordon, American businessman and philanthropist (died 2009)
• July 24 – Mabel Albertson, American actress (died 1982)
• July 31 – Jean Dubuffet, French painter (died 1985)
• August 1 – Pancho Villa, Filipino boxer (died 1925)
• August 4 – Louis Armstrong, American jazz musician (died 1971)
• August 8 – Ernest Lawrence, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1958)
• August 10 – Franco Dino Rasetti, Italian scientist (died 2001)
• August 14 – Alice Rivaz, Swiss writer (died 1998)
• August 18 – Jean Guitton, French writer and philosopher (died 1999)
• August 20 – Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1968)
• August 26
  • Maxwell Taylor, American general (died 1987)
  • Chen Yi, Chinese military commander and politician (died 1972)
• August 28 – Babe London, American actress and comedian (died 1980)
• August 30 – John Gunther, American writer (died 1970)

September–October[link]

• September 9
  • James Blades, English percussionist (died 1999)
  • Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd, Prime Minister of South Africa (died 1966)
• September 12
  • Ben Blue, Canadian-born comedian and actor (died 1975)
  • Shmuel Horowitz, Russian-born Israeli agronomist (died 1999)
• September 15 – Sir Donald Bailey, British civil engineer (died 1985)
• September 22
  • Charles B. Huggins, Canadian-born cancer researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (died 1997)
  • Nadezhda Alliluyeva-Stalin, second wife of Joseph Stalin (died 1932)
• September 23 – Jaroslav Seifert, Czech writer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1986)
• September 24 – Gerald Warner Brace, American writer, educator, sailor and boat builder (died 1978)
• September 25 – Gordon Coventry, Australian rules footballer (died 1968)
• September 26 – George Raft, American film actor (died 1980)
• September 28
  • Ed Sullivan, American entertainer (died 1974)
  • William S. Paley, American businessman (CBS) (died 1990)
• September 29
  • Enrico Fermi, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1954)
  • Lanza del Vasto, Italian philosopher, poet, and activist (died 1981)
• October 2 – Alice Prin, French singer (died 1953)
• October 10 – Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor (died 1966)
• October 24
  • Gilda Gray, Polish-born dancer and actress (died 1959)
  • Moultrie Kelsall, Scottish film and television actor (died 1980)

November–December[link]

• November 3 – Léopold III of Belgium (died 1983)
• November 4
  • Masako Nashimoto, Crown Princess of Korea (died 1989)
  • Max Wagner, Mexican-born American film actor (died 1975)
• November 7 – Norah McGuinness, Irish painter and illustrator (died 1980)
• November 13 – Arturo Jauretche, Argentine writer, politician, and philosopher (died 1974)
• November 18 – George Gallup, American statistician and opinion pollster (died 1984)
• November 22 – Joaquin Rodrigo, Spanish composer (died 1999)
• November 28 – Walter Havighurst, American critic, novelist, literary and social historian of the Midwest, professor of English at Miami University, (died 1994)
• November 29 – Mildred Harris, American actress (died 1944)
• December 5
  • Milton Erickson, American psychiatrist (died 1980)
  • Walt Disney, American animator and film producer (died 1966)
  • Werner Heisenberg, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1976)
• December 8 – Arthur Leslie, British actor (died 1970)
• December 16 – Margaret Mead, American cultural anthropologist (died 1978)
• December 19 – Rudolf Hell, German inventor (died 2002)
• December 25 – Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (died 2004)
• December 27 – Marlene Dietrich, German-American actress (died 1992)
• December 31 – Karl-August Fagerholm, Prime Minister of Finland (died 1984)

Deaths[link]

January–June[link]

• January 1 – Ignatius L. Donnelly, U.S. politician and writer (born 1831)
• January 8 – John Barry, Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross (born 1873)
• January 10 – Sir James Dickson, Premier of Queensland, Australian Minister for Defence (born 1832
• January 11 – Vasily Kalinnikov, Russian composer (born 1866)
• January 14 – Víctor Balaguer, Spanish politician and author, (born 1824)
• January 16
  • Arnold Böcklin, Swiss artist (born 1827)
  • Mahadev Govind Ranade, Indian reformer (born 1842)
• January 21 – Elisha Gray, American inventor and appliance manufacturer (born 1835)
• January 22 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Empress of India (born 1819)
• January 27 – Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer (born 1813)
• February 11 – King Milan I of Serbia (born 1854)
• February 22 – George Francis FitzGerald, Irish mathematician (born 1851)
• February 26 – Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa, Polish writer (born 1829)
• March 13 – Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States (born 1833)
• April 3 – Richard D'Oyly Carte, English impresario (born 1844)
• April 19 – Alfred Horatio Belo, American businessman and newswriter (born 1839)
• May 1 – Lewis Waterman, American inventor and businessman (born 1837)
• May 5 – Axel Wilhelm Eriksson, Swedish settler and trader in south-west Africa (born 1846)
• May 22 – Gaetano Bresci Italian anarchist and assassin (born 1869)
• May 24 – Charlotte Mary Yonge, English novelist (born 1823)
• June 2 – George Leslie Mackay, Canadian missionary (born 1844)
• June 9 – Walter Besant, English writer (born 1836)

July–December[link]

• July 4 – Johannes Schmidt, German linguist (born 1843)
• July 6 – Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, Chancellor of Germany (born 1819)
• August 5 – Victoria, Empress of Germany (born 1840)
• August 12 – Francesco Crispi, Italian Prime Minister (born 1819)
• August 24 – Clara Maass, American nurse (born 1876)
• September 5 – Ignacij Klemenčič, Slovenian physicist (born 1853)
• September 9 – Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, French painter (born 1864)
• September 14 – William McKinley, 25th President of the United States (born 1843)
• October 1 – Abdor Rahman Khan, Emir of Afghanistan (born 1844)
• October 10 – Lorenzo Snow, Mormon leader (born 1814)
• October 19 – Carl Frederik Tietgen, Danish financier and industrialist (born 1829)
• October 29 – Leon Czolgosz, Polish-American assassin of U.S. President William McKinley (born 1873)
• November 7 – Li Hongzhang, Chinese general (born 1823)
• November 27 – Clement Studebaker, American manufacturer (born 1831)
• November 30 – Edward John Eyre, English explorer (born 1815)
• December 1 – George Lohmann, English cricketer (born 1865)

Nobel Prizes[link]

• Physics – Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
• Chemistry – Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff
• Medicine – Emil Adolf von Behring
• Literature – Sully Prudhomme
• Peace – Jean Henri Dunant and Frédéric Passy

Significance of 1901 for modern computers[link]

The date of Friday December 13 20:45:52 1901 is significant for modern computers because it is the earliest date representable with a signed 32-bit integer on systems that reference time in seconds since the Unix epoch. This corresponds to -2147483648 seconds from Thursday January 1 00:00:00 1970. For the same reason, many computers are also unable to represent an earlier date. For related reasons, many computer systems suffer from the Year 2038 problem. This is when the positive number of seconds since 1970 exceeds 2147483647 (01111111 11111111 11111111 11111111 in binary) and wraps to -2147483648. Hence the computer system erroneously displays or operates on the time Friday December 13 20:45:52 1901. In this way, the year 1900 is to the Year 2000 problem as is the year 1901 to the Year 2038 problem.

References[link]

• Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia...1901 (1902); highly detailed compilation of facts and primary documents; worldwide coverage online edition

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