The Rise and Fall of R.Kelly

R. Kelly’s rise was meteoric, but his fall was disgraceful. At one time, Kelly was one of the most successful and popular singers and songwriters in R&B. But, he became one of the most well-known examples of a celebrity using his power to take advantage of others and as a result, he was convicted of nine counts of racketeering and sex trafficking and was sentenced to 30 years in prison because of it.

Here’s his rise and fall.

Born Into The 90s

Kelly’s debut album with Public Announcement, Born Into The 90s was released in January 1992 and a year later the album was certified platinum.

12 Play

The Chicago singer’s sophomore album 12 Play catapulted Kelly into superstardom with hit singles like “Sex Me” and “Bump N Grind.”

Marries Aaliyah

While Kelly is 27 and Aaliyah is 15, the two get married secretly at a hotel in Chicago in 1994. The marriage was later annulled because Alliyah was not of age. Later that year, her debut album Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number was released. Kelly was the executive producer of the album. Aaliyah died seven years later in a plane crash at the age of 22.

First Grammy Nomination

Kelly received his first Grammy nomination as the writer behind the Michael Jackson track, “You Are Not Alone, which was nominated for Song of the Year.

R. Kelly

Kelly’s self-titled third album was released in November 1996 and became one of the most popular albums of the year thanks to the song “I Believe I Can Fly” which was featured on the soundtrack for the movie Space Jam. He went on to win three Grammys for the song and became a pop star from this point on.

Marries Andrea Lee

In 1996, Kelly married one of the dancers from his touring troupe, Andrea Lee. The couple went on to have three children together.

Sex tape and first criminal indictment

A video was released and sent to the Chicago Sun-Times by an unknown source and a story was published on February 8, 2002, the same day Kelly performed at the opening ceremony for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Later that year in June 2002, Kelly was indicted on 21 counts of child pornography in Chicago.

Child pornography trial

The victim in the child pornography case refused to testify in court and a jury found Kelly not guilty on all counts of child pornography in June 2008.

Huffington Post Live Interview

This was one of the first times Kelly was asked about allegations against him on a public platform. In an interview with journalist Caroline Modaressy-Tehrani on Huffington Post Live, she asked him questions about the sexual abuse allegations against him. Kelly got defensive and angry and kept shouting at Modaressy-Tehrani. He ended up leaving before it ended.

Sex cult allegations

Jim Derogatis, a reporter for BuzzFeed News reported that Kelly was accused by multiple sets of parents of holding their daughter hostage in an “abusive cult.” The victims and Kelly denied the allegations. One of the most outspoken alleged victims was Joycelyn Savage who has both defended the singer and claimed she was a victim.

Fans, artists and streaming services #MuteRKelly

A boycott of Kelly’s was started by the Time’s Up movement called #MuteRKellty. Spotify, the music streaming service announced in May 2018 that they would stop promoting or recommending his music. Although, that decision was later reversed.

Surviving R. Kelly

In January 2019, Lifetime aired a six-part documentary that detailed the sexual abuse and misconduct allegations against the Chicago singer. His ex-wife, Andrea, and many other victims and celebrities appeared in the documentary.

Interview with Gayle King

In an interview with Gayle King, Kelly had an impassioned plea for his innocence and blamed social media for the allegation against him. King also interviewed Azriel Clary and Joycelyn Savage who at the time denied the claims that they were being held hostage and defended Kelly.

More criminal indictments

In July 2019, Kelly was arrested on charges alleging sex crimes and obstruction of justice by investigators with U.S. Homeland Security and NYPD detectives. Shortly after, he was arrested again. Federal prosecutors in Chicago and New York indicted Kelly on a plethora of charges including child sexual exploitation, child pornography, sex trafficking, kidnapping, racketeering, forced labor and many others.

Federal trial

During the federal trial in New York, Kelly’s attorneys made outlandish closing arguments in his defense including comparing him to Martin Luther King Jr., Hugh Hefner and Mike Pence.

Criminal conviction 

In September 2021, Kelly was convicted on one charge of racketeering and eight counts of violation of the Mann Act, a federal sex-trafficking law that criminalizes “the transportation of ‘any woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose.’”

Sentencing

During his sentencing hearing, the disgraced signer was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He has since appealed his conviction and been moved to a federal jail in Chicago before his trial on child pornography and obstruction of justice charges.