Biography of R. Kelly

Urban R&B producer/vocalist/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter R. Kelly was born in a housing project on Chicago's South Side. He was raised by his mother who took jobs in record stores and hospitals to support her family. She also sang in the local church, where Kelly first got exposed to the spiritual side of music. Growing up, Kelly ran with his own posse, basically good kids. He was drawn to basketball and built his own court in a vacant lot, using a garbage can for a hoop calling it "Planet Dunk-A-Lot." He developed a good reputation as a basketball player. Avoiding gang activity, Kelly discovered that he was earning respect from some of the hardest dudes in the 'hood. In 1985, Kelly took a spin on his new Huffy bike. A couple of thugs decided that Kelly's life didn't mean as much as the bike and shot at him. A bullet caught him in the shoulder sending him sprawling and bleeding to the concrete. Lying there, Kelly suddenly knew what death felt like and refused to die. A burst of energy from God filled his aching body and Kelly managed to sprint home. Fearful that removing the bullet would sever a nerve, the medics opted to leave the slug embedded in Kelly's shoulder. It sits there to this day, a grim reminder of the reality of the streets. At 17, Kelly joined the high school glee club where a teacher asked him if he knew how to play a piano. Never having set on a piano bench in his life, Kelly began tinkling the ivories with the prowess of a seasoned pro. Kelly was awestruck -- a world of music was opening beneath his fingertips. Kelly, the teacher, and everybody in that glee club rehearsal knew exactly the same thing at exactly the same second: R. Kelly was going places. Buying himself a battery-operated Casio keyboard, Kelly started singing in the streets in 1987 and passers-by found themselves reaching into their wallets to drop some cash into Kelly's hat. Understanding that sometimes you have to move down in order to move up, Kelly took his act into the subway, often pulling down two to four hundred bucks a day. He'd take the money and pay his mother's rent or take care of a friend's phone bill. The boys in blue didn't dig his act or the huge crowds that would cluster around him during rush hour. He'd pull an impromptu Stevie Wonder act, but he got arrested anyway. About three times. He'd get cuffed, the Casio would get confiscated, and Kelly would get yanked downtown for fingerprints and greasy jail food. Kelly started a group called MGM and performed on Natalie Cole's Big Break. Fueled by Kelly's songs, choreography, and sizzling charisma, the group won everything that Big Break had to offer, but the real big break came when the friction-packed group disintegrated. Flat broke, he walked into the office of impressario Barry Hankerson, who was auditioning for a play. Hankerson, wowed by Kelly, struck a business relationship. After a brief stint with an independent label, Kelly was signed to Jive Records. Kelly, with vocals by Public Announcement, was a one-man band on his debut, Born Into the '90's, released at the beginning of 1992. It was a huge R&B smash receiving pop airplay with the two singles "Honey Love" and "Slow Dance (Hey Mr. DJ)" (both went number one R&B), and "Dedicated," the biggest pop hit from the album, peaked at number 31. With the fall 1993 release of the double-pocket 12 Play, Kelly went from romantic crooning to salacious come-ons and also to superstardom. Both "Sex Me (Parts I & II)" and "Bump n' Grind" went gold and hit number one on both the pop and R&B charts in 1994, with "Bump n' Grind" sitting on the top of the R&B charts for a mind-boggling 12 weeks and four weeks at the top of the pop charts. The third gold single, "Your Body's Callin'," peaked at number 13 on the pop charts. 12 Play went multi-platinum. In 1994, Kelly produced the debut album Age Ain't Nothin' but a Number for Aaliyah, a 15-year-old R&B singer from Detroit. The album yielded two Top Ten pop singles, "Back & Forth" and "At Your Best (You Are Love)," originally done by the Isley Brothers on their Harvest for the World album. In the summer of 1995, Kelly wrote and co-produced "You Are Not Alone," the second single from Michael Jackson's HIStory album. In 1996, Kelly wrote, sang, and produced the gold hit "I Believe I Can Fly" for the soundtrack of the Michael Jordan/Bugs Bunny movie Space Jam. The single won Grammy Awards for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Song, and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television. The song was adapted by church choirs around the world. Committed to his personal growth, Kelly announced at a hip-hop gospel concert with Kirk Franklin that he "used to be flying in sin -- now I'm flying in Jesus," sending a shockwave through the audience, his fans, his record label, and the whole record industry. Some wondered whether it meant that he was going to start singing gospel. Kelly assured all that he wasn't going start singing gospel anytime soon since that's something you have to be "called" to do. ~ Ed Hogan