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R Kelly: Chicago Sun-Times
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Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967 in Chicago, Illinois) better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American R&B and pop singer, songwriter, record producer, and occasional rapper. He first appeared on the music scene as the founder and lead singer of Public Announcement whose smooth mixture of hip hop beats, soul, and funk propelled the group's 1992 debut album Born into the '90s to platinum status. After leaving the group in 1993, he became one of the top-selling musical acts of the nineties.
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Kelly quickly directed his ambitions toward a musical career. A single afternoon spent playing and singing under Chicago's elevated railroad tracks around the time of his graduation netted him $400 and gave the young singer an indication of his ability to move a crowd. He formed an R&B group called MGM, which took home a $100,000 grand prize on a television talent search program. His breakthrough came when he auditioned for a gospel musical directed by Robert Hankerson, a well-connected impresario who had earlier been married to vocalist Gladys Knight. Kelly showed up late, and Hankerson had left the audition area. But Kelly sang for some of the director's assistants, who insisted that Hankerson return and hear the latecomer.
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Raised on the South Side of Chicago, Robert Kelly received the impetus to pursue a career as a singer from his high school music teacher, effectively keeping him from falling into a gang lifestyle. While still in school he partcipated in talent competitions, and after graduation made a reasonable living as a street performer, despite regular occurences of police harrassment. One such performance at a friend's party attracted the attention of Jive records, and a contract was secured with the label shortly afterwards. With his band Public Announcement, Kelly immediately earned a large audience -- their 1992 debut release Born Into The 90s rose to #3 in the R&B charts, spawning four successful singles and quickly achieving platinum status.
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In June 2002, Kelly was indicted in Chicago on charges related to a videotape allegedly showing him having sex with a 14-year-old girl. In 2004, allegations emerged that among Kelly's sex tapes was one with him with gospel singer Deleon Richards, the now-wife of New York Yankees baseball player Gary Sheffield. And Kelly's wife sought a restraining order against him on Sept. 2, 2005 claiming he attacked her on two occasions. She rescinded the request on Sept. 26.
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In the wake of "Fiesta," Kelly and Jay-Z teamed up to record an entire album together. The Best of Both Worlds was heavily hyped and even more heavily bootlegged, but problems of a much more serious nature arose in February 2002, when the Chicago Sun-Times reported that it had been given a videotape showing Kelly having sex with a 14-year-old girl. When the scandal broke, other reports surfaced that Kelly had settled a civil suit in 1998 involving a sexual relationship with a then-underage girl, and that he was in the process of settling another suit brought by an Epic Records intern making similar allegations. Copies of the tape in question were sold as bootlegs and on the Internet, and while there was some question as to whether the man was really Kelly, and whether the girl really was underage, Kelly's past history seemed to lend credence to the charge. Some radio stations dropped him from their play lists, and anti-Kelly protests were staged in Chicago. Meanwhile, The Best of Both Worlds entered the charts at number two, but sold disappointingly; some blamed the scandal, others the extensive pre-release bootlegging, although the generally unfavorable reviews suggested that the record's overall quality might ... have been to blame.
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Robert Kelly was raised by his mother Joanne in Chicago's inner-city projects, along with two brothers and sister. After a shooting by a mugger as a teenager, Kelly looked to basketball and music as a way to escape a life of hardships. Guided by a teacher named Lena McLin, Kelly entered a career in music after singing the Stevie Wonder classic "Ribbon in the Sky" at a talent show.
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