The multi-talented R. Kelly has made a name for himself as both a recording
artist, known for his groovin' hip-hop beats and his smooth-talking, sexually
explicit lyrics, and as producer, working the boards and writing songs
for the likes of Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Luther
Vandross and Kirk Franklin.
Kelly was born in 1969 on the South Side of Chicago, where he grew
up in a housing project. He began busking for change with an electronic
keyboard on the streets of Chicago and got his first "big break" by winning
a national talent contest on the Big Break television show.
Kelly released his first album on Jive Records, Born Into the '90s
in 1992 with his backing band Public Announcement. Two singles from that
album, "Honey Love" and "Slow Dance (Hey Mr. DJ)" hit the R&B singles
charts. Kelly's sophomore effort, 12 Play, released in 1993, proved to
be his first crossover success. "Bump n' Grind" hit No. 1 on both the R&B
and Pop singles charts and "She's Got That Vibe," "Your Body's Callin'"
and "Sex Me" also hit big with crossover audiences.
With his own recording career firmly established, Kelly began working
his Midas touch on other artists' work. In 1994, Kelly produced two Top
10 singles -- "Back & Forth" and "At Your Best" -- for the teenage
R&B prodigy Aaliyah. Later that year, Kelly turned some heads when
he married the 15-year-old singer.
Kelly was also called on to add a spark to the fading career of Michael
Jackson by penning the song "You are Not Alone," which appeared on Jackson's
HIStory CD.
In 1995 Kelly released his third album for Jive, R. Kelly, which went
quadruple platinum.
The following year he hit the mother lode with his inspirational single
"I Believe I Can Fly." The song, which appeared on the Space Jam soundtrack,
swept the Grammy Awards with three statues for Kelly. Kelly's fourth CD,
a double album titled R, was released in October 1998 on Jive.
