  R. Kelly was born on January 8,
1968 and grew up in Chicago. Even though the
odds were against Kelly as he grew up in the
projects of Chicago, getting shot during a
mugging and the guidance of his mother and a
teacher helped Kelly stay away from gangs and
turn to basketball and eventually music. In
the mid-90s, R. Kelly rose out as a solo act
into the limelight of R&B and pop radio
with his smooth style and songwriting. At the
turn of the decade, Kelly was making money
performing his music to an audience - it was
on the streets of Chicago, but the money was
increasing. Kelly's big break came while he
was singing at a friend's barbecue in front
of other guests that included a
representative from Jive Records. Soon Kelly
signed with the record label.
 R. Kelly
& Public Announcement: # 102
Singles Artist of the Year
 Kelly, as a member of Public
Announcement, released Born
Into The 90's. The LP went platinum and
contained the hits "She's Got That
Vibe," "Dedicated," "Honey Love," and "Slow
Dance (Hey Mr. DJ)."
Born
Into The 90's was certified gold.
Kelly & Public
Announcement topped the Billboard
R&B Singles chart for 2 weeks with "Honey Love."
 Kelly and Public
Announcement hit the Top 40 with
"Honey Love."
Kelly and Public
Announcement hit the Top 40 with
"Slow Dance (Hey Mr DJ)"."
Kelly & Public
Announcement topped the Billboard
R&B Singles chart for 1 week with "Slow Dance (Hey Mr DJ)"."
 # 85
Singles Artist of the Year
 Born
Into The 90's was certified platinum.
R. Kelly &
Public Announcement were nominated for an American Music
Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Single ("Honey Love").
By the end of the year, R. Kelly
was on his own and he released 12
Play. Kelly's sexy lyrics took him
the top of the pop charts with "Bump N'
Grind" and found success with the tracks
"Your
Body's Callin'" and "Sex Me (Parts I &
II)."
Kelly hit the
Top 40 with "Sex Me (Parts I &
II)."
 The single "Sex Me (Parts I &
II)"
was certified gold.
 # 14
Singles Artist of the Year
12
Play was certified platinum.
 12
Play topped the Billboard R&B
Albums chart for 9 weeks.
Kelly hit the Top 40 with "Bump
N' Grind."
Kelly topped the Billboard
R&B Singles chart for 12 weeks and the
R&B Singles Sales chart for 13 weeks with
"Bump
N' Grind."
12
Play and the single "Bump
N' Grind" were certified platinum.
Kelly hit the Top 10 with "Bump
N' Grind."
Kelly topped the Billboard Hot
100 Singles Sales chart for 10 weeks and
R&B Airplay chart for 8 weeks with "Bump
N' Grind."
Kelly hit #1 for a week with "Bump
N' Grind."
Kelly topped the Billboard Hot
100 Singles chart for 4 weeks and the
Billboard Hot Dance Music Maxi-Singles Sales
chart for 3 weeks with "Bump
N' Grind."
 Kelly hit the Top 40 with "Your
Body's Callin'."
Kelly topped the Billboard
R&B Airplay chart for 3 weeks with "Your
Body's Callin'."
While Kelly continued to reap
the rewards of a his hit LP throughout the
year, he also produced the debut LP by Aaliyah. By the end of the
summer, rumors of a marriage between Kelly
and the 15-year old songstress had surfaced.
12
Play was certified 3x platinum.
The single "Your
Body's Callin''" was certified gold.
 The video for "Bump
N' Grind" was nominated for a MTV Video Music
Award for Best R&B Video.
Kelly topped the Billboard
Year-End Charts as the Top Pop Artist
- Male (singles & albums), the Top Hot
100 Singles Artist - Male, the Top R&B
Artist (singles & albums), the Top
R&B Artist - Male (singles & albums),
Top R&B Single ("Bump
N' Grind"), the Top R&B Singles
Artist, the Top R&B Singles Artist -
Male, and Top R&B Airplay Track ("Your
Body's Callin'").
 # 100
Singles Artist of the Year
Kelly was nominated for an American Music
Award for Favorite Soul/R&B
Album.
 Kelly found himself on the top
of pop and R&B charts again, but this
time as songwriter and co-producer for Michael
Jackson's "You Are Not
Alone."
Kelly appeared on the soundtrack
for Low
Down Dirty Shame with a remix of
"Homie, Lover, Friend."
12
Play was certified 4x platinum.
 Kelly released R.
Kelly. The LP reflected a change for
Kelly with less emphasis on suggestive and
sexual lyrics, and help from gospel singer, Kirk
Franklin, and rapper, The
Notorious B.I.G.
Kelly topped the Billboard
R&B Singles chart for a week and the
Singles Sales chart for a week with "You Remind Me Of
Something."
Kelly hit the Top 40 with "You Remind Me Of
Something."
 R.
Kelly topped the Billboard Pop Albums
chart for a week and the R&B Albums chart
for 2 weeks.
Kelly hit the Top 10 with "You Remind Me Of
Something."
 # 21
Singles Artist of the Year
R.
Kelly was certified 2x platinum and
the single "You Remind Me Of
Something" was certified platinum.
R. Kelly was nominated for a Grammy Award for Song of the Year (songwriting
nomination for Michael
Jackson's "You Are Not
Alone."
 Kelly hit the Top 40 with "Down
Low (Nobody Has To Know)."
Kelly topped the Billboard Hot
R&B Singles chart for 7 weeks, the Hot
R&B Singles Sales chart for 7 weeks, the
Hot R&B Singles Airplay chart for a week,
and the Dance Music Maxi-Singles Sales chart
for 3 weeks with "Down
Low (Nobody Has To Know)."
The single "Down
Low (Nobody Has To Know)" was certified
platinum and hit the Top 10.
12
Play was certified 5x platinum and R.
Kelly was certified 3x platinum.
Kelly hit the Top 40 with "I Can't Sleep Baby (If
I)."
 Kelly topped the Billboard Hot
R&B Singles chart for 2 weeks with "I Can't Sleep Baby (If
I)."
Kelly hit the Top 10 with "I Can't Sleep Baby (If
I)."
The single "I Can't Sleep
(If I)" was certified platinum.
The video for "Down
Low (Nobody Has To Know)" was nominated
for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video.
 Kelly hit the Top 40 with "I Believe I Can Fly" from the Space
Jams soundtrack.
"I Believe I Can Fly" topped the
Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales chart for 7
weeks, the Hot R&B Singles chart for 6
weeks, the Hot R&B Singles Sales chart
for 5 weeks, and the Hot R&B Singles
Airplay chart for 2 weeks.
Kelly hit the Top 10 with "I Believe I Can Fly."
 # 42
Singles Artist of the Year
 Kelly began the year at a Kirk
Franklin concert announcing that his
musical direction was now directed at the
Lord instead of the libido.
Kelly was nominated for an American Music
Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Male
Artist.
"I Believe I Can Fly" topped the
Billboard R&B Singles Sales chart for 5
weeks.
The single "I Believe I Can Fly" was certified
platinum.
 Kelly topped the UK Singles
chart with "I Believe I Can Fly" for 3 weeks.
Kelly hit the Top 40 with "Gotham City" from the Batman
And Robin soundtrack.
Kelly hit the Top 10 with "Gotham City."
 The single "Gotham City" was certified
gold.
Kelly was nominated for 2 MTV Video Music
Awards including Best Male Video and Best Video from a Film
("I Believe I Can Fly").
R.
Kelly was certified 4x platinum.
Kelly topped the Billboard
Year-End Charts with the Top
Soundtrack Single ("I Believe I Can Fly").
 # 71
Singles Artist of the Year
 R. Kelly took home 3 Grammy Awards for Best R&B Song
(awarded to the songwriter), Best Song Written
Specifically for a Motion Picture, and Best R&B Vocal Performance -
Male
("I Believe I Can Fly") and was also
nominated for Record Of The Year and Song of the Year ("I Believe I Can Fly").
R. Kelly won a BMI Award for Pop
Songwriter of the Year ("I Believe I Can Fly," "I Can't Sleep Baby (If
I),"
and "I Don't Want To" (recorded by Toni
Braxton)).
 Kelly was arrested in Chicago
for disorderly conduct for a loud car stereo.
Kelly reportedly refused to turn down his
stereo and got verbally abusive.
2 of the 3 charges were dropped
(including disorderly conduct), but Kelly was
still charged with a noise violation.
Kelly hit the Top 40 helping out
Sparkle with "Be Careful" from her LP Sparkle.
 "Be Careful" topped the
Billboard R&B Singles Airplay chart for 6
weeks.
The noise violation charges were
dropped with no explanation given.
Kelly appeared on the soundtrack
for Wood with "It's All
Good."
 Kelly released the double set, R. with the
first single "I'm
Your Angel" - a duet with Celine
Dion - hitting the Top 40.
R. topped the Billboard
R&B Albums chart for a week.
R. was certified 3x
platinum and the single "I'm
Your Angel" was certified platinum
and hit the Top
10.
"I'm
Your Angel" topped the Billboard Hot
100 Singles chart, the Hot 100 Singles Sales
chart for 6 weeks, and the Adult Contemporary
chart for 12 weeks.
 # 25
Singles Artist of the Year
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