R. Kelly's Real Name: Robert Sylvester Kelly

Quick answer: R. Kelly's real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly. He was born on January 8, 1967, in Chicago, Illinois, according to Biography.com and the BBC. Some Library of Congress records use a 1969 heading year; this page follows the 1967 date in those biographies. He is a Grammy-winning R&B singer and songwriter, later convicted in federal trials in New York and Chicago (Biography.com; BBC; AP).

Real name and early life

Biography.com and the BBC both identify him as Robert Sylvester Kelly, born in Chicago. Biography.com gives the date as January 8, 1967, and says he grew up in a Chicago housing project, raised by his single mother, and began singing in a church choir as a child. At Kenwood Academy, a music teacher, Lena McLin, encouraged him to take performing seriously. He later signed with Jive Records in 1990.

Career highlights

His early success came with the group Public Announcement and the 1991 album Born into the 90's, which included the R&B hits "Honey Love" and "Slow Dance (Hey Mr. DJ)." The 1993 album 12 Play brought his first No. 1 pop single, "Bump N' Grind." In 1996, "I Believe I Can Fly," written for the Space Jam soundtrack, earned him three Grammy Awards in 1997. Biography.com also notes that he wrote Michael Jackson's 1995 hit "You Are Not Alone" and later released the successful album R. (1998), which included a duet with Celine Dion.

Convictions

On September 27, 2021, a federal jury in Brooklyn found Kelly guilty of all nine counts he faced, including racketeering and sex trafficking, the Associated Press and BBC reported. In June 2022, a federal judge in New York sentenced him to 30 years in prison, the AP later reported. On September 14, 2022, a federal jury in Chicago convicted him on six of 13 counts, including producing child pornography and enticing minors; he was acquitted of a charge that he had fixed an earlier 2008 state trial (AP). This page records those convictions and does not describe the underlying conduct in detail.

Name notes for searchers

Robert Sylvester Kelly is the documented full name; R. Kelly is the professional short form used in billing and news reports. He should not be confused with other musicians who use the surname Kelly.