Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American convicted sex offender and former singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has been credited with helping to redefine R&B and hip hop, earning nicknames such as "the King of R&B", "the King of Pop-Soul",[4][5] and the "Pied Piper of R&B".[6] In 2022, he was convicted for sex trafficking, child pornography, and sexual exploitation of a minor.

Kelly has released 18 studio albums and is known for hit singles such as "I Believe I Can Fly", "Bump N' Grind", "Your Body's Callin'", "Gotham City", "Ignition (Remix)", "If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time", "The World's Greatest", "I'm a Flirt (Remix)", and the hip hopera Trapped in the Closet. In 1998, he won three Grammy Awards for "I Believe I Can Fly".[7] Although Kelly is primarily a singer and songwriter, he has written, produced, and remixed songs, singles, and albums for other artists. In 1996, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for writing Michael Jackson's song "You Are Not Alone", which also was the first song to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.[7]

Kelly has sold over 75 million albums and singles worldwide, making him the most successful R&B male artist of the 1990s and one of the best-selling music artists of all time.[8][9] The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has recognized R. Kelly as one of the bestselling music artists in the United States with 40 million albums sold as well as only the fifth black artist to crack the top 50 of the same list.[10] In March 2011, R. Kelly was named the most successful R&B artist of the last 25 years by Billboard.[11][12][13] Throughout his career, Kelly has won numerous awards, including a Guinness World Records as well as countless other awards like Grammy, BET, Soul Train, Billboard, NAACP, and American Music Awards.

Investigations by law enforcement and journalists revealed that Kelly used his fame to seek out underage fans for sex.[14][15][16][17] Video recordings of these encounters led to him being prosecuted for child pornography,[18] but he was acquitted in 2008.[19][20] The 2019 documentary television series Surviving R. Kelly reexamined Kelly's alleged sexual misconduct with minors, prompting RCA Records to terminate his contract.[21] Kelly was arrested in July 2019 on new charges brought by multiple jurisdictions.[22][23][24][25] In 2021, he was convicted under the Mann Act and for racketeering.[26] In 2022, Kelly was convicted of three child pornography charges and three charges of enticing a minor.[27][28][29] He was sentenced to serve 31 years imprisonment in a combination of concurrent and consecutive sentences.[30][31] As of 2023, Kelly is incarcerated at FCI Butner Medium I. He is scheduled for release on December 21, 2045.