R. Kelly timeline: Shining star to convicted sex trafficker

R. Kelly’s success in music is accompanied by a long history of accusations that he abuses women and children. The R&B singer could now be put behind bars for a quarter or more if convicted Wednesday in a federal courtroom in New York.

A jury found Kelly guilty of sex trafficking in September. While Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, vehemently denied the allegations, his suspicions show in detail that he exposed them to crooked and sadistic grunts when they were minors. Kelly is still facing a lawsuit in Chicago on charges of child pornography and obstruction of justice.

Timeline of Kelly’s life through her rise and fall as a hitmaking R&B artist:

– 1990: MG Kelly R. Kelly’s R&B band won the top prize of $ 100,000 in the distributed television talent show “Big Break” directed by Natalie Cole. Due to a financial misunderstanding, this was the last time the group left. Music director Wayne Williams of Jive Records discovered Kelly singing at a barbecue that summer. – January 1992: R. Kelly & Public Announcement debuts “Born Into The ’90s.” The album was released a year ago and became platinum.

– November 1993: His album “12 Play” was released and eventually sold more than 5 million copies. Hit singles include “Sex Me” and “Bump N ‘Grind”, which are the longest-running number. 1 R&B song in more than 30 years.

– Last. 31, 1994: At the age of 27, R. Kelly married 15-year-old R&B singer Aaliyah D. Haughton. The couple got married in a secret ceremony organized by Kelly at a hotel in Chicago. The marriage was annulled months later due to the age of Aaliyah. – September 1994: Aaliyah’s debut album, “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number”, produced by Kelly, is certified platinum. (Aaliyah died in a plane crash seven years ago, at the age of 22.)

– November 1996: R. Kelly releases his third album “R. Kelly.” A month later, he joined Rockland Records. His song “I Believe I Can Fly” from the “Space Jam” soundtrack was second on the Billboard charts. That same year, he married 22-year-old Andrea Lee, a dancer on his tour. The couple has three children: Joanne, Jaya and Robert Jr.

– February 18, 1997: Tiffany Hawkins filed a complaint against Kelly regarding intentional sexual harassment and sexual harassment when she was a minor.

– January 1998: Hawkins’ lawsuit is due to end at $ 250,000.

– February 1998: Kelly won three Grammy Awards for “I Believe I Can Fly.”

– November 1998: His album “R.” hit shops. 6 million copies have already been sold.

– November 2000: His album “TP-2.com” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts.

-August 2001: Tracy Sampson sues Kelly, claiming that her sex is illegal under Illinois law because she is in an “authority position” over him. The case was apparently settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

– February 8, 2002: The Chicago Sun-Times reports that it received a videotape allegedly showing Kelly having sex with a minor. Newspapers said Chicago police began investigating allegations about Kelly and the same woman three years ago. The woman and her parents denied sex with Kelly at the time.

The same day the news appeared, Kelly performed at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

– June 5, 2002: Kelly is indicted in Chicago on charges of child pornography resulting in a sexual record. He was not guilty and was released on $ 750,000 bail.

– January 2003: Kelly was arrested at a Florida hotel on further charges of child pornography after investigators said they found photos of him having sex with a woman. The cases were later dropped after a judge ruled that police did not have permission to search Kelly’s house.

– February 18, 2003: Kelly’s album “Chocolate Factory” is released, which sold 538,000 copies in its first week. – July 2005: Kelly’s seventh solo album, “TP.3 Reloaded,” hit No. 1 spot on the Billboard map.

-September 2005: Andrea Kelly asks her husband for a protection order and accuses the singer of beating her when she said she wanted to divorce.

-February 2006: R. Kelly’s brother, Carey Kelly, says his brother offered him $ 50,000 and a recording contract to say he was a man in a sex video.

-29. May 2007: Kelly releases his album “Double Up”, which is on no. 1 in the Billboard album charts. – May 9, 2008: Kelly’s lawsuit over child pornography begins.

– June 13, 2008: Kelly was acquitted of all charges after less than a day of deliberations.

– January 8, 2009: Kelly and his ex-wife Andrea confirm that they have divorced after 11 years of marriage.

– July 12, 2011: Crain’s Chicago Business reports that JPMorgan Chase Bank has imposed a $ 2.9 million execution at Kelly’s headquarters in suburban Chicago. The spokesman said that the singer had no financial problems. – March 21, 2012: Kelly announces the release of her video series “Locked in a Closet”. The project began as five videos for his dramatic cliffhanger songs in 2007 and eventually expanded to several dozen musical chapters dealing with the network of sexual fraud. Kelly has worked with the IFC to present the old and new series and has played rap operas at events such as the Bonnaroo sing-along. There was talk of a show on Broadway.

– June 15, 2012: The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Kelly owes the IRS more than $ 4.8 million in return taxes.

– June 27, 2012: Kelly released her autobiography “Soulacoaster: The Diary of Me”, which focuses on her creative and family life instead of her legal issues. – September 29, 2012: Kelly was nominated for two Soul Train Awards, making her the most nominated work since the awards ceremony.

– March 18, 2013: Kelly’s headquarters, previously valued at more than $ 5 million, was sold for $ 950,000 at a payroll auction.

-17. July 2017: BuzzFeed announced parents’ claims that Kelly washed her daughters and hid them in a violent “cult.” One woman said she was ready to be with Kelly. Following the BuzzFeed report, activists launched the #MuteRKelly movement, calling for a boycott of his music. – February 13, 2018: Kelly was evicted from two homes in the Atlanta area with more than $ 31,000 in unpaid rent.

– April 30, 2018: The Time’s Up campaign joined the #MuteRKelly social media campaign and called for further research into Kelly’s behavior. Kelly’s camp replied, “We strongly oppose this attempt at the public murder of a black man who has made a significant contribution to our culture.”

– May 2018: Spotify removed R. Kelly’s music from its playlists and clarified its hate and hate content policies. Shortly afterwards, Apple and Pandora also stopped promoting their music. Kelly’s team insisted because he knew that other Spotify artists had been charged or convicted of the crimes.

-21. May 2018: Faith Rodgers, 20, filed a lawsuit accusing R. Kelly of sexual abuse, mental and verbal abuse, and intentionally causing herpes during one year of the relationship.

– One. 3, 2019: Lifetime presents the documentary “Surviving R. Kelly”, which returns to the old accusations against him and brings new ones to light. The series followed the BBC’s “R Kelly: Sex, Girls & Videotapes”, which was released last year and which stated that the singer is holding women against her will.

– One. 9, 2019: Lady Gaga says she will remove the duet with Kelly from streaming services. – One. 14, 2019: Faith Rogers says Kelly wrote to one of her lawyers last October, threatening to reveal embarrassing details about her sexual history if she did not withdraw her case in May 2018 and accused him of sexual abuse.

– One. 21, 2019: Several media outlets report that Kelly and her label, a subsidiary of Sony RCA Records, share their paths. Kelly continues to deny all allegations of sexual abuse. – February 6, 2019: Kelly announced a new tour outside the US via tweet and stated that she would go to Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. The tweet was later deleted following a response from Twitter users who urged fans not to buy a concert ticket.

– February 14, 2019: Attorney Michael Avenatti says he provided Chicago prosecutors with new video evidence that Kelly had sex with a minor girl and that it was not the same evidence Kelly had used in 2008. – February 22, 2019: Kelly was arrested and charged with 10 aggravating sexual abuse cases.

– February 25, 2019: Kelly’s lawyer does not blame the singer. Hours later, Kelly was released on bail and released from a Chicago prison. – March 6, 2019: CBS interview in which Kelly denies allegations of sexual abuse against her fury. The Cook County authorities later arrested Kelly after she told the judge that she could not repay the $ 161,000 maintenance she owed to the mother of her children.

-30. May 2019: Kelly was charged in Chicago with 11 new sexual charges. She involved one of the women who accused him of abusing her when she was a minor.

– July 11, 2019: Kelly was charged by a federal grand jury in Chicago with charges including child pornography, seduction of a minor and obstruction of justice. A separate indictment filed in eastern New York includes allegations of extortion, kidnapping, forced labor, and the sexual exploitation of a child. He was arrested again in Chicago.

-16. July 2019: A federal judge ordered Kelly to go to jail without bail after being warned by the plaintiff that she would put the girls at greater risk if they were released.

– Last. 2, 2019: Kelly does not admit to federal prosecutors who accused him of sexually abusing women and girls who attended his concerts, while his lawyers continue to label alleged victims who are dissatisfied as “groups.”

– Last. May 5, 2019: Kelly is charged with prostitution and harassment in Minnesota on charges of inviting a 17-year-old girl to his hotel room in 2001 and paying her $ 200 to dance naked with him.

– October 2, 2019: Kelly failed to confess to the case of sexual assault in New York after the judge agreed with prof.