What is R Kelly’s net worth?

R. Kelly, the American singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer, once had a net worth in the tens of millions, perhaps as high as $100 million. However, his current net worth stands at negative $2 million. His financial troubles include owing nearly $1.9 million to the IRS alone, in addition to other creditors.

In the 1990s, R. Kelly was extremely popular and successful, earning the nickname “King of R&B” and “the pied piper of R&B.” He released a string of hits, including “Bump n’ Grind,” “I Believe I Can Fly,” and “Trapped in the Closet,” selling nearly 40 million albums in the United States and another 54 million worldwide. He received 24 Grammy nominations and won three awards.

However, R. Kelly is equally as famous for his controversial personal life as he is for his musical achievements. He has been convicted of sex trafficking, child pornography, and racketeering, resulting in a 30-year prison sentence. Another pending sentencing could add many more years to that sentence.

Early Life and Career of R. Kelly

Robert Sylvester Kelly was born in 1967 in Chicago and left high school to pursue music. He gained recognition after winning a $100,000 prize on the talent show Big Break and signed with Jive Records in 1991. Kelly’s group Public Announcement released their album “Born into the 90s” in 1993.

R. Kelly’s Career Highlights

R. Kelly released his solo debut “12 Play” in November 1993, which eventually went six times platinum thanks to the hit single “Bump n’ Grind.” He also began producing records for other artists around the same time.

Kelly produced and wrote Aaliyah’s entire debut album, which went double platinum and produced several hit singles.

He wrote hit songs for other artists, including Michael Jackson’s “You Are Not Alone” and Celine Dion’s “I’m Your Angel.”

Kelly’s album “R. Kelly” sold four million copies in 1995, and his single “I Believe I Can Fly” topped the charts and won three Grammy Awards.

He released a series of multi-platinum albums in the 2000s and the multi-part hip-hop opera Trapped in the Closet.

Kelly has won dozens of awards, including three Grammys, several AMAs, a BET award, and many Billboard awards. He has also participated in 12 official tours around the world from 1994 to 2013.

His most recent albums “Black Panties” and “The Buffet” were released in 2013 and 2015, respectively.

R. Kelly’s Controversial Relationships

In 1994, R. Kelly secretly married singer Aaliyah, who was only 15 years old at the time. The two reportedly had a sexual relationship starting when Aaliyah was just 13 or 14 years old, while R. Kelly was around 26 years old. The marriage was annulled in 1995.

Afterward, R. Kelly married dancer Andrea Lee in 1996, and the couple had three children before divorcing in 2009.

R. Kelly’s Unpaid Taxes

In 2012, it was revealed that R. Kelly owed $4.8 million in unpaid taxes to the IRS. The amounts owed by year were reported as:

• 2005: $1,472,366.77
• 2006: $710,520.51
• 2007: $1,122,694.90
• 2008: $173,815.18
• 2009: $992,495.35
• 2010: $1,296,601.00

This unpaid tax bill contributed to the decline of R. Kelly’s net worth, which could have reached $50-100 million if not for his legal issues and financial mismanagement.

R. Kelly’s Financial Troubles and Legal Issues

In July 2018, R. Kelly released a 19 minute song on Spotify where he addressed many of his allegations. On this song, Kelly claimed to be broke and needs to tour “just to pay rent”. He also admits to owing the IRS $20 million at one time and being forced to borrow several million dollars from his label to pay bills.

In January 2019, Chicago building inspectors were granted the right to search R. Kelly’s recording studio after receiving reports that the structure had undergone multiple renovations without permits. R. Kelly does not own the studio, he has rented it since 2017. The 8,000 square-foot building was actually listed for sale at the time of the inspection for $4 million. At the same time, the building owner had filed a lawsuit against R. Kelly seeking unpaid rent.

On January 14, R. Kelly’s record label RCA/Sony revealed that they were putting all of his future music releases on hold, effectively freezing Kelly out of earning more money. At this time he owes RCA/Sony two more albums on his most recent record contract. RCA/Sony has also refused to provide money for new music videos.

In late February 2019, R. Kelly was arrested on a series of new charges. His bail was set at $1 million, which could have been satisfied with a $100,000 payment. Unfortunately Kelly was so cash-poor that it took several days for him to come up with the money. In fact, it was reported that the $100,000 actually came from a woman named Valencia Love whose precise relationship to R. Kelly is unclear. While Kelly was in jail his ex-wife Andrea filed a suit seeking $160,000 worth of unpaid child support.

R. Kelly’s Real Estate Ventures

In 1994, R. Kelly bought an 8,400 sq ft mansion in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood for $1.107 million and sold it in 2002 for $2.25 million. He also purchased a 4-acre lakefront property in the Chicago suburbs and built a 14,000 sq ft mansion called “the Chocolate Factory” in 1997.

The property was appraised at $5.2 million in 2009 but in 2011, JP Morgan Chase bank began foreclosure proceedings on the property as Kelly had not made a mortgage payment in a year. The bank bid $950,000 on the home at the foreclosure auction held in March 2013, and later sold it for $587,500 in November 2013.

Kelly’s other properties, including a home in Atlanta and a condo in Chicago’s Trump International, were leased. However, in 2018, he was evicted from two Atlanta homes for failing to pay over $30,000 in back rent and fees.

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