CHICAGO — R&B singer R. Kelly, long trailed by lurid rumours, has been charged with aggravated sexual abuse involving multiple victims dating back two decades. A timeline of his life and career:
— Jan. 8, 1967: Robert Sylvester Kelly is born in Chicago to Joann Kelly, a school teacher. R. Kelly is third of four children and lives with his family in Chicago’s housing projects. Little is known about his father.
— 1975: At age 8, Kelly begins singing in church. Around the same time, his mother teaches him how Stevie Wonder sings by putting a nickel on the record player needle to slow down the revolutions.