The specter of Aaliyah has been hovering over R. Kelly since the first hours of his trial.
Sentenced on Wednesday June 29 to 30 years in prison for sexual exploitation, of young minors (in particular), the 54-year-old singer had to answer for one of the first scandals that tarnished his reputation: his illegal marriage proclaimed in 1994 with the child prodigy, Aaliyah, when she was only 15 years old.
If the contours of their meeting are still unclear for many, their story hit the headlines when the interpreter of the planetary tube
I Believe I Can Fly
, then 27 years old, began a relationship with the future rising star of R'n' B, who died in a 2001 plane crash.
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Musicals and TV shows
If at that time, R. Kelly was already a successful singer, Aaliyah took her first steps in the recording industry.
Coming from a modest Catholic family, the one who grew up in a working-class neighborhood of Detroit discovered a talent for music at a very young age.
At 5, she went on to musicals and television shows, always pushed by her parents Diane and Michael Haughton.
After a first experience on stage, in the musical
Annie
, at only 6 years old, and studies at Detroit High School, her uncle, producer Barry Hankerson, signs her on his label Blackground Records, when she reaches her 12 years. .
It is undoubtedly in the heart of these recording studios that she will cross paths with R. Kelly for the first time.
Three years later, in 1994, Aaliyah signed her first album called
Age Ain't Nothing But at Number,
which sold more than a million copies, in contribution with R. Kelly.
The teenage prodigy has just celebrated his 15th birthday, while the one who became his mentor is already 27. If the rumors of a relationship were already roaming the walls of the music industry, doubts are confirmed when, this same year the couple got married.
An enigmatic marriage, proclaimed on August 31, in a hotel room in Illinois.
All the more enigmatic that it will be canceled because of a false certificate attesting to the majority of the singer.
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Wife or victim?
According to the evidence unearthed during R. Kelly's trial, which took place in August and September 2021, the latter would indeed have paid a state official that year to obtain a false identity card.
This, in order “to marry a minor, designated as “
Jane Doe #1
” (
Aaliyah, editor’s note
) in the file”, reports AFP.
Was Aaliyah, like the other victims, under the influence of R. Kelly during this union?
Did he rape her when she was only 15?
If the singer has always proclaimed his innocence, calling it his "best friend", the prosecutors have put forward a completely different version.
Because all the testimonies collected tell that at that time R. Kelly had sex with the young girl and feared that she was pregnant.
A marriage thus places him as a legal guardian, giving him the possibility of giving his consent for her to have an abortion.
On September 1, 2021, Pastor Nathan Edmond, who united the two musicians, also testified before the New York court jury.
On the stand, the latter remembered the couple, dressed in tracksuits, before explaining how R. Kelly had made him sign a dubious non-disclosure agreement only ten minutes before the ceremony.
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Under pressure from the singer's parents and from the press, who made a big splash out of this sordid relationship, the marriage between R. Kelly and Aaliyah was finally annulled.
She went into exile in Europe then signed in 1996 with Atlantic Records.
His second album,
One in a Million
offers him collaborations with Missy Elliott or Justin Timberlake.
His last self-titled album
Aaliyah
, released in July 2001, sold 210,000 copies, was his last big hit.
Tragic destiny as the history of rock can write: the rising star of R'n'B dies a month after the release of the disc, in a plane crash in the Abaco Islands, in the Bahamas, where she returned to shoot a music video.