R. Kelly
Early life
Kelly played basketball with the late Illinois state champion basketball player Ben Wilson and sang "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" at Wilson's funeral. An undiagnosed and untreated learning disability, believed to be dyslexia, left Kelly unable to read or write. He dropped out of high school and as a teenager, Kelly began street performing under the Chicago Transportation Authority "El" tracks and eventually formed a group with friends Marc McWilliams, Vincent Walker and Shawn Brooks. In 1989, they formed the group MGM (Musically Gifted Men). In 1990, MGM recorded and released one single "Why You Wanna Play Me"; after its release the group disbanded. In 1991, Kelly signed with Jive Records. Kelly was extremely close to his mother Joanne, who took him with her to church and a local club where she performed. She died from cancer in 1993. He would later name his eldest daughter after her.
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