Shane MacGowan of 'Pogues' appeared for event in wheelchair

American songwriter-record producer R Kelly, Robert Sylvester Kelly, was sentenced to 30 years in prison on June 30 for leading a decade-klong effort to recruit and trap teenagers and women for sex. The sentence, stiffer than the 25 years in prison that prosecutors had sought, caps a long downfall for the 55-year-old former superstar. The singer has been in jail since July 2019. In September 2021, Kelly was found guilty of eight counts of sex trafficking and one of racketeering in a New York court.

For over two decades, Kelly faced several allegations of sexual abuse, accounts going back to the start of his career in the 1990s.

When Kelly was 27, he married Aaliyah at a secret ceremony in Chicago. The singer had lied about her age and listed herself as 18, but she was just 15 years old at that time. Vibe magazine later discovered Aaliyah's real age. The marriage was then annulled in February 1995. A former tour manager for Kelly later testified at his trial that he had bribed a government worker in 1994 to obtain a fake ID for Aaliyah so they could get married. In 2001, Aaliyah died in a plane crash.

In 1996, Tiffany Hawkins, the first girl to publicly accuse Kelly of sexual abuse, sued the singer for 10 million for the "personal injuries and emotional distress" she suffered during their three-year relationship.

In court filings, Hawkins said she started having sex with the singer in 1991 when she was 15. Rolling Stone reported that Hawkins had said that she "suffered personal injuries and severe emotional harm because she had sex with him and he encourage her to participate in group sex with him and other underage girls." The case was settled in 1998 for $250,000.

Kelly is charged with 21 counts of making child sexual abuse videos. Chicago police accused him of recording the acts and enticing a minor to participate in them. A video was anonymously sent to the Chicago Sun Times, who passed it on to police and that led to Kelly's arrest.

The singer, who was out on $750,000 bail immediately, denied the charges and later pleaded not guilty in court. It took six years for the case to come to trial where the jury eventually found Kelly not guilty on all counts as they could not prove if the girl on the tape was a minor.

Buzzfeed report in 2017 accused Kelly of trapping six women in a sex "cult". The article alleged that the singer seduced young girls who had come to him for help with their music careers. The singer was accused by three former employees and the parents of several women.

The detailed report by Buzzfeed opened a floodgate of allegations against the singer. Several women came forward and claimed that the singer coerced them into sexual encounters when they were underage, starved them and physically abused them. The #MuteRKelly campaign forced the music label RCA to sever ties with the singer. Meanwhile the singer sang "Only God can mute me" on a song called 'I Admit'.

However, around the same time Kelly was sued by a former partner who claimed he "intentionally gave her sexually transmitted disease".

Kelly was accused of two separate federal indictments in 2019. The allegations said that the singer and his associates recruited and transported underage girls over state lines for illegal sexual motives including production of child sex abuse pictures. According to reports, there were around 13 charges against Kelly, who was arrested by NYPD and Homeland Security officials.

In 2019, Minnesota authorities charged Kelly with two counts of prostitution and solicitation involving a case where he was accused of soliciting a teenager who asked him for an autograph in 2001. As per the allegations, Kelly invited the 17-year-old to his hotel room and offered her $200 to undress and dance with him.

Kelly was found guilty of all nine counts against him in September 2021, after a six-week trial revealed how he had used employees and intermediaries to lure fans and hopeful singers into sexually abusive and controlling conditions, including locking them in rooms without food or access to a bathroom for days. Federal prosecutors had asked for a sentence "in excess of 25 years", reflecting Kelly's continued danger to the public and apparent lack of remorse for using his fame to sexually and emotionally abuse alleged victims, many of them underaged.