Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of sex crimes. Reader discretion is advised.
R Kelly‘s catalog worth is estimated to be in the millions despite his crimes and convictions that landed him in jail. Billboard estimated the convicted sex offender’s catalog worth is up to $37 million currently. Reportedly, the assessment is based on the three-year average sales and stream. Based on the latest estimate, R Kelly’s catalog worth is $2.3 million annually.
Lifetime’s Surviving R Kelly looks into the R&B singer’s crimes over the past two decades and his convictions. Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, is serving a 30-year prison sentence in North Carolina’s FCI Butner Medium I today. His first conviction came in 2021 on sex trafficking and racketeering charges. His second conviction, in 2022, was on counts of production of child pornography and enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Has R Kelly’s catalog worth dropped since his arrest?
According to The Sun, R Kelly’s catalog worth has dipped since his arrest in 2019 despite his global hits over the years. Complex reported in 2021 that Billboard revealed Kelly’s catalog produces about $1.7 million annually in the United States. R Kelly’s crimes, allegations against him, and the #MuteRKelly campaign directly impacted the worth of his catalog.
R Kelly and his team reportedly tried to sell his catalog after facing trial on sex trafficking and racketeering charges in 2021. Merck Mercuriadis, the founder of Hipgnosis Songs Fund and CEO of The Family (Music) Ltd., said, “It has been offered to me a number of times by his team, and of course, I’ve said no for the obvious reasons.”
According to BBC, R Kelly’s first trial began in August 2021 in Brooklyn. Then, in September, a jury convicted him eight counts of eight counts of sex trafficking and one count of racketeering. R Kelly received a 30-year prison sentence, and while serving time in jail, he was again convicted.
The R&B singer’s second trial took place in August 2022 in Chicago and resulted in another conviction. The jury found him guilty of three counts of production of child pornography and three counts of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, reported CNN. He received another prison sentence of 20 years, which runs simultaneously with the previous term.
The Sun stated that R Kelly’s catalog worth estimate was somewhere between $8.4 million and $10.5 million before his conviction. In April 2024, Billboard’s estimated worth of the catalog was $21 million.
