R. Kelly on Aaliyah: “I loved her”
R. Kelly has confessed in an interview to being in love with late singer and actress Aaliyah.
The man dubbed the ‘King of R&B’ is alleged to have secretly and illegally married Aaliyah when she was 15-years-old…
In a rare interview with GQ magazine, R. Kelly opens up about his relationship with R&B star Aaliyah, who died in 2001, when her small plane crashed after takeoff in the Bahamas.
Their alleged marriage remains a contentious issue to this day. It’s believed that Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash 2001, got married to Kelly, who was 27-years-old at the time. She was only 15. Their marriage was annulled just over five months later.
Kelly told the magazine he was fascinated by Aaliyah’s music at first.
He says, “I heard first of all this soft voice, but very…a lot of charisma. And I saw her as a star the minute I heard her sing and dance. Saw her dance. She wasn't the greatest dancer, but the dance moves she was doing were different than the other dancers that I've seen on television. And I said, ‘This girl's gonna be a star, whether I work with her or not.’ ”
Kelly goes on to share how he really felt about Aaliyah but steered clear of their rumoured marriage.
“Out of respect for her mother who's sick and her father who's passed, I will never have that conversation with anyone. Out of respect for Aaliyah, and her mother and father who has asked me not to personally. But I can tell you I loved her, I can tell you she loved me, we was very close. We were, you know, best best best best friends.”
Watch this interview of Aaliyah and R.Kelly back from 1994: