Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Entertainment
Entertainment

R. Kelly Health Emergency Forces Book Event Cancellation

By | Published on June 27, 2012 | Updated on June 28, 2012 12:50 AM EDT
CommentsComments (0) Add ABS as a preferred source on Google i

R&B singer R. Kelly cancelled a book launch today in New York today because of a health emergency, according to reports.

The singer was scheduled to be in New York today to promote his memoir, “Soulacoaster: The Diary of Me,” which debuts tomorrow from SmileyBooks.

The singer’s rep told TMZ that the New York appearance by Kelly was nixed “due to a health emergency that has sidelined Mr. Kelly in Chicago.”

The Web site subsequently reported that “initial indications” were that the health problem arose because Kelly was “suffering from complications from surgery he had last year to treat an abscess on his vocal cords.”

TMZ reported that, “It is unclear how long Kelly may be sidelined.”

Rolling Stone ran an excerpt of the book Tuesday, including a chapter in which Kelly recalls meeting the rappers Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, before they were both murdered.

“The death of Biggie in 1997 hit me just as hard as Tupac’s death the year before,” Kelly writes in the book. “Another genius went down for reasons I never understood – and still don’t.

The ABS Newsletter — Stories that matter, in your inbox.

Independent journalism still matters.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Latest from Atlanta Black Star

Back to top