Editing R. Kelly (section)

=== Turn toward music ===
[[File:Busker at Roosevelt Red Line Stop.jpg|thumb|As a teenager, Kelly began performing in public at [[Chicago "L"]] stations on the [[Red Line (CTA)]]]]
In September 1980, Kelly entered [[Kenwood Academy]] in the city's [[Hyde Park–Kenwood Historic District|Hyde Park-Kenwood]] district, where he met music teacher [[Lena McLin]], who encouraged Kelly to perform [[Stevie Wonder]]'s "[[Ribbon in the Sky]]" in the high school talent show.<ref name="Levin-2008">{{cite magazine|last=Levin |first=Josh |date=June 13, 2008 |title=Long Live the Little Man Defense! |url=https://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2008/06/long_live_the_little_man_defense.html |journal=[[Slate (website)|Slate]] |location=San Francisco  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618181149/http://www.slate.com/id/2193649 |archive-date=June 18, 2008 |access-date=June 30, 2024|url-status=live}}</ref> A shy Kelly put on sunglasses, was escorted onto the stage, performed the song, and was awarded first prize.<ref name="WBEZ Timeline"/><ref name="enotes">{{cite web|last=Frentner|first=Shaun|url=http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/kelly-r-biography| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090801131739/http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/kelly-r-biography| archive-date=August 1, 2009|title=Kelly, R.|publisher=eNotes.com|access-date=September 10, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://articles.latimes.com/1998/nov/29/entertainment/ca-48624/2|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|first=Dave|last=Hoekstra|title=The Righteous Brother: R. Kelly's ambitious album of genre-spanning songs finds influence from R&B predecessors such as Al Green and Donny Hathaway|date=November 29, 1998|access-date=April 18, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014164357/http://articles.latimes.com/1998/nov/29/entertainment/ca-48624/2|archive-date=October 14, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> McLin encouraged Kelly to leave the high school basketball team and concentrate on music. She said he was furious at first, but after his performance in the talent show, he changed his mind.<ref name="Chicago's Blues for R. Kelly">{{cite web|last=Boucher|first=Geoff|date=June 15, 2002|title=Chicago's Blues for R. Kelly|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jun-15-na-rkelly15-story.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200316003625/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jun-15-na-rkelly15-story.html|archive-date=March 16, 2020|access-date=March 15, 2020|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> Kelly was diagnosed with [[dyslexia]],<ref>{{Cite web|last=McKinney|first=Jessica|date=July 23, 2018|title=R. Kelly Opens Up About Sex Cult, Illiteracy And More On 19-Minute Track|url=https://www.vibe.com/music/music-news/r-kelly-addresses-sex-cult-girlfriends-listen-597565/|access-date=October 24, 2021|website=[[Vibe Magazine|Vibe]]|language=en-US}}</ref> which left him unable to read or write.<ref name="Marchese 2016">{{cite web|last=Marchese|first=David|date=January 7, 2016|title=The R. Kelly Problem|url=https://nymag.com/is-it-okay-to-listen-to-r-kelly/|url-status=dead|work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|quote=He grew up poor and functionally illiterate — owing to dyslexia — on Chicago's South Side, raised mostly by his mother|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818215729/https://nymag.com/is-it-okay-to-listen-to-r-kelly/|archive-date=August 18, 2016|access-date=September 27, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Heath-2016a"/> Kelly dropped out of high school after attending Kenwood Academy for one year.<ref name="DeRogatis-2019">{{Cite magazine |last=DeRogatis |first=Jim |date=June 3, 2019|title=R. Kelly and the Damage Done |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/r-kelly-and-the-damage-done |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |language=en-US |access-date=October 24, 2021}}</ref> He began performing in the subway under the [[Chicago "L"]] tracks.<ref name="DeRogatis-2019"/> He regularly [[Street performance|busked]] at the "L" stop on the Red Line's [[Jackson station (CTA Red Line)|Jackson station]] in the [[The Loop (CTA)|Loop]].<ref name="thecase"/>

In his youth, Kelly played basketball with Illinois state champion basketball player [[Ben Wilson (basketball)|Ben Wilson]]<ref name="thecase"/> and later sang "[[It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday]]" at Wilson's funeral.<ref>{{cite web|title=30 for 30: Benji - Summary|url=https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=see&p=96&item=114765|publisher=Paley Center|access-date=September 27, 2021}}</ref>