Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly will not have his Grammy awards revoked, at least not yet.
Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. recently denounced the rumors that the singer’s three Grammys have been revoked, following his conviction on sex trafficking charges. “I think it’s something that we’re going to need to take a good hard look at, have a lot of conversations about, work through and make a decision,” Mason said.
In 1997, the “Ignition” singer won Grammys in three separate categories for his hit “I Believe I Can Fly,” a single from the Space Jam soundtrack.
“But right now, I think it’s something that is going to take a little bit more consideration before we can really dictate or decide,” Mason added. “My initial feeling is we’re probably not a business that we want to be in of taking people’s awards back after they’ve been given. But we’ll take a good look at it and see.”
Last month, the artist was convicted of one count of racketeering, with 14 underlying acts that included sexual exploitation of a child, bribery, kidnapping, and sex trafficking charges, REVOLT reported.
He was also convicted of eight counts of violations of the Mann Act—a sex trafficking law making it illegal to transport anyone across state lines “for any immoral purpose.” Kelly is scheduled to be sentenced on May 4, 2022. He potentially faces ten years to life in prison.
Despite his conviction, Kelly’s music sales significantly spiked. He saw “double-digit growth” in streams and “triple-digit growth” in sales, Rolling Stone reported.
Between Sept. 27 to Oct. 3, Kelly’s on-demand audio plays also increased by 22 percent, while his video streams increased by 23 percent and his album sales surged by 517 percent.
On top of that, his streams jumped from 11.2 million to 13.4 million.
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