With demonstrators standing outside his North Carolina concert, R. Kelly summoned his passionate fans to carry him through what has been a difficult week. Interspersing references to God with his suggestive lyrics and salty language, Kelly stirred up a crowd inside the Greensboro Coliseum on Friday to buoy him as he encountered long-standing allegations of mistreatment of women and an effort to get coliseum officials to cancel the concert.
"Sometimes, some storms ain't gonna stop," Kelly told the audience during his nearly one-hour performance. "As long as my fans are calling for me, I'm gonna be on that stage, singing these songs."
Well after his performance, however, the storms that started before he arrived continued to roil.
Women's groups had urged the Greensboro Coliseum to cancel, days after Kelly was disinvited from a concert in Chicago. Spotify announced it would no longer stream his music in its curated playlists.
Although it didn't announce the move, Apple's music-streaming service also has stopped promoting Kelly's music on some of the featured playlists that it shows its 40 million subscribers. Like Spotify, Apple Music still carries an extensive selection of Kelly's songs in its library. Kelly, who denies abusing anyone and faces no current criminal charges, thanked his fans, "for y'all to fight for me all these years. … "I've been through a lot of [expletive] this week."
Associated Press
