R. Kelly Speaks about Michael Jackson

R. Kelly concludes his recent Ladies Make Some Noise Tour this weekend and said the trek has been a blessing.
"It was a thrill. I hadn't been on the road in, like, two or three years, expressing myself live," he told MTV News recently. Kelly also said the most exciting part of the tour is hearing the screams, seeing his fans and feeling the unity.

One of the highlights of the concert is Kelly's tribute to the late Michael Jackson.
"Michael Jackson being gone is like our breath, our musical breath, being taken away," Kelly says in his videotaped message. "But I'm not gonna let him die."

Then home-movie footage of Jackson and director Brett Ratner dancing in a vehicle to the sounds of Kells' "Ignition" appears on the screen. R. told us that the King of Pop wanted a song like it of his very own.

"Michael told me one day, he said, 'I wanna know if you can write a song like "Ignition" for me — I love that song,' " Kelly explained. "I was like, 'Mike, man, "Ignition" is not a "Thriller," but much like "Thriller," those type of songs will probably never happen [again]. It'll never happen again. I'm sorry.' "

But Kelly was extremely humbled when he saw Jackson dancing to "Ignition" and felt compelled to put the footage in his show.

"I cried the first time I saw him on YouTube, and I couldn't believe he was in the backseat of the car. He was jamming [to my song]," he said. "You can tell he was into it. He was feeling it. It was like, 'Wow, he's doing my music. He's singing to my music.' It was unbelievable. I knew I made it when I saw that. You can sing songs forever. I've written a lot of songs, and they went around the world. I've won all types of awards, but let me tell y'all something — nothing, nothing told me, I didn't know I made it until I saw Michael Jackson in the back of that car performing and dancing to my song 'Ignition.' That's when it became official. I've been in the game 20 years, but that's when it became official to me that Kells is here, baby, for real."

The video homage to Jackson segues into a montage of Michael's performances and videos. Kelly sings, "Don't say goodbye to me/ There is no need to/ Don't say goodbye to me, because I'm still with you/ Don't say goodbye to me, don't shed a tear/ Because I'm still here/ Go light a candle and say a prayer/ Scream out victory, 'cause love is still there."

"I do dedicate a segment of the show to Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson is one of the biggest reasons R. Kelly is in the game right now. It's amazing," he explained.

Kelly sped up his wardrobe change so that he could watch the video every night from backstage.

"It made me feel like he was still alive," Kelly smiled. "It made me feel like I still have the chance to go to the level that Michael took it to. It brings me back to what real music is and how it touches and pierces the soul. That's what my mission is."

i love that video of him dancing to ignition it's cute

lucylovesmjforever wrote:i love that video of him dancing to ignition it's cute

Haha! Me too. I actually like R. Kelly. He is really underrated. He's actually a really good guy.

lucylovesmjforever wrote:i love that video of him dancing to ignition it's cute

I LOVE that video too of Michael dancing in the car. What a nice thing for R.Kelly to do during his shows. And that statment he made, "Michael Jackson being gone is like our breath, our musical breath, being taken away," Wow.. I think he hit the nail on the head. It really does feel like someone punched me in the stomach and I had the wind taken out of me.

Thank you for sharing this interview.

Rpoppert wrote:

lucylovesmjforever wrote:i love that video of him dancing to ignition it's cute

I LOVE that video too of Michael dancing in the car. What a nice thing for R.Kelly to do during his shows. And that statment he made, "Michael Jackson being gone is like our breath, our musical breath, being taken away," Wow.. I think he hit the nail on the head. It really does feel like someone punched me in the stomach and I had the wind taken out of me.

Thank you for sharing this interview.

Yes, Michael's death was such a shock to everyone. I really thought Michael would out live me and there a 34 year difference between us. Well I guess he kind of will because off his music. I just still can't believe he's gone.

AlyssaLovesMichael wrote:

Rpoppert wrote:

lucylovesmjforever wrote:i love that video of him dancing to ignition it's cute

I LOVE that video too of Michael dancing in the car. What a nice thing for R.Kelly to do during his shows. And that statment he made, "Michael Jackson being gone is like our breath, our musical breath, being taken away," Wow.. I think he hit the nail on the head. It really does feel like someone punched me in the stomach and I had the wind taken out of me.

Thank you for sharing this interview.

Yes, Michael's death was such a shock to everyone. I really thought Michael would out live me and there a 34 year difference between us. Well I guess he kind of will because off his music. I just still can't believe he's gone.

Me either. There are days it still just doesn't seem real that he is gone. Yes, he will live on through his music. But it saddens me to no end, to not ever see him perform live again. It's just so wrong. I know so many of the legends seem to die young, but just never ever conceived that Michael would be one of them. I feel like we've been so robbed. And, more importantly he's been robbed. Of that comeback, I know that would have been spectacular. And, he's been robbed of life with his children. I will always be grateful for all he gave to us for all of these years. But, I will always miss what will never be.

Rpoppert wrote:
Me either. There are days it still just doesn't seem real that he is gone. Yes, he will live on through his music. But it saddens me to no end, to not ever see him perform live again. It's just so wrong. I know so many of the legends seem to die young, but just never ever conceived that Michael would be one of them. I feel like we've been so robbed. And, more importantly he's been robbed. Of that comeback, I know that would have been spectacular. And, he's been robbed of life with his children. I will always be grateful for all he gave to us for all of these years. But, I will always miss what will never be.

Yes I know. It just doesn't seem real. I hate to go all conspiracy theorist on you, but we aren't being told something(s). Some of this just doesn't add up. I'm NOT saying that I don't think he's dead, because I don't think he could be hiding if he was still alive. I just don't know. It's so confusing. It doesn't make sense. I wish I was as obsessed with him as I am now back when I was younger.

Just wondering from your comment it seems like you saw him live. Did you? I didn't... I wish I did. =/

AlyssaLovesMichael wrote:

Rpoppert wrote:
Me either. There are days it still just doesn't seem real that he is gone. Yes, he will live on through his music. But it saddens me to no end, to not ever see him perform live again. It's just so wrong. I know so many of the legends seem to die young, but just never ever conceived that Michael would be one of them. I feel like we've been so robbed. And, more importantly he's been robbed. Of that comeback, I know that would have been spectacular. And, he's been robbed of life with his children. I will always be grateful for all he gave to us for all of these years. But, I will always miss what will never be.

Yes I know. It just doesn't seem real. I hate to go all conspiracy theorist on you, but we aren't being told something(s). Some of this just doesn't add up. I'm NOT saying that I don't think he's dead, because I don't think he could be hiding if he was still alive. I just don't know. It's so confusing. It doesn't make sense. I wish I was as obsessed with him as I am now back when I was younger.

Just wondering from your comment it seems like you saw him live. Did you? I didn't... I wish I did. =/

I only ever saw him once, way back during the Victory Tour. I am so glad I got to see him. I wanted to go to The Bad Tour, but as a college student, I either couldn't go, or couldn't afford it. And, with not having internet then, I think I heard about the tour much too late to even get tickets.

My parents however.. besides The Victory Tour, did get to see him also at the Oscars with Madonna, and when he performed at the SuperBowl. I was quite jealous, and so wished I had been there. But, i am grateful for the Victory Tour. I was seriously trying to figure out, how to plan my vacations, so that I could maybe get to London for This Is It. Wasn't sure how I was going to get tickets, but, I really wanted to go.

I miss him.

Rpoppert wrote:
I only ever saw him once, way back during the Victory Tour. I am so glad I got to see him. I wanted to go to The Bad Tour, but as a college student, I either couldn't go, or couldn't afford it. And, with not having internet then, I think I heard about the tour much too late to even get tickets.

My parents however.. besides The Victory Tour, did get to see him also at the Oscars with Madonna, and when he performed at the SuperBowl. I was quite jealous, and so wished I had been there. But, i am grateful for the Victory Tour. I was seriously trying to figure out, how to plan my vacations, so that I could maybe get to London for This Is It. Wasn't sure how I was going to get tickets, but, I really wanted to go.

I miss him.

Wow cool! I wish I was older when Invincible came out so I could have went to the CD signing in NYC. They I could have met him and asked him for a quick hug. =/ Dang :'(

AlyssaLovesMichael wrote:

Rpoppert wrote:
I only ever saw him once, way back during the Victory Tour. I am so glad I got to see him. I wanted to go to The Bad Tour, but as a college student, I either couldn't go, or couldn't afford it. And, with not having internet then, I think I heard about the tour much too late to even get tickets.

My parents however.. besides The Victory Tour, did get to see him also at the Oscars with Madonna, and when he performed at the SuperBowl. I was quite jealous, and so wished I had been there. But, i am grateful for the Victory Tour. I was seriously trying to figure out, how to plan my vacations, so that I could maybe get to London for This Is It. Wasn't sure how I was going to get tickets, but, I really wanted to go.

I miss him.

Wow cool! I wish I was older when Invincible came out so I could have went to the CD signing in NYC. They I could have met him and asked him for a quick hug. =/ Dang :'(

Yes, that would have been awesome. I wish I could have met him and gotten a hug from him just once.

Rpoppert wrote:
Yes, that would have been awesome. I wish I could have met him and gotten a hug from him just once.

Don't we all? But I would prefer hugging him multiple times daily. xD