R. Kelly won't perform at Ghana's Year of Return

The Steering Committee of the ‘Year of Return, Ghana 2019’ celebration has debunked media reports which claim that embattled American R&B singer will perform at one of their events.

A recent news report suggested that Kelly who is embroiled in widespread allegations of sexual abuse had been booked to perform at a concert as part of the Year of Return activities.

However, the Steering Committee in a statement said it has planned no such activity. The statement also advised the general public to disregard such publications.

“The Steering Committee of the Year of Return Ghana has taken notice of media publications that suggest that American R&B singer, more popularly known as R. Kelly is scheduled to come to Ghana to perform as part of the Year of Return activities," the statement said.

"The committee is unaware of any event which has Mr. Kelly billed to participate. Further, the committee has had no engagements with any event promoters/organisers regarding Mr. Kelly’s supposed performance in Ghana. The committee has not also endorsed any event featuring R. Kelly.”

R Kelly tours

R. Kelly announced new tour dates in a tweet Tuesday, but the tweet was later deleted.

The announcement promised shows in Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

No further details were offered.

The singer has been embroiled in renewed controversy in the wake of the recent Lifetime docuseries "Surviving R. Kelly," which chronicles allegations of abuse, predatory behaviour and paedophilia against the singer.

Kelly has consistently denied the allegations, some of which date back decades.

Kelly's attorney Steve Greenberg told CNN Wednesday he does "not believe that is accurate," when asked about the tour announcement.

In 2017, the #MuteRKelly movement began to encourage radio stations to stop playing the singer's music.

Since then it has expanded to protesting Kelly's shows and calling on various businesses, including RCA Records, Spotify and Apple Music to stop doing business with the singer.

Last month, Kelly and Sony -- the parent company of Kelly's record label, RCA Records -- reportedly agreed to part ways.
The singer has continued to book shows in recent months.

In November, the Tampa Bay Times reported that a planned protest of Kelly's concert on the campus of the University of South Florida never materialized.

"If there's anybody in here that feels they are going to be offended tonight, they need to leave, because it's about to get freakier than a mother," the paper reported the Grammy-winning artist as saying during his show.

Kelly's announcement of his new shows was met with both anger and support.

"Hopefully Kelz will do a tour here in Chicago or the USA he has fans who know he is #survivingGroupieLies," one person tweeted.

German company Eventim has promoted two concerts for Kelly in Germany in April.