For years, projections have placed R Kelly’s potential release date somewhere around 2045, and recent reporting suggests that timeline is now firmly in place. According to CBS News, the disgraced R&B singer, now 59, is scheduled to remain incarcerated for another 19 years, with December 21, 2045, listed as his projected release date. The report was later circulated by RapTV.
While the date itself has been known, its resurfacing has renewed attention on Kelly’s failed legal efforts to shorten his sentence. In August 2025, the Chicago native sought to disqualify the U.S. Attorney’s Office from his case, a move swiftly rejected by Judge Martha Pacold. In her ruling, Pacold strongly criticized the motion, calling it an extreme request that fell well short of the legal threshold required.
“To warrant such an extraordinary intrusion into the affairs of a coequal branch as the disqualification of an entire USAO, a defendant must make an equally extraordinary showing,” Pacold wrote. “Kelly’s motion does not meet that standard.”
Kelly has also sought a new trial and immediate home detention, both of which were denied. Those rulings appear to have extinguished any realistic path toward early release.
Since 2023, Kelly has been housed in a medium-security facility and has remained active behind bars. Court filings indicate he continues to challenge his convictions while also spending time writing and recording music.
Kelly is serving a 30 year federal sentence following his 2021 conviction in New York on charges including racketeering, sexual exploitation of children, forced labor, and sex trafficking. In 2022, he was further convicted in Chicago on three counts of producing child pornography and three counts of enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity.
With his appeals repeatedly denied and his sentence intact, the likelihood of Kelly leaving prison before 2045 now appears all but eliminated.