40 million of R. Kelly's albums were sold.
R. Kelly . The Recording Industry Association of America ( RIAA ) has recognized R. Kelly as one of the best-selling music artists in the United States with 40 million albums sold as well as only the fifth black artist to crack the top 50 of the same list . Kelly has released 12 solo studio albums , and sold over 100 million records worldwide making him the most successful R&B male artist of the 1990s .