I BELIEVE I CAN SAIL!

LONDON, UK (AP) - R&B superstar R Kelly will travel to the UK for his first live shows in almost six years on the massive cruise liner the QE2, dotmusic can exclusively reveal. Kelly, who is in the midst of a media black-out in America, following the death of his former wife Aaliyah, has an intense fear of flying and refuses to travel on planes.

However, it has also emerged that his UK record company Jive were on the verge of persuading Kelly to change the habits of a lifetime last July, when he agreed to fly on Concorde.
Just days later, the seemingly invincible sound-barrier breaking jet crashed just outside Paris, France, killing all on-board and has been out of service ever since.

A spokesman for Kelly today confirmed that he had agreed to make the six-day journey on the 75,000 tonne vehicle, arriving at Southampton in time for the Mobo Awards next month. "He has always had a fear of flying," the spokesman explained. "In the US, everything is done by tour bus. They have so much trouble with internal flights in America. It's a big thing amongst the urban artists. They hate using planes. So he agreed to come on the QE2 and we're delighted"
The spokesman said Kelly was "deeply saddened" by the death of Aaliyah, whose debut album 'Age Ain't Nothin' But A Number' he produced.

R Kelly, who topped charts across the world in 1996 with the single 'I Believe I Can Fly' plays the following UK shows:

Sep 29 - London Arena
Oct 2 - Manchester Evening News Arena
Oct 3 - Birmingham NEC.