In January 1998, Mr. Kelly settled with the woman who had sued him, Tiffany Hawkins, after she gave a long deposition about the alleged abuse in court. The next month, he won three Grammys for his hit single “I Believe I Can Fly.”

In 2001 another lawsuit, filed by Tracy Sampson, accused Mr. Kelly of coercing her into sex when she was 17. The case was also settled out of court.

A video, and an indictment

In 2002, a video that appeared to show Mr. Kelly having sex with a teenage girl and urinating in her mouth was sent to Mr. DeRogatis at The Chicago Sun-Times, which reported that the footage was being investigated by the Chicago police.

The same year, The Chicago Tribune and The Sun-Times reported on two more lawsuits: one filed by a woman who claimed she was underage when Mr. Kelly impregnated her and forced her to have an abortion, and another by a woman who said she was videotaped during sex without her knowledge. Both suits were settled.

In June, after a police investigation into the video footage, Mr. Kelly was indicted by a grand jury in Chicago on 21 child pornography counts. He was arrested in Florida, where the police found more evidence. (The singer was charged with 12 more counts of child pornography, but those were later dropped.)

Mr. Kelly pleaded not guilty, and for more than five years his case did not make it to trial.

During that time he released albums including “Chocolate Factory,” which included the chart-topping song “Ignition (Remix),” and the gospel-influenced “Happy People/U Saved Me.”