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R. Kelly Cancels Appearances Due to Health Emergency

Complications from vocal cord surgery nixes R. Kelly's book launch promo events.

R. Kelly is grounded at home in Chicago after suffering complications from the vocal-cord surgery he had last year. The three-time Grammy winner has canceled a book launch event in New York as well as an appearance on the Today show and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, TMZ first reported.

Kelly was set to promote his new autobiography, Soulacoster: The Diary of Me, as well as his new album, Write Me Back, but was unable to travel due to the "health emergency," according to his reps.

Last July, the Pied Piper underwent emergency throat surgery to remove an abscess from his vocal chords. At the time, he had complained of severe throat pain. Reps for Kelly said yesterday it was unclear how long it would be before he regained his health.

"We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused," they said.

Soulacoster is Kelly's first book and tells his life story from childhood to unparalleled success as an R&B writer, singer and producer. Though it leaves out details of his sex scandals and infamous child pornography trial in 2008, the book reveals the stories behind hits like "I Believe I Can Fly" and "I'm Your Angel" in addition to going into details about his rift with Jay-Z and collaborations with the Notorious B.I.G. and Michael Jackson. Arriving in stores today [June 28], Soulacoster has been praised by the Associated Press as "a vivid and entertaining journey that reveals much about the musical engine of a true artist."

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