Today In Black History 2.25

1998 - R. Kelly's hit single "I Believe I Can Fly" win Best Male R&B Vocal, Best Song Written for TV or a Movie and Best R&B Song Grammy Awards. I Believe I Can Fly" is a 1996 song by R&B singer R. Kelly. The song was written, produced and performed by R. Kelly. It was featured in the 1996 motion picture Space Jam."I Believe I Can Fly" was #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the R&B Singles chart (for six nonconsecutive weeks), and number #1 in the United Kingdom. The song has since appeared on Kelly's 1998 album R. two years later upon that album's release. It has won three Grammys, and is ranked #406 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The song has been covered by Yolanda Adams, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Ruth Brown, James Ingram, William Hung, Ronan Keating, Bianca Ryan, and Tyler Carter of the band Woe, Is Me. Yolanda Adams sang it with Gerald Levert as a duet. Jim Carrey also sings it during an early scene in Fun with Dick and Jane (2005). Katharine McPhee, Anwar Robinson, and Aaron Kelly performed this song on American Idol. Patti Labelle sang the chorus of the song on her 1998 live album Live One Night Only as an addition to her signature tune "Over the Rainbow". Since its release, it has become commonly associated with the NBA, most notably with Michael Jordan. The song is more family-friendly than much of Kelly's other material.

"I Believe I Can Fly" was performed by the school band in the movie Drumline during the high school graduation ceremony of Devon Miles (Nick Cannon). In Ice Age: The Meltdown, Crash sings the song before he crashes in a tree. In Good Boy!, Wilson briefly sings the song while diving into a pool. R. Kelly performed the song at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards. In "Fun with Dick and Jane (2005 film)", Jim Carrey as Richard "Dick" Harper sings the song in an elevator.