R. Kelly, wife separate

R&B; singer-songwriter R. Kelly and his wife, Andrea, have separated, and she has hired one of Chicago’s top divorce attorneys after being granted an emergency protective order this month accusing her husband of physical abuse, stalking, harassment and interfering with her personal liberty, MTV News reported.

R. Kelly released a statement saying that he was trying to work things out after “a heated argument,” adding that even though both have retained lawyers, “it’s not a divorce proceeding.”

The couple married in 1996 and have three children. R. Kelly is still awaiting trial in a 2002 child pornography case stemming from a videotape allegedly showing him having sex with an underage girl.

-- Randy Lewis