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Aaliyah Dana Haughton (January 16, 1979 — August 25, 2001, known professionally as Aaliyah, was an American R&B singer, dancer, model, and actress. She was a Grammy-nominated singer. Introduced to audiences by R&B singer R. Kelly, Aaliyah became famous during the mid-1990s with several hit records from the songwriting/production team of Missy Elliott and Timbaland, and their associate Steve "Static" Garrett.
Notable for recording several hit records, including several number one R&B hits, a number one pop hit, and nine top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. She also modeled for Tommy Hilfiger and starred in two motion pictures before dying in a plane crash in the Bahamas.
Early years
Aaliyah (pronounced as Ah-lee-yah) Dana Haughton was born in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York on January 16, 1979 to Michael and Diane Haughton, and was raised in Detroit, Michigan. Her name means "Highest, Most Exalted, The Best" in Arabic. Aaliyah was brought up as a Roman Catholic with her older brother Rashad Haughton. Her grandmother Mintis L. Hicks Hankerson, was mixed of African American and Native American descent. Diane Haughton, Aaliyah's mother, also a vocalist, encouraged Aaliyah's career. Her uncle, Barry Hankerson, is a prominent individual in the music industry and Aaliyah's aunt, through marriage to Hankerson, is Gladys Knight, a legendary soul singer with Gladys Knight & the Pips.
Aaliyah appeared on the TV talent show program Star Search at age ten, singing her mother's favorite song, "My Funny Valentine." Although she did not win, Aaliyah worked with an agent in New York and began to attend auditions for TV shows, including Family Matters.
Following her appearance on Star Search Aaliyah performed on stage in Las Vegas with Gladys Knight. In her early teens, Aaliyah attended the Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts, and graduated as a dance major with a 4.0 GPA.
Age Ain't Nothing But a Number (1994)
Aaliyah signed with her uncle Barry Hankerson's Blackground Records label in 1993 at the age of 14. She released her debut album, titled Age Ain't Nothing but a Number, in 1994 at the age of 15. R. Kelly Aaliyah's then husband was a leading songwriter and producer on her debut album. The album displayed her smooth and velvety vocals and the production work was said to be original and innovative. The album went platinum within months. The album featured the gold-selling singles "Back and Forth" (#1 U.S. R&B, 3 weeks and #5 Hot 100 ), "At Your Best" (#2 U.S. R&B and #6 Hot 100 ), a cover of The Isley Brothers' 1976 song, the album-titled single "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number" (#75 Hot 100 and #25 US R&B, 2 weeks), and "Down with the Clique" (#12 R&B Airplay, 3 weeks). "Back and Fourth" was sampled by Madonna for the track, "Inside of Me" which appears on her 1994 album Bedtime Stories. In June 1995, Aaliyah released another single to radio only, "No One Knows How to Love Me Quite Like You Do." The album has sold over 3.5 million copies in the U.S. to date and nearly 7 million worldwide.
In 1994, a rumor surfaced that 15-year old Aaliyah and 27-year old R. Kelly had secretly married in the state of Illinois. Both initially denied.
In 1995 at age 16, Aaliyah performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" live at an Orlando Magic basketball game.
One in a Million (1996)
One In A Million, Aaliyah's sophomore album, was chiefly written and produced by then unknowns Missy Elliott and Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley and released on August 27, 1996 when she was 17 years old. The album was a landmark in Aaliyah's career, garnering her mass critical acclaim and introducing Aaliyah's more mature side. It embarked the newfound chemistry of Aaliyah and Timbaland. The album was certified double-platinum within a year, making Aaliyah a major R&B star and igniting the successful careers of Missy Elliott and Timbaland. One in a Million featured the international smash hit "If Your Girl Only Knew" (number one U.S. R&B, 2 weeks and #11 Hot 100), "One In A Million," (#1 U.S. R&B airplay, six weeks), the #8 U.S. R&B and #9 Hot 100 single "The One I Gave My Heart To," a ballad written by Diane Warren, "4 Page Letter", "Hot Like Fire" (two versions) (#16 Radio-Play), and "Got To Give It Up".
Tommy Hilfiger gave Aaliyah her first endorsement deal. He signed Aaliyah onto print campaigns, runway shows, and a commercial. During this period, Aaliyah would also make guest appearances on albums by artists such as Missy Elliott, Timbaland & Magoo, Ginuwine and Playa. Timbaland and Playa's frontman Steve "Static" Garrett would remain Aaliyah's principal collaborators for the duration of her career. To date, One in a Million has sold over 3.7 million copies in the U.S. and over 11 million worldwide.
After the success of One in a Million in 1996 Aaliyah headlined in her own tour "The Hot Like Fire Tour", in which she toured various major city venues performing hits from the album.
Movie roles and soundtracks (1997 - 2001)
In 1997, Aaliyah appeared on the soundtrack album for the Fox Animation Studios animated feature Anastasia, singing the pop version of "Journey to the Past". The song was nominated for an Academy Award, and Aaliyah performed the song at the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony, becoming the youngest female recording artist to perform at the ceremony. Not only was Aaliyah the youngest female to perform but she was the youngest African American to have the nominee for Best Original Song.
Aaliyah had a hit in 1998 with "Are You that Somebody" (number one airplay U.S. eight weeks), the main single from the Dr. Dolittle soundtrack. Its video was the third most-played on MTV that year, and the song's success helped make Aaliyah a household name.
In 2000, she co-starred with Jet Li in the martial-arts film Romeo Must Die, which debuted at number one at the box office. Aaliyah and Timbaland executive produced the film's soundtrack album and Aaliyah contributed four songs: "Are You Feelin' Me?," "I Don't Wanna," "Come Back in One Piece," a duet with DMX, and the international number one hit "Try Again." Aaliyah made history once more when "Try Again" became the first song to ever reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 based solely on the strength of its radio airplay, without any single sales factored in. After the huge success of "Try Again" at radio, a 12" maxi single was released for consumer purchase. The radio-only single, "I Don't Wanna", (which was also featured on the soundtracks for the films Next Friday and Romeo Must Die) peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks chart.
In 2001, Aaliyah went to Australia to co-star with Stuart Townsend in the film Queen of the Damned, an adaptation of the Anne Rice novel of the same name. Aaliyah also recorded most of her third studio album, Aaliyah.
Aaliyah (2001)
"We Need a Resolution," the first single from Aaliyah's third studio album, was released April 24, 2001 (see 2001 in music). The self-titled Aaliyah was released three months later on July 17, 2001. The album was an instant critical success but sales were initially lower than expected, although they increased considerably after her death. Aaliyah introduced a darker and edgier side to Aaliyah's music and was noted as having showcased her growth as an artist. Around the time of the album's recording and release she had been filming Queen of the Damned, which helped her show a dark and edgy side as her character was a deadly villain. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 200,000 copies in its first week, and was certified gold (500,000 copies sold) within four weeks, before her death. The week after the plane crash it climbed to number one. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails was to produce a song on the album but scheduling conflicts did not permit the collaboration.
"More Than A Woman" and "Rock The Boat"
There was no shortage of confusion at the label regarding the next single from the Aaliyah album. Aaliyah had been promoting "More Than a Woman", having performed it twice and shooting a video with director Dave Meyers in the summer of 2001. According to Blackground, a remix featuring State Property and Jay-Z was also planned, but was scrapped due to lack of adequate funds. The video was to be released but "Rock the Boat" (the Female version of Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin") began receiving huge amounts of radio-play, so she was immediately sent to the Bahamas to shoot the video. The "Rock The Boat" music video was put in the 106 and Park hall of fame, making the countdown over 65 times and landed at #2 on BET's Top 100 videos of 2001. "More Than a Woman" made the number-one spot after "Rock the Boat" was retired. "Rock the Boat" was #2 U.S. R&B and #14 Hot 100 single. "I Care 4 U" was #3 U.S. R&B and #16 Hot 100 single. The album went on to sell over 8 million copies worldwide.
Death
On August 25, 2001, at 6:49 pm, just after wrapping up filming of the "Rock the Boat" video, Aaliyah and various members of her record company boarded a twin engine Cessna 402B (N8097W) at Marsh Harbour, Abaco Island, Bahamas to travel to Opa-locka Airport near Miami, Florida, but the plane crashed shortly after takeoff about 200 feet from the runway. Pilot Luis Morales III and all eight passengers, including Aaliyah, were killed in the crash. According to findings from an inquest conducted by the coroner's office in the Bahamas, Aaliyah suffered from "severe burns and a blow to the head," in addition to severe shock. The coroner theorized that, even if Aaliyah survived the crash, her recovery would have been virtually impossible given the severity of her injuries.
Aaliyah's eulogy was held on August 31 at Saint Ignatius Loyola Roman Catholic Church on East 84th Street in Manhattan. A horse-drawn carriage then carried her coffin to Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York, where she was initially interred in a crypt in the extension wing of the main mausoleum. When the Rosewood Mausoleum was completed a couple of years later, Aaliyah was moved to a private room in the new building. The inscription of her alias Baby Girl is engraved on her crypt.
Investigation
NTSB reports indicate that the pilot, Luis Morales III, was not qualified to pilot the plane he was attempting to fly. Morales falsely obtained his FAA license by showing hundreds of hours never flown, and he may also have falsified how many hours he had flown in order to get a job with his employer, Blackhawk International Airways. Additionally, an autopsy performed on Morales revealed cocaine and alcohol in his blood.
Further investigations determined the plane was over its total gross weight by several hundred pounds. Although witnesses claimed that the passengers had been asked to leave some luggage behind, it was later discovered that the passengers, including Aaliyah, had not been informed of the excess weight.
Eddie Golson, president of Pro Freight Cargo Services at Opa-locka Airport, said workers carted "a pickup truck of freight" from the crash site Monday. "That's absurd to think that this pilot got in this airplane with eight other people and a truck full of freight and expected this thing to fly," Golson said. "What the hell was going on?" A baggage handler was reported to have said that no one weighed the passengers or baggage. Two of the passengers, members of Aaliyah's entourage, weighed in the neighborhood of 300 pounds and sat in the rear of the plane, where the baggage was also stored.
The day of the crash was Mr. Morales' first official day with Blackhawk International Airways, a Part 135 single-pilot operation. He had been employed with Golden Airlines, from which he was fired only four hours before the fatal crash. In addition, Luis Morales III was not registered with the FAA to fly for Blackhawk. As a result of the accident, a wrongful death lawsuit was filed by Aaliyah’s parents and was later settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
Aaliyah: More Than A Woman (2001) by Christopher John FarleyBarry & Sons, Inc., a corporation formed in 1992 to develop, promote and capitalize on the musical talents of Aaliyah and to oversee the production and distribution of her records, tapes and music videos, brought an unsuccessful lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against Instinct Productions LLC, (a company hired by Barry & Sons, Inc. in August, 2001 to produce the "Rock the Boat" music video). The case was dismissed since New York State's wrongful death statute only permits certain people to recover damages for wrongful death.
| Latest news about Aaliyah |
Tribute to AaliyahIt seemed like yesterday I was getting the shocking news that Aaliyah had died. Aaliyah came on the seem like a freight train in 1994. Her album "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number," went platinum immediately. ... Continue reading
Aaliyah Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:55:15 PSTOn January 16th 1979 the World was blessed with the birth of Aaliyah Dana Haughton in Brooklyn New York. Aaliyah was raised by her father mother and brother Rashad in Detroit. At age 9 she appeared on... More at Perfect People - Wed, ... Continue reading
Mark R Thorne left a comment for Aaliyah Mustafa RobertsMark R Thorne Mark R Thorne left a comment for Aaliyah Mustafa Roberts. Continue reading
The Gossip vs. AaliyahThe Gossip does an amazing cover of my favourite Aaliyah song, Are U That Somebody. Ah! Which version is better?! * OK, so reunion tour rumours aside, some Led Zeppelin members ARE back in the studio. * "I see dead people"... on ... Continue reading
Aaliyah I Miss Uby Kitsons Dedication Theme 1 of 4: RIP Aaliyah 1979-2001. *hinges are I MISS U* Continue reading
Clash of the Cover Songs: Aaliyah vs. The GossipFiled under: Clash of the Cover Songs. Spinner.com: The Rules for Battle: Each week, we pit versions of the same song by two different artists in a head-to-head death match for musical supremacy. (Sometimes it will be the original ... Continue reading
AaliyahI’m late on this, but yesterday was the 7th anniversary of Aaliyah’s untimely death. Some of the best R&B songs ever came during her short career. She’ll always be missed. Aaliyah feat. Jay-Z - Miss You (Remix) Continue reading
Comment on Remembering Aaliyah by AlexAaliyah will always be One in a Million. What an awful tragedy that we lost such an amazing person and talent. I feel for her family and friends. I can only imagine the grief that they feel that they lost someone so special. ... Continue reading
That Grape Juice Remembers AaliyahToday marks 7 years since the tragic passing R&B star Aaliyah. As I am sure many of you know, at the tender age of 22, Aaliyah died in a plane accident in the Bahamas - an accident that claimed the life of 7 of her friends and workers. ... Continue reading
RIP AaliyahThis has to be one of my favorite songs and videos from Aaliyah. It has been 7 years since she has been gone. Gone but never forgotten. What was your favorite Aaliyah song? [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full ... Continue reading
Hollywood Actors Jessica alba Aaliyah pictures and Aaliyah biography
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