She was one in a million
Aaliyah Dana Haughton (January 16, 1979 August 25, 2001), better known simply as her stage name Aaliyah, was an American R&B singer, dancer, fashion model and actress. Introduced to audiences by R&B singer R. Kelly, Aaliyah became famous in her own right during the mid-1990s with several hit records from the songwriting/production team of Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott and Timbaland, and their associate Steve "Static" Garrett.
Notable for recording several hit records, including five number one R&B hits, one number one pop hit, and seven top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, Aaliyah sold over 24 million records worldwide during her career. The singer also modeled for Tommy Hilfiger and starred in two motion pictures before her death in a plane crash in 2001 at the age of 22.
Childhood and early career
Aaliyah (Ah-Lee-Yah) was born in Brooklyn, New York to Michael and Diane Haughton; one of her grandmothers was part Native American. Her name is Arabic (عالية) for the high and exalted. She grew up in Detroit, Michigan where she attended various schools including the Detroit High School for Fine and Performing Arts. Aaliyah signed with her uncle Barry Hankerson's Blackground label in 1993 and released her debut album, titled Age Ain't Nothing but a Number, in 1994. The album went platinum within months, and featured the gold-selling singles "Back and Forth" (number one U.S. R&B, 3 weeks), and "At Your Best (You Are Love)" (number two U.S. R&B), a cover of the 1976 Isley Brothers single. The album went on to reach double platinum status with sales of over two million copies in the U.S. and five million worldwide.
One in a Million (1996)
One in a Million, Aaliyah's sophomore album, was chiefly written and produced by then unknowns Missy Elliott and Tim "Timbaland" Mosley and released on August 27 1996. 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), "One in a Million," (number one U.S. R&B airplay, six weeks) and the top 10 U.S. R&B single "The One I Gave My Heart To," a ballad written by Diane Warren. The album also included "4 Page Letter" which also received significant airplay on U.S. pop and R&B radio.
Tommy Hilfiger took notice of Aaliyah's "street but sweet" image and gave Aaliyah her first endorsement deal. He immediately 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 million copies in the U.S. and eight million worldwide.
Romeo Must Die DVD cover[edit]
Movie roles and soundtracks
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 1997 Academy Awards ceremony, making history. Aaliyah became the youngest female recording artist to perform at the ceremony.
Aaliyah had a huge hit in 1998 with "Are You that Somebody" (number one U.S. R&B airplay, 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. The single was a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart.
In 2000, she co-starred with Jet Li in the martial-arts film Romeo Must Die, which debuted at number two 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," "Back in One Piece," a duet with DMX, and the international number one hit "Try Again." Aaliyah made history once again with her hit single "Try Again." It became the first song in history to ever reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 based solely on the strength of its radio airplay, without any single sales factored. 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", peaked at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number five 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. While filming Queen of the Damned, Aaliyah also recorded most of her third studio album, Aaliyah.
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Aaliyah (2001)
Aaliyah in the video for the 2001 single "We Need a Resolution""We Need a Resolution," the first single from Aaliyah's highly-anticipated third studio album, was released in April of 2001. The self-titled Aaliyah was released four months later on July 17, 2001. The album was a critical success, introducing a darker and edgier side to Aaliyah's music, and was noted as having showcased her growth as an artist. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, selling over 187,000 copies in its first week, and was certified gold (500,000 copies sold) within four weeks, before her death.
In the summer of 2001, Aaliyah filmed the video for Aaliyah's intended second single, "More than a Woman". After the video was completed, however, it was decided "Rock the Boat" should be the second single instead, and the "More than a Woman" video was temporarily shelved.
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Death
Aaliyah traveled to the Bahamas in August 2001 to film the "Rock the Boat" video with director Hype Williams. On August 25, 2001, at 6:45 pm, just after filming was completed, Aaliyah and 7 friends boarded a Cessna 402 small aircraft en route to Opa-Locka Airport in a suburb of Miami. The journey would have taken approximately 1 hour travel time. Instead, the plane nosedived while taking off and crashed in a marsh on the south side of the departure end of runway 27. All nine people aboard, including Aaliyah, the pilot and the other seven passengers, were killed.
She is interred in a private room in the Rosewood Mausoleum at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.
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Investigation
Saturday, August 25, 2001, the sensational entertainer Aaliyah, and eight others were killed in a plane crash. Apparently, a twin engine Cessna 402B (N8097W) illegally operated by Luis Morales III was departing Abaco Island in the Bahamas. It is believed that this aircraft was headed to Opa Locka, Florida when the ill fated flight suddenly crashed, shortly after takeoff killing everyone aboard. Reports have show that the pilot, Luis Morales III , lacked the skill level needed to safely operate this aircraft. Morales falsely obtained his license from Black Hawk Airways by showing hundreds of hours never flown, suggesting he was not qualified to pilot the plane in the first place. Additionally, an autopsy of the pilot, Luis Morales III, revealed cocaine and alcoholic beverage in his blood.
Further Investigators 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 the passengers were a hurry to get back to the states to catch a connecting flight and no one weighed the passengers or baggage.
The day of the crash, was Mr. Morales' first official day on the with Blackhawk International Airways. He had been employed with Golden Airlines in which he was fired 4 hours before the fatal crash. Blackhawk International Airways was authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration as a part single pilot operation. In addition, Luis Morales III was not registered with the FAA to fly for Blackhawk, nor was Blackhawk licensed as a multi pilot operation. However, with Morales acting as pilot in command of the Cessna 402B, this made the airline a multi pilot operation, which was a clear violation of the law, and FAA regulations. As a result of the accident, a wrongful death law suit was filed by Aaliyahs parents, and was later settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
Barry & 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 New York Supreme Court 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.
"Rock the Boat" went on to become a posthumous hit on radio (reaching number two on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles charts and number 14 on the Hot 100) and video channels, and the news of Aaliyah's death gave her album a notable sales boost, pushing it to number one on the Billboard 200. The album's two subsequent singles, "More than A Woman" reached number seven on Billboard's Hot R&B singles chart and number 25 on Hot 100. "I Care 4 U" reached number three on Billboard's Hot R&B singles chart and number 13 on the Hot 100, the latter attaining success even without the promotional push of a music video. the Aaliyah album went on to reach 3X platinum status, with sales of 3.0 million in the U.S. and six million worldwide.
Queen of the Damned was released in early 2002. Before its release, Aaliyah's brother Rashad was called upon to re-dub several of his sister's lines during the post-production ADR process. Upon its release, the film debuted at number one.
In 2002, a posthumous greatest hits collection, I Care 4 You, was released in Aaliyah's name. In addition to well-known hits, it also included six previously unreleased songs from the Blackground vaults Aaliyah had recorded over the course of her career, including "Miss You," which became the album's lead single. Its video features Missy Elliott, Toni Braxton, Lil' Kim, Dallas Austin, MTV presenter and close friend Ananda Lewis, actor Jamie Foxx, AJ, Free, Quddus, Tweet, U-God (of the Wu-Tang Clan) and DMX, among others, paying tribute to Aaliyah.
Aaliyah was to have had a supporting role as the wife of Harold Perrineau Jr.'s character, Link, in the two sequels to The Matrix; her role was ultimately filled by Nona Gaye. Other films in which Aaliyah was signed to star in were Honey (which instead was filmed with Jessica Alba as the star), and a Whitney Houston-produced remake of the 1976 film Sparkle. In addition, Aaliyah and one of her agents had pitched and inked a deal with Fox Searchlight Pictures for her to star in a film based upon a true story about interracial love.
Since her death she has been mentioned in many songs in recent years by other rappers and singers, such as Yolanda Adams, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliot, Jadakiss. In Jadakiss' 2004 single, "Why", he mentions Aaliyah's fateful plane crash by rapping the line "...why Aaliyah had ta take dat flight..."
Rumors are floating around that a biopic about Aaliyah will be filmed, starring Destiny Lightsy (dancer) as Aaliyah.
I have more pix but I couldn't post them all!
I'll do it later!
