Aaliyah Dana Haughton (January 16, 1979 ? August 25, 2001), better known as
Aaliyah, was an American singer, dancer, actress, and model. 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. Aaliyah soon joined Timbaland's R&B and hip hop collective, the Superfriends Clique. She, Brandy and Monica were considered as "the holy trinity of young R&B starlets".
[http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1488121/20040602/brandy.jhtml]She was the top selling female of all time in pop, with numerous number of hits.She is notable for recording several hit records, including several number one R&B hits, a number one pop hit, and five top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Despite her short career she sold 40 million records in the US and 120 million records worldwide. In addition to commercial success, her collaborations with Timbaland are thought to have significantly helped to shape the sound of R&B in the latter half of the 1990s.
[http://wc03.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:fxfwxqe5ldde~T1] She also modeled for Tommy Hilfiger and starred in two motion pictures before her death in a plane crash in the Bahamas.
[ Aaliyah Killed In Plane Crash MTV News]She was voted number 5 in the top riches female r&b star with a estimate of 48 million in the year 1996.
Early years
Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, New York to Michael and Diane Haughton, and was raised in Detroit, Michigan. Her name means "Highest, Most Exalted, The Best" in Arabic language.
[ Origin and Meaning of the Name Aaliyah Accesed September 26, 2007] Her maternal Grandmother, Mintis L. Hicks Hankerson, gave her the middle name Dana. Aaliyah was brought up as a Catholic with her older brother Rashad Haughton. Her maternal Grandmother was of African American and Native American descent. Diane Haughton, Aaliyah's mother, also a vocalist, encouraged her daughter's career.
When she was in elementary school she was in the play Annie. Her role was an orphan and her line was "You're gonna get the paddle." Aaliyah on a tour performed in Las Vegas, Nevada with Gladys Knight, her aunt by way of Gladys' marriage to Barry Hankerson. Gladys' said "People saw this shy skinny girl but when she began to sing, they paid attention." She also mentioned that Aaliyah was very attentive and eager to learn. Gladys remembered a brief conversation she had with Aaliyah. Gladys: "Liyah, you ready to sing?" Aaliyah: "Yes, auntie Gladys." (From the E! Hollywood True Story)In 1991, She appeared on the TV talent show
Star Search at age ten, singing her mother's favorite song, "My Funny Valentine". Although she did not win, she remained a good sport and continued to perfect her skills. 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, Nevada with Gladys Knight, her aunt by way of Gladys' marriage to Barry Hankerson. 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. Dana also choreography for the school marching band and also were considered as the captain.
Age Ain't Nothing But a Number
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, was a leading songwriter and producer on her debut album. The album went platinum within months. The album featured the gold-selling singles "Back and Forth hit number one for 8 weeks", "At Your Best hit number 2 for 10 weeks," "Down With The Clique," and the album-title single "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number." The album reached triple diamond in the year 1995.
In 1995, a rumor surfaced that 15-year old Aaliyah and 27-year old R. Kelly had secretly married. Both camps initially denied the rumor, but
VIBE magazine magazine published a copy of their marriage license, which showed that Aaliyah's age had been falsely listed as eighteen. Some claim that this is the reason why the album's third single, "Age Ain't Nothing but a Number", made it to number seventy-five on the Billboard Hot 100. Following this Aaliyah seperated from Kelly and all future music was with Missy and Timbaland. The marriage was annulled a few months later.
One in a Million
One In A Million, Aaliyah's second album, was chiefly written and produced by then-unknowns Missy Elliott and Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley. One in a Million was released on August 27, 1996 when Aaliyah was 17 years of age. The album became a landmark in Aaliyah's career, garnering her mass critical acclaim. 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 hits; "If Your Girl Only Knew" hit number one for two weeks "One In A Million hit number one for six weeks", "Got to Give It Up", "4 Page Letter", "Hot Like Fire", and "The One I Gave My Heart To".
To date,
One in a Million has sold over 7 million copies in the U.S. and over 11 million worldwide.
Aaliyah
"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.
Aaliyah introduced a darker and edgier side to Aaliyah's music and was noted as having showcased her growth as an artist and has claimed that Her 3rd effort is Her version of Control. 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 2 million copies in its first week, and was certified gold (25 million copies sold) within 10 weeks before her death. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails was to produce a song on the album but scheduling conflicts did not permit the collaboration. I Care 4 U is the fourth and final single from the album.
Further Aaliyah promotion
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 Jay-Z was also planned, but was scrapped due to her death. The video was to be released but "Rock the Boat" 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 & Park: BET's Top 10 Live hall of fame, making the countdown over 75 times and landed at #2 on BET's "Notarized" Top 100 videos of 2001. The album went on to sell over 21 million copies in it's fourth week sell..
I Care 4 U
I Care 4 U was released on December 10, 2002. Along with her hit singles, a number of previously unreleased tracks were included on the album, including "Erica Kane", "Don't Worry" and "All I Need" and the new singles "Miss You", "Don't Know What to Tell Ya", and "Come Over."
I Care 4 U debuted at an impressive #3 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the R&B album charts (where it remained for 7 weeks). The album went on to sell over 2.6 million in the U.S. and 5 million worldwide.
The video for "Miss You" features Missy Elliott, Toni Braxton, Lil' Kim, Dallas Austin, MTV presenter and close friend Ananda Lewis, actor/singer Jamie Foxx, AJ Calloway, Free, Quddus, Missy's recent protegé and longtime friend Tweet, U-God (of the
Wu-Tang Clan) and DMX, Rosario Dawson, among others, paying tribute to Aaliyah. Following her death, her single "Miss You" made it to #1 on the US R&B Charts. The album earned Aaliyah a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist
Guest appearances, movie roles and soundtracks
In 1995, at age 16, Aaliyah performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" live at an Orlando Magic basketball game. She performed on nickelodeon's former show "All That" performing "Age ain't nothin but a number". Also during that year, she appeared in the movie and on the soundtrack for
A Low Down Dirty Shame with the minor international hit "The Thing I Like" (#33 UK). The song was also included on international versions of Age Ain't Nothing But A Number.
In 1996 she appeared on "All That" again and performed her hit song "One in a Million".
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.
Aaliyah had a hit in 1998 with "Are You that Somebody" (#4 airplay U.S. and #1 R&B airplay for 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 and crowned Her as
Queen of Urban Pop.
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 which landed at #2 on BET's "Notarized" Top 100 videos of 2000, 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. Try Again landed at #1 on BET's "Notarized" Top 100 Videos of 2000. 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 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. Aaliyah also recorded most of her third studio album,
Aaliyah, during this time.
In 2004,
The Matrix was released to DVD, inside the special features and documentaries are tributes and footage of Aaliyah.
Aaliyah had a supporting role as Zee, the wife of Harold Perrineau Jr.'s character, Link, in the two sequels to
The Matrix. The directors initially tried to find a way to incorporate her footage into the movies but decided against it due to lack of material available. The role was recast with Nona Gaye playing the character. Other films in which Aaliyah was signed to star in were
Honey (which instead was filmed with Jessica Alba as the main character), and a sassy role in the movie State Property 2 (which was recast with Mariah Carey), and a Whitney Houston-produced remake of the 1976 film
Sparkle (since in the works with Raven-Symoné, now cancelled).
Death
On August 25, 2001, at 6:50 pm (EST), 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. The crew had another flight scheduled the next day, but wrapping for the video ended early. She was told by her family to wait the extra day, but she refused, saying that she missed them too much. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff about 200 feet (70 m) from the runway. Pilot Luis Morales III and all eight passengers, including Aaliyah, were killed in the aviation accident. According to findings from an inquest conducted by the coroners 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 had survived the crash, her recovery would have been virtually impossible given the severity of her injuries.
[ Bahamas Coroner delivers verdict in Aaliyah death crash. (2003, November 21). Caribbean News. Retrieved February 9, 2007.] She died at 6:50 PM. Coincidentally, this was the exact time of day that Aaliyah had been born. She died at age 22.
Aaliyah's funeral was held on August 31 at Saint Ignatius Loyola Roman Catholic Church in Manhattan, New York City.
Investigation
The NTSB report states "The airplane was seen lifting off the runway, and then nose down, impacting in a marsh on the south side of the departure end of runway 27."
[ NTSB report]It also indicates that the pilot, Luis Morales III, was not approved 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 traces of cocaine and alcohol in his blood.
[ MTV News].
Further investigations determined the plane was over its total gross weight by several hundred pounds.
Eddie Golson, president of Pro Freight Cargo Services at Opa-locka Airport, said workers carted "a pickup truck of freight" from the crash site. "That's absurd to think that this pilot got in this airplane with NINE other people and a truck full of freight and expected this thing to fly," Golson said. Two of the passengers, members of Aaliyah's entourage, weighed in the region of 300 pounds and sat in the rear of the plane, where the baggage was also stored.
The NTSB report states that "the total gross weight of the airplane was substantially exceeded". In addition, with heavy passengers and cargo in the back, the center of gravity was pushed too far aft
[ NTSB Report]. This caused an uncontrollable nose-up attitude, leading to a stall.
The day of the crash was Morales' first official day with Blackhawk International Airways, a FAA Part 135 single-pilot operation. 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.
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 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.
[ Text of appellate division decision dismissing the case.]
Legacy
"Rock the Boat" went on to become a posthumous hit on radio (reaching number two on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles charts, number 2 on the Hot 100, and number 12 in the UK) 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 produced two other singles. "More than A Woman" reached number 1 on Billboard's Hot R&B singles chart, number 2 on Hot 100, and number 1 in the UK, and at number 11 on BET's "Notarized" Top 100 videos of 2002. "I Care 4 U" reached number three on Billboard's Hot R&B singles chart and number 3 on the Hot 100, the latter attaining success even without the promotional push of a music video. The
Aaliyah album had gone on to sell over 3 million copies in the U.S.
Her second and last film
Queen of the Damned was released in early 2002. Before its release, Aaliyah's brother Rashad Haughton 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. The film was also dedicated to her memory.
In 2001, Missy Elliott released her video for "Take Away". The video contained words and images about Aaliyah. The single also featured Ginuwine and was the debut of Elliott's recent protégé, Tweet.
Aaliyah and former Beatle George Harrison made UK Chart history in January 2002 when they scored the first, and to this date only, back-to-back posthumous number one hits (aside from the Elvis Presley re-releases in 2005). Aaliyah's "More than a Woman", released on January 7 and topped the chart on January 13, was followed by Harrison's "My Sweet Lord", re-released on January 14 and topped the chart on January 20. Aaliyah was voted one of "The Top 40 Woman of the Video Era" in VH1's The Greatest, also ranked #36 on their list of the 100 Sexiest Artist. Aaliyah also made E!'s list on the 101 Most Shocking Moments in Entertainment, Juiciest Hollywood Hookups, and Best Kept Hollywood Secrets. Aaliyah recently ranked at #18 on BET's "Top 25 Dancers of All Time" and ranked at #4 on BET's "Top 25 Sexiest Women of all Time". In 2005, former Co-Star Jet Li as reported from CNN stated the memory of Aaliyah had haunted him in Vancouver, where he and the late songstress shot the film Romeo Must Die.
In addition Aaliyah has been the topic of five books:
Aaliyah: More than a Woman (2001) by Christopher John Farley,
Aaliyah: An R&B Princess in Words and Pictures (2002) by Kelly Kenyatta,
Aaliyah by Tim Footman (2003), and
Aaliyah Remembered: Her Life & The Person behind the Mystique (2005) by William Sutherland.
Another way Aaliyah's legacy will live on, is through
The Aaliyah Memorial Fund. The money donated goes to charities Aaliyah supported.
Aaliyah's Cancer Awareness Angels participate in a Revlon Run Walk in which Aaliyah herself once participated.
The long awaited anticipated third compilation album by Aaliyah should be released by 2011 and features a smash hit Remix of Her hit single "Rock The Boat".
Lyrical Dedications
- Boyz II Men: "Think Of Aaliyah" a.k.a. "The Aaliyah Song" - "When you think of Aaliyah, laugh, don't cry, cause I know she want it that way".
- Brandy: "Turn It Up" - "Get Baby Girl's attention, she's more than a woman and we sure do miss her. I wanna represent her, Timbaland, Missy, you get the picture.","Should I Go" - "this industry was more like a different world, when it was just me, Monica, and Baby Girl [1], I never got to tell you how much you meant / I wish you and me both was sittin' here workin with Tim / Just to be in the presence of people that you affected on a personal level just makes me stop for a second. and exhales You were such a blessing, you helped me answer all of my questions."
- D12: "9-11" - "We lost Aaliyah, lost our families, it takes no tenges. You don't need us to see the world is (messed) up, God can see it."
- Jadakiss: "Why" - "Why Aaliyah had to take that flight?"
- Jay-Z: "Miss You Remix" - names certain people who missed her after her death.
- Juelz Santana: "One Day I Smile" - "Once again a deep thought of Aaliyah crosses my mind"
- Kanye West: "Never Let Me Down" - "But I can't complain what the accident did to my Left Eye / Cuz look what an accident did to Left Eye / First Aaliyah and now Romeo must die / I know I got angels watching me from the other side"
- Layzie Bone: "For The Thugs That's Gone" - "Too many celebrities perish, these people we love and cherish, and I had a chance to meet Aaliyah, but I was to embarrassed and I should of took a chance, I heard that from a man, Jam Master J was so real, you niggas don't understand, he told me to handle my business, make sure I pay my taxes, a little advice from a legend to keep my paper stacking, and I gotta give props to Eazy, that nigga put me on, if he didn't believe in the thugs you all wouldn't of heard of Bone."
- Lil' Flip: "Hall of Fame Graveyard" - "From Eazy E to Aaliyah, we even lost Left Eye / How come the wack rappers live but the best die"
- Mary J. Blige: "MJB Da MVP" - "It was when Aaliyah died / I could hardly sleep / Thought about it every day / and it made Me change my ways"
- Missy Elliott: "Can You Hear Me?" - "I been checkin' on your moms and dad / And your brother since the day you left / Passed on and went away with God / But for your mama it's been / So damn hard / I hate to even hear her cry / Aaliyah she asked me why / Would her baby girl go this way / Can you give me better words to say / Cause One day she'll see you again / With the same old beautiful smile / Long hair and the voice of a hummingbird / You'll be singing them same old songs / Aaliyah can you hear me? / I hope that you're proud of me / Me and Tim we been doing our thing / But it's never been the same / Since you had to go / I ain't never met a friend / More incredible"
- Monica: "Go To Bed Mad" - "Argue about things so critical / And you heated over nothing / And just hang up the phone / I want / I wanna talk in the mood / See we need a resolution / Like that Aaliyah song"
- Mya: "After The Rain" - "No one could ever fill your shoes, you're one in a million"
- Nas featuring Quan: "Just A Moment" - "And can we please have a moment to mourn? / For Pac, Biggie and Pun 'cause through us they live on / Jam Master Jay, Freaky Ty and Aaliyah / Big L and Left Eye, when we die we hope to see ya"
- Ray J: "War Is Over" - "One day one day one day / I hope to see my girl Aaliyah"
- The Game: "Dreams" - "Martin Luther King had a dream, Aaliyah had a dream, Left Eye had a dream", "Runnin" - "God let me in, give me a room by Aaliyah with ESPN"
- T.I.: "Rubberband Man" - "throw your lighters up for my cousin Toot, Aaliyah, Left Eye, and Jam Master Jay"
- TQ?: "Gone But Not Forgotten" - "Aaliyah, I wish we could've did a song, but baby girl when I get my wings, I'm gonna send your precious love"
- Wyclef Jean: "Industry" - "Back and forth and forth and back / Like Miss Aaliyah man do I miss her"
- Outkast ft. Killer Mike: "The Whole World" - "Mami, I'm coming, I hope u get off / Or rock your own boat like Aaliyah don taught / Back, back and forth, forth / Get that sailor on course course"
- French R&B singer Assia covered "Don't Know What To Tell Ya" with French and Arabic lyrics and entitled it "Le prix pour t' aimer (Habibi Maareft Ach'n Oullek)" in her latest album "Encore et Encore".
- The Gossip - (covered "Are You That Somebody") as a tribute to Aaliyah
- Others include tracks by DMX, Yolanda Adams, Tyrese, R. Kelly, TLC, Timbaland & Outsiderz 4 Life.
- Cooper C.: "Why...?" - "Imma rock da boat, Aaliyah, and be wit you. One day, hopefully I will see you too."
- Twista "Hope" "Man, I know we had a lot of tragedies lately. I just wanna say rest in peace to Aaliyah, Rest in peace to Left Eye, Rest in peace to Jam Master Jay, And everybody lost in the Twin Towers, And everybody lost period. All we got is HOPE!!"
Discography
Albums
- Age Ain't Nothing but a Number (1994)
- One in a Million (1996)
- Aaliyah (2001)
Compilation Albums
- I Care 4 U (2002)
- Ultimate Aaliyah (2005) (UK release)
Number-one singles
The following singles reached number one in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand.
Awards/Nominations
- Grammy Award
- 1999, Best R&B Vocal Performance - Female: "Are You That Somebody?" (Nominee)
- 2001, Best R&B Vocal Performance - Female: "Try Again" (Winner)
- 2002, Best R&B Album: Aaliyah (Winner)
- 2002, Best R&B Vocal Performance - Female: "Rock The Boat" (Winner)
- 2003, Best R&B Vocal Performance - Female: "More Than A Woman" (Nominee)
- MTV Video Music Awards
- 1999, Best R&B Video: "Are You That Somebody?" (Nominee)
- 1999, Best Video from a Film: "Are You That Somebody?" (Nominee)
- 2000, Best Female Video: "Try Again" (Winner)
- 2000, Best Video From Film: "Try Again" (Winner)
- 2002, Best R&B Video: "Rock The Boat" (Nominee)
- 2003, Best R&B Video: "Miss You" (Nominee)
- MOBO Awards
- 2002, Best Video: "More Than a Woman" (Winner)
- BET Awards
- 2002, Best Actress: "Queen of The Damned" (Winner)
- 2002, Best Female R&B Artist (Winner)
- 2002, Video of The Year : " Rock The Boat" (nominee)
- 2002, Viewer Choice Awards (nominee)
- 2000, Best selling female artist in "pop" (Winner)
- Image Awards
- 2002, Outstanding Female Artist (Winner)
- 2003, Best female video: "Miss You" (Winner)
- Soul Train Awards
- 1998, Female R&B/Soul Single: "One In A Million" (Nominee)
- 2002 Female R&B/Soul Single: "Rock The Boat" (Winner)
- Lady of Soul Awards
- 1999, Best R&B/Soul Song: "Are You That Somebody?" (Nominee)
- 1999, Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video: "Are You That Somebody?" (Nominee)
- 2000, Best R&B/Soul Single - Solo: "Try Again" (Nominee)
- 2000, Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video : "Try Again" (Winner)
- 2001, Best R&B/Soul or Rap Song of the Year: "Try Again" (Winner)
- 2002, Best R&B/Soul Solo Single: "Rock the Boat" (Winner)
- 2002, Best R&B/Soul or Rap Song of the Year: "Rock the Boat" (Winner)
- American Music Awards
- 1999, Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist (Nominee)
- 2002, Favorite Female R&B Artist (Winner)
- 2002, Favorite R&B/Soul Album: Aaliyah (Winner)
- 2003, Favorite Female R&B Artist (Winner)
- 2000, R&B Artist of the Year, Female: Aaliyah (Winner)
Filmography
- All That (TV series) (1995 & 1997) - Musical guest
- New York Undercover (TV series) (1997) - Musical guest
- Romeo Must Die (2000) - Trish O'Day
- Queen of the Damned (2002) - Akasha
