Aaliyah

Aaliyah Dana Haughton ( ah-LEE-ə; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited with helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop, and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the “Princess of R&B” and “Queen of Urban Pop”.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Detroit, she first gained recognition at the age of 10, when she appeared on the television show Star Search and performed in concert alongside Gladys Knight. At the age of 12, Aaliyah signed with Jive Records and her uncle Barry Hankerson’s Blackground Records. Hankerson introduced her to R. Kelly, who became her mentor, as well as lead songwriter and producer of her debut album, Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number (1994). The album sold three million copies in the United States and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). After allegations of an illegal marriage with Kelly, Aaliyah ended her contract with Jive and signed with Atlantic Records.

Aaliyah worked with record producers Timbaland and Missy Elliott for her second album, One in a Million (1996), which sold three million copies in the United States and more than eight million copies worldwide. In 2000, Aaliyah made her acting debut in the film Romeo Must Die. She contributed to the film’s soundtrack, which was supported by her single “Try Again”. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 solely through airplay, becoming the first in the chart’s history to do so. After completing the film, Aaliyah subsequently filmed her starring role in Queen of the Damned (which was released posthumously), and in July 2001, released her eponymous third album, which topped the Billboard 200. The album spawned the singles “Rock the Boat”, “More Than Woman”, and “We Need a Resolution” (featuring Timbaland).

On August 25, 2001, at the age of 22, Aaliyah was killed in an airplane accident in the Bahamas along with eight other people on board, when the overloaded aircraft she was traveling in crashed shortly after takeoff. The pilot was later found to have traces of cocaine and alcohol in his body and was not qualified to fly the aircraft designated for the flight. Aaliyah’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the aircraft’s operator, which was settled out of court. In the decades following her death, Aaliyah’s music has continued to achieve commercial success, aided by several posthumous releases. She has sold 8.1 million albums in the US and an estimated 24 to 32 million albums worldwide. Billboard lists her as the tenth most successful female R&B artist of the past 25 years, and the 27th most successful in history. Her accolades include three American Music Awards and two MTV VMAs, along with five Grammy Award nominations.

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