A singer, dancer, and actress, the artist known simply as Aaliyah took the world by storm as a teenager with the release of Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number. Throughout her short but incredibly successful and popular career in music, film, and fashion, Aaliyah would inspire and entertain millions with her talent, style, beauty, and infectious personality becoming one of the top entertainers of her era. Despite her untimely death twenty years ago, the award-winning singer continues to remain popular today and an inspiration to a new generation of artists

What’s In A Name

Fans mostly identified with the singer by her first name, Aaliyah, or the nickname “Princess of R&B” her birth name was Aaliyah Dana Haughton.

Although it had Arabic roots, Aaliyah felt the Hebrew word “aliya” which meant “highest, most exalted one, the best” was a better reflection of who she was and what she aimed to be. It would be Aaliyah’s mom that would suggest her daughter use her first name as it reflected the high hopes and expectations that the family had for their talented daughter. 

Family Life

Born on January 16, 1979, Aaliyah was the youngest of Diane and Michael Haughton’s two children, including her older brother Rashad.

After living the first five years of her life in Brooklyn, New York, Aaliyah’s family relocated to Detroit in an effort to provide the family with a better lifestyle and opportunity. While Michael was a warehouse worker and Diane was a stay home mom who also performed as a vocalist, they were both very supportive of their daughter’s desire to become an entertainer, which included performing in weddings, church choir, and theatre as a young child. 

Family Ties

Throughout her career, her family would play a major role in Aalyiah’s success. When they relocated to Detroit, it allowed them to be closer to her extended family including her uncle, Barry Hankerson, and his wife, seven-time Grammy-winning singer, Gladys Knight.

While she would compete in the television show Star Search as a nine-year-old, judges apparently felt she wasn’t quite ready. Over the next two years, Aaliyah would audition for a number of music labels and by the age of eleven, Aaliyah would be joining her aunt on stage in Las Vegas for a five-night tour, which provided her with the exposure and experience that other child stars did not have. 

Child Star

When Aaliyah was in first grade at Gesu Elementary in Detroit, Michigan, she would be part of the cast of Annie, a role that inspired the six-year-old to become a performer.

In addition to her theatrical performances, Aaliyah would have auditions for commercials and television shows, including the popular 90s sitcom Family Matters. As a teen, Aaliyah would attend the Detriot High School for the Fine and Performing Arts, singing “Ave Maria” in Italian as part of her audition for enrollment. 

Her Biggest Fan

While Aaliyah had the support of her entire family and millions of fans around the world, it would be her grandmother, Mintis Hicks.

Always encouraging her granddaughter to sing and perform, especially the Oleta Adams hit “Get Here”, Mintis, like most other grandmothers would often spoil both Aaliyah and her brother. Two of the many memorable gifts that Aaliyah received from her grandmother include a ring that she always wore and a stuffed orangutan named Lina that the singer slept with every night. After Mintis passed away in 1991, Aaliyah would pay tribute to her by getting a tattoo of a dove on her lower back. 

Knowing Where She Came From

With a mixed heritage of Jamaican by way of her father and Native American roots from her grandmother’s side, Aaliyah was extremely proud of where she came from and who she was.

During many of Aaliyah’s music videos and live performances, fans will notice intricate details that pay respect to her family and her background. In what would be her final music video “Rock The Boat”, Aaliyah’s stylist was inspired by her Jamaican roots, which could be seen in her dancehall wardrobe including a red, yellow, and green sarong, red fishnet stockings, cut-off shorts, and a red ball cap. 

Pet’s Life

As unique as she was as a performer and person, so to was her fondness for unordinary pets. In 2001, Aaliyah would appear on MTV’s TRL with her pet snake, gifted to her by her uncle.

As the snake was nameless, Carson Daly would dub him with the name Boots. In addition to Boots, Aaliyah also housed ducks, iguanas, cats, and two dogs named Rico and Tour. While some may think that the snakes, ducks, and iguanas may be a little weird, they were nothing like Aaliyah’s cousin Jomo’s pet alligator. 

Top Of Her Class

In addition to becoming an entertainment superstar, Aaliyah was also excelling in the classroom maintaining a 4.0 GPA.

With the assistance of a team of supporters, including her family especially her mother (who homeschooled her during performance tours), the Education Guidance Center, Dr. David Snead (who as the Superintendent of Detroit Schools approved Aaliyah’s specialized program), and a number of teachers including Dr. Twyman, Dr. Cotton, and Jennifer Vandenbrooks. Not wanting to be a bad role model for her younger fans by being a singer who just gave up on her education, the teen was well equipped with a backup plan in case her singing career didn’t plan out. Aaliyah wanted to become a music history or drama teacher, both of which were subjects she loved. 

Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number

After struggling to sign with a record label as a young singer, Barry Hankerson used his creative genius and experience in the music industry to create his own label, Blackground Records, which would be distributed by Jive Records, signing his niece to a contract when she was just twelve years old.

At the age of fourteen, Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number would be Aaliyah’s debut release and become an immediate success, selling over six million copies and reaching two times Platinum with five hit singles including “Back & Forth”, “At Your Best (You Are Loved)” and the title track. 

A Style All Her Own

Every star wants to be identified in their own special way and Aaliyah was no different. Inspired by her favorite actress Veronica Lake, Diane suggested her daughter wear her hair over her left eye to “add to the mystique of her personality.” It was also rare to see Aaliyah during her early days without a pair of sunglasses on, which led to several ridiculous rumors about having either a deformed eye or a glass eye.

Growing up in an era known for urban baggy streetwear, Aaliyah would put her own personal twist on the style, making it softer and more feminine. However, it would take some time before fans saw Aaliyah show her true feminine side as she had a bet with Missy Elliott as to who would be the first to wear a dress. In 1998, Aaliyah would lose that bet appearing in her “Are You That Somebody” video trading in her traditional baggy pants for a sexy skirt. 

Robert Kelly

Coming off of his first album release with the group Public Announcement and his first solo album, R. Kelly was one of the most popular R&B singers in the 1990s. Managed by Barry Hankerson, Kelly agreed to join the team of writers and producers for Aaliyah’s debut album after hearing her demo.

While Kelly’s musical creativity helped to create a hit record for Hankerson’s niece, it would be the introduction to one of the most controversial relationships in music history. While the two would spend a lot of time together going bowling or to arcades trying to get a vibe for her personality and lifestyle matched with the material they wanted to release, their relationship would become something more than professional. 

More Than A Mentor

While it is not abnormal in the entertainment industry for co-workers to fall in love, the difference between Aaliyah and R. Kelly’s relationship was that she was only fifteen years old at the time and he was twenty-seven.

Although the teenage star denied all of the rumors about their relationship, as did Kelly who claimed that while he loved her it was as a “best friend”, it would soon become public knowledge, thanks to journalists from Vibe magazine, that the two had tied the knot in a secret wedding on August 13, 1994. In order to make the ceremony legal, Kelly’s manager provided Aaliyah with a fake ID that stated she was eighteen years old. 

Annulment

For six months Aaliyah and Kelly would continue to deny their romantic relationship, their marriage, and even rumors that she was pregnant with his child. Wanting to correct what she knew was wrong, Aaliyah, with the help of her parents filed to get the marriage annulled and to part ways with Kelly both personally and professionally.

According to record executive and Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder and Aaliyah’s boyfriend at the time of her passing Damon Dash, all she wanted to do was move on from the situation and forget that it ever happened. Dash would go on to state that had Robert Kelly been dealt with properly by authorities at the time of the illegal marriage that the numerous other females he encountered and abused may have been saved from tragedy. 

Rumors

In 2011 R. Kelly’s former associate Demetrius Smith came forward in an interview declaring that in 1995 Kelly had admitted to him that he thought Aaliyah was pregnant.

Smith wouldn’t be the only member of Kelly’s team to come forward with information about their relationship as Jovante Cunningham, one of Kelly’s backup dancers stated he witnessed the couple having sex on his tour bus. It would be Smith who worked with Kelly to come up with fake documents that would allow the singer to secretly marry Aaliyah so that he couldn’t be held accountable for anything illegal because technically Aaliyah would be his wife. 

Justice

In 2021, Kelly finally went on trial for all of his abuses of women through the decades, facing racketeering charges for an entire sex-trafficking operation that took place and found victims everywhere from live concerts to recording studios. His involvement with and abuse of Aaliyah was a key focus of the prosecution, and thanks to numerous testimonies, Kelly was finally found, on September 27th, guilty on all counts he was charged with and faces life in prison.

But if it were up to Aaliyah’s uncle, Barry Hankerson, he would have changed the course of justice entirely. According to him, “If I had known what Robert Kelly was doing, Robert Kelly would not have to worry about a trial…I can’t say what would have happened, but there wouldn’t have been a trial if I had known about any of the things he was trying to do to my niece.”

BFF

Unlike R. Kelly’s definition of a best friend, Aaliyah and Kidada Jones were actually very close in friendship.

The daughter of award-winning composer Quincy Jones and actress Peggy Lipton, Kidada herself was an actress, model, and fashion designer, all of which she shared with Aaliyah. After meeting at a Tommy Hilfiger fashion show in 1993, the two would often get together to joke about marriage and how they couldn’t wait to “kick back with their babies” according to Jones. Prior to Aaliyah’s passing, the two friends had planned to launch a Japanese-inspired clothing line for females called “Dolly Pop.”

Sophomore Struggles

According to Jomo Hankerson, Aaliyah was on the receiving end of media and corporate backlash as they had “villainized” her following the situation with R. Kelly.

After her contract had come to an end with Jive Records, Aaliyah would struggle to find producers for her follow-up album, eventually signing with Atlantic Records. Ready for a fresh start, Aaliyah did have some concerns about how the album would be received, but with the help of a new production time which included newcomers Timbaland and Missy Elliott as well as veterans Jermaine Dupri and Slick Rick One in a Million would sell over eight million copies, feature six hit singles and reach double Platinum status. 

Big Screen Debut

With a passion for entertaining, Aaliyah wanted to expand beyond being a singer and venture into the world of acting. With some experience on stage as a child, Aaliyah would brush up on her abilities with famed acting coach Harold Guskin.

Approached by producer Joel Silver for a supporting role in his film Romeo Must Die, Aaliyah played the part of Trish O’Day in the modern-day, martial arts action film that was loosely based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Not only was the movie, which starred Jet Li considered a success, but so too was the award-winning soundtrack in which Aaliyah was the executive producer and contributor of four hit songs including the number one smash “Try Again.”

Queen Aaliyah

Following her successful debut role, multiple offers for future films came rolling in. Offered the title role of Queen Akasha, Aaliyah would play the part of a “manipulative, crazy, sexual being” in the Michael Rymer goth horror flick Queen of the Dammed based on the Anne Rice novel The Vampire Lestat. 

Given Aaliyah’s fascination with vampires, it was all but a given that she immediately accepted what would be her final film. Complete with grey airbrushed skin, teeth, and nails, Aaliyah loved playing the role of a made of stone vampire and while she had finished filming all of her scenes, the film would require her brother Rashad to come in to help record some of her remaining dialogue. 

Aaliyah

Between filming, Romeo Must Die and Queen of the Dammed, Aaliyah’s much anticipated third album would be delayed longer than she expected. Four years after One in a Million was released, Aaliyah would start recording her self-titled third studio album, which would be released on July 17, 2001.

Once again produced by Timbaland, who felt that that Virgin Records had rushed the completion of the album, leaving it short of some of the same production that had made her previous record a success, Aaliyah showed the growth of the singer as an entertainer and debuted at number two on the Billboard charts. Eventually selling over thirteen million copies worldwide and becoming two times Platinum certified, Aaliyah would be considered by critics to be one of the most influential R&B albums of its era. 

Rock The Boat

Among the trio of hits from her third album, “Rock the Boat” would almost be shelved by Virgin Records who favored the Timbaland produced tracks more.

Although the song was created by Static Major nearly two years prior to the album release, Virgin considered it to be too sensual and inappropriate considering how old Aaliyah was when it was written and everything she had dealt with to rebuild her image following the R. Kelly situation. While “More Than a Woman” was originally intended to be the second single from the Aaliyah album, it would be Aaliyah herself and eventually the mass amount of radio play that would force the company to change their mind and release the track which would eventually wind up on the Billboard Hot 100 for nearly six months. 

Oscars

Throughout her short career, Aaliyah would release three albums and numerous singles that saw her nominated for seventy-three awards and capture fourteen various awards including three American Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and a Soul Train Music Award.

Among the many singles from her own albums, Aaliyah created numerous soundtrack hits including “Journey to the Past” from the 1997 movie Anastasia. Nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, it would end up losing to the epic Titanic hit “My Heart Will Go On.” Although she would fall short of receiving an award, at the age of nineteen, Aaliyah would be the youngest performer in Oscar Award history when she performed her hit single on stage during the 1998 show.  

Love Life

After her traumatic relationship with Robert Kelly, it took a while for Aaliyah to jump back into the dating scene, but when the time was right, she would become romantically linked to some of the biggest names in the music business.

One common trait among Aaliyah’s relationships was that she did not make them public knowledge, trying to keep her private life exactly that. After a year-long relationship with fellow R&B singer Ginuwine, Aaliyah would allegedly become involved with a man who would become one of the biggest names in the rap industry. Damon Dash, who was Roc-A-Fella Records business partners with Jay-Z admitted that Aaliyah had been involved with the rap star before he and Aaliyah got together.

The One

Although she had a short-lived relationship with his business partner and friend, Aaliyah and Damon Dash started dating just a year before she passed away.

After being formally introduced by way of his accountant, Damon and Aaliyah clicked right off the bat as they shared similar tastes and interests and understood each other’s passions and mindset. As with her other relationships, nothing was made public about the two being a couple, but she did host his thirtieth birthday party made special trips to visit him. Sadly after her death, Dash would reveal that the two had discussed marriage plans even though they had only dated for a year. 

Miami to the Bahamas

In August 2001 after filming some of the underwater scenes for her “Rock the Boat” video in Miami, Aaliyah and her crew would travel to the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas for the finishing touches.

While she was normally confident about flying, something seemed to make Aaliyah apprehensive about this particular trip. Unlike other flights in which Aaliyah traveled with at least one member of her family, this time she made the trip alone. With her mother recovering from eye surgery and her father helping to care for her and Rashad in Australia visiting friends, tragically it would be the first and last video that the singer would make without her family by her side. 

Final Flight

After spending time working and relaxing in a peaceful and scenic environment where according to director Hype Williams “everyone worked together and enjoyed each other during the downtime” Aaliyah and the crew completed their work a day ahead of schedule and decided to return home early.

Along with eight members of her crew, Aaliyah would board a ten-seat twin-engine Cessna 402-B, which was smaller than the plane that they had arrived on. With more weight from the passengers and equipment than the plane could safely handle, it would crash just two hundred feet from the runway after an engine struggled to start. After an explosion and fire decimated the plane, all of the bodies on board would perish on the scene. 

Investigation

Although there were stories of the passengers arguing with the pilot despite his warning that the plane was overcapacity, the flight still took place. Following an intense investigation, Blackhawk International Airways Corporation would be held partly responsible for the tragic accident on accounts of negligence.

The investigation would also find that the pilot Luis Morales had been placed on probation and had his license suspended for falsifying information to Blackhawk Airways. The coroner’s report would find traces of cocaine and alcohol in his system, which obviously was against any flying regulations and in complete disregard for his passengers’ safety. The Haughton family would file a lawsuit against Virgin Records and Blackhawk Airways which after dragging on for more than a year would be settled out of court. 

Days of Mourning

On August 31, 2001, Aaliyah’s family and close friends, including Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Usher, Sean Combs, and Gladys Knight were present at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in Manhattan, New York for a private funeral while fans in New York and Detroit created makeshift shrines with posters and flowers.

With her body placed in a silver-plated casket, it would be transported in a horse-drawn glass hearse through a procession from the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel with nearly a thousand mourning fans in attendance. Following the funeral, Aaliyah’s family would release twenty-two white doves in honor of each year of her life. Inscribed with “Baby Girl”, one of her nicknames, Aaliyah’s crypt is set by her father’s at the Rosewood Mausoleum. 

Posthumous Work

When the video for “Rock the Boat” was released, it would immediately go viral, becoming the most viewed video of its time. Additionally, her third and final album would also rise to number one on the charts following her passing. Sadly there were a number of projects that Aaliyah had in the works that would have brought joy to her family and friends that were never completed.

In addition to the release of Queen of the Dammed, Aaliyah had also filmed some scenes for the second Matrix film, The Matrix Reloaded, and was signed on to the third film The Matrix Revolutions playing the role of Zee (played by Nona Gaye). Aaliyah was also set to play the lead role in the dance film Honey, (which went to Jessica Alba) and Whitney Houston’s musical drama remake of Sparkle. 

Life After Aaliyah

Following her death, Blackground Records, which was owned and managed by Aaliyah’s uncle Barry Hankerson, hit a downward spiral of negativity. Both Timbaland and Toni Braxton would sue the company for mismanagement, both of which would settle out of court.

However, the injustice would hit closer to Aaliyah’s immediate family when Blackground records, who owned the rights to her music catalog made several questionable decisions with regards to releasing several unreleased tracks without the family’s permission and at one point refused to release her catalog to streaming services. Considering how impactful Aaliyah and her songs were on her fans, it would have been a tragedy if her family hadn’t stepped in and made this possible.

http://www.oblongmedia.net