Aaliyah

About

Brooklyn's Aaliyah Dana Haughton was an R&B artist, model and actress known simply as Aaliyah. Throughout her short recording career, Aaliyah worked with some of the biggest names in R&B and hip hop. She was signed to Jive Records at the young age of 12 when she was introduced to recording artist R. Kelly who acted as her mentor and produced her debut album, Age Ain't Nothing but a Number, in 1994. The album was certified double platinum and sold over three million copies in the US. She switched to Atlantic Records and released her 1996 album, One in a Million, with the help of Missy Elliott and Timbaland. For her first feature film Romeo Must Die, Aaliyah contributed to the soundtrack with her song "Try Again," which earned her a Grammy from Best Female R&B Vocalist and made her the first artist in Billboard history to have the number one song on Billboard Hot 100 list based only on radio play. Her third and final self-titled album was released in 2001, only one month prior to her death. In August of the same year, Aaliyah and eight other passengers were killed in a plane crash after filming her music video for "Rock the Boat" in the Bahamas. Her last album rose to number one on the Billboard 200 chart, and she received several posthumous recognitions, including the 2002 American Music Awards for Favorite Female R&B Artist and Favorite R&B/Soul Album for Aaliyah. She has been heavily praised for re-popularizing soul music for a new generation.