Aaliyah Haughton , known professionally as Aaliyah ( New York , 16 of January of 1979 – state of South Carolina , 25 of August of 2001 ) was a singer of R & B , dancer, model and actress.
She was repeatedly nominated for a Grammy , also holding an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of the title track of a film. He died while he was recording the video for the single “Rock the boat.”
Presented to audiences by R&B ( rhythm and blues ) singer and producer R. Kelly in 1994; Aaliyah became famous during the mid-1990s with several hits, thanks to the songwriting / production team of Missy Elliott and Timbaland , and partnered with Steve Garrett . He had several songs with the late rap duo Kris Kross .
Her musical legacy includes five No. 1 hits on the R&B charts, and seven Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Aaliyah has sold over 33 million albums worldwide and approximately 11 million in the United States. , in total almost 45 million records sold during and after his career.
She was also a model for Tommy Hilfiger and starred in two motion pictures before her death in a tragic plane crash on August 25 , 2001 at the age of 22.
Summary
[ hide ]
- 1 Biography
- 1 Childhood and beginnings
- 2 Death
- 3 Discography
- 4 Countries where Aaliyah has succeeded:
- 5 most successful songs
- 6 Source
Biography
Childhood and beginnings
Although he was born in New York City , he grew up in Detroit . His name is of Arabic origin (it is pronounced [alíia]), it is a name of the god Allah, and it means ‘the greatest’.
He was of African American descent and had Native American ancestry. His mother Diane Haughton was also a singer and led her sons Rashad and Aaliyah in that career. Aaliyah was the niece of Barry Hankerson , a top music industry executive, who married soul singer Gladys Knight .
When she was 10 years old, she appeared on the television talent show Star Search singing her mother’s favorite song “My Funny Valentine.” Although, he did not win but managed to work with an agent in New York to begin auditioning for TV Shows. As a result of his appearance on Star Search, he also managed to perform with his aunt Gladys Knight in Las Vegas ; and later graduated from Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts, in dance with excellent grades.
Aaliyah was recruited by her uncle Barry Hankerson, owner of the music company Blackground Records, in 1993, when she was 14 years old.
In 1994, the company released its first album, Age ain’t nothing but a number, produced by R. Kelly, who wrote and composed all the songs on the album, except a cover of The Isley Brothers , which was also included. The album was a bestseller. It featured the soft, velvety voice of a 15-year-old girl who sang original and innovative urban music.
In a few months the album achieved platinum certification in the United States, for sales of one million copies, and included the singles
- “Back And Forth” (which certified gold, for sales of 500,000 copies and was # 1 for 3 weeks on the Billboard R&B charts; and # 5 on 100 Hot Singles, the main Billboard and American Union charts );
- “At your best” (cover of the 1976 song by the group The Isley Brothers’ ; which with Aaliyah managed to be # 2 on the US R&B and # 6 on 100 Hot);
- “Age ain’t nothing but a number” (# 35 US R&B and # 75 on 100 Hot) and
- “Down with the clique” (Released in Europe, # 35 in UK Top 75 Singles).
In June 1995 the single “No one know how to love me quite like you do” was released only on the radio . By that time the album had already sold 3.5 million in the United States, certifying 4 x Platinum and almost 7 million copies sold around the world.
In 1994, when she was 15 years old, she secretly married in the state of Illinois to her mentor, singer R. Kelly, who was 27 years old at the time, but five months later, the union was annulled because she was a minor. In 1995 at age 16, he sang the United States national anthem, The star splangled banner during a live basketball game at Orlando Magic Stadium .
Also during that year he appeared on the soundtrack of the film A low down dirty shame with a single of less international success entitled “The thing I like” (# 33 in the UK), the song was included in the international version of his first album.
Her second album, One in a Million , was produced by then-unknown Timbaland and Missy Elliott and released in late 1996. It featured the international hit If Your Girl Only Knew, whose single went platinum in the United States . The single that gives the album title was also platinum in sales in America . Four Page Letter, Hot Like Fire and Diane Warren’s love ballad The One I Gave My Heart To, were also other successful single that made up the album.
In 1997, Aaliyah recorded a single for Anastasia’s soundtrack , entitled “Journey to the Past,” which was nominated for an Oscar .
In 1998, Aaliyah achieved great success with the incomparable sound of the song “Are you that somebody?” featured in the movie Doctor Doolittle , and was # 1 for 8 weeks on Billboard’s R&B / Hip Hop Singles Chart. His video was the third most broadcast on MTV that same year and the success of this song contributed to his consolidation in his record company.
In 2000, he starred in the film Romeo Must Die ( Romeo Must Die ) with Jet Li . He also contributed four songs to the soundtrack, including the hit “Back in a one piece,” doing a duet with DMX , who had a minor role in the film; and the international hit, “Try Again,” which was the first song to reach number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles chart, based solely on its media power on the radio , despite not having billed any singles sales. since this song had not been offered to the public in this format.
The song “We need a resolution” was the first single from her third album, Aaliyah . It was released in the spring of 2001 and did not achieve the desired commercial success. Despite this, the single and the album were a success among the specialized critics. The excellent video clip for “We need a resolution” was continuously broadcast on MTV2 .
She was also going to appear in the sequels to The Matrix before her death (those roles were eventually taken over by Jada Pinkett ).
His last role in a movie (and in fact, only starred in another) was the Queen Akasha in the film The Queen of the Damned ( Queen of the Damned ) , released in 2002. With a very good performance on his part and Stuart Townsend , as a co-star.
Death
The 25 as August as 2001 , at 6:49 pm. Aaliyah and her work team, just after filming the video for “Rock the boat”, boarded a Cessna 402B (N8097W) plane in the Marsh Arbor port of Abaco Island , in the Bahamas , to travel to Opa-Locka airport , near the city of Miami (Florida) .
But the plane crashed shortly after takeoff, about 200 feet from the runway. Both the pilot Luis Morales III and the eight passengers, including Aaliyah, were killed instantly. The accident was due to an overload of luggage since the pilot was under the influence of drugs and was not authorized to fly.
According to the results of an investigation, Aaliyah suffered severe burns and a blow to the head as a result of the strong impact. The investigation theorized that even if Aaliyah had survived the accident, her recovery would have been virtually impossible due to the severity of her injuries.
Aaliyah’s funeral was held at the Catholic Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in Manhattan . A chariot pulled by horses, moved the coffin to the cemetery Ferncliff, in the city of Hartsdale ( state of New York and was initially buried in a crypt of the main mausoleum. When the mausoleum Rosewood, a few years later, he created his coffin was moved to a private room in said new building The inscription of her alias “Baby Girl” is etched into the crypt.
The news of Aaliyah’s death dramatically increased sales of her albums and singles. Such is the case of “More than a woman” that initially its release and promotion was canceled and later it managed to be # 7 in US R&B and # 25 in 100 Hot Singles. In addition to becoming # 1 in the UK, being to date the only single by a deceased artist to reach the top of the British charts.
The album Aaliyah sold almost 3 million in the United States and in 2002 the film in which she had starred months before her death was released: Queen of the damned , which was dedicated as a tribute to her and debuted at # 1 at the box office.
Missy Elliott released shortly after the death of Aaliyah, the video for her single “Take away” with images and words of the late singer as a tribute. Ginuwine also participated in this tribute.
Aaliyah’s death shocked the entire world; A young star of the world of music and a budding cinematographic promise had died , at the age of 22. The event had an impact on the artistic environment, mainly on his friend and producer Timbaland , who for a few years stopped working in music production, until he managed to overcome the pain of the loss of such a beautiful and talented woman. Many singers have mentioned Aaliyah in their song lyrics, with messages of affection, mentioning that they miss her, that no one should take her place, wondering why she had to take that flight that ended her life , etc. Such artists as DMX , Boyz II Men , Brandy, D12 , Jadakiss , Jay-Z , Kanye West , Lil , Flip , Mary J . Blige , Lil ‘ Kim , Monica , Missy Elliott , Mya , Nas , Ray J , The Game , Timbaland , Wyclef Jean , Tyrese , Rosario Dawson , Yolanda Adams , R. Kelly , among many others.
On December 10, 2002, Blackground Records released I Care 4 U A compilation album of their hits that included previously unreleased tracks, such as “Miss you” , a new single that was # 1 on US R&B and # 3 on 100 Hot Singles. .
The album debuted at # 3 on the 200 Hot Albums and at # 1 on the R&B Albums Chart, where it remained in the No. 1 position for 7 weeks, selling 2.6 million copies in the United States and 5 million more around the world.
The video for “Miss you” was recorded with the participation of numerous artists, close friends of Aaliyah, including Missy Elliott , Toni Braxton , Lil ‘ Kim , Dallas Austin , Ananda Lewis , Jamie Foxx , DMX , among others. Followed by “Miss You” a single was released in Europe and Asiamore “Don’t No Want To Tell Ya” (# 22 in UK, # 57 in Germany). As the third single, “Come Over” was released in the United States with a much smaller promotion, which led it to reach low positions, with respect to the other singles within the popularity charts (# 9 US R&B, # 32 in 100 Hot Singles ).
In 2006 another compilation album titled Ultimate Aaliyah was released , which includes all their hits and singles and of which a total of 2.5 million copies have been sold. In connection with her emerging film career, Aaliyah was to play the character Zee in the second and third films of the Matrix trilogy .
Discography
- 1994: Age ain’t nothing but a number
- 1996: One in a million
- 2001: Aaliyah
- 2002: I care for you
- 2005: Ultimate Aaliyah
- 2006: Turn the page
Countries where Aaliyah has succeeded:
- United States (USA)
- United Kingdom (UK)
- Canada (CAN), Ireland (IRL)
- Germany (ALE),
- Australia (AUS)
- Austria (AUT)
- France (FRA)
- Holland (HOL)
- Italy (ITA)
- Israel (ISR)
- China (CHN)
- Japan (JPN)
- Sweden (SUE)
- Norway (NOR)
- Switzerland (SUI)
- New Zealand (NZ)
- Portugal (PTG)
- United World Chart (UWC)
Most successful songs
- “Back and forth”
- “At your best (you are love)”
- “Age ain’t nothing but a number”
- “If your girl only knew”
- “One IN A MILLION”
- “The one I gave my heart to”
- “Hot like fire”
- “Are you that somebody?”
- “Back in a one piece”
- “Try again”
- “Rock the boat”
- “More than a woma”
- “Care 4 U”
