Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born the youngest of two children to Diane and Michael Haughton in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York on January 16, 1979.  Entertainment was already in her blood.  Her mother Diane was a Soul singer and her uncle, Barry Hankerson was then married to Soul legend Gladys Knight. The baby girl was given the name "Aaliyah," the female version of "Ali" which in Arabic meant "highest, most exalted one, the best."   It was no accident that when it came to creating an identity for the star singer and actress, she and her family decided to go with her first name only, "Aaliyah."1  And she met every expectation.   Everything she touched became a huge success. When Aaliyah was 5, the Haughtons moved to Detroit, Michigan where she was raised for a good part of her life, attending the City's schools.  During her high school years, Aaliyah, despite the growing demands on her time, was an honor student at Detroit High School for Fine and Performing Arts who maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average. While growing up, Aaliyah's parents introduced her to many different styles of music.  This background led to her diversity.  During her career, Aaliyah sang Soul, Rhythm & Blues (R&B), Jazz, and Pop with ease. Aaliyah began performing when she was 5, singing at charity events for Operation Get Down, which was founded by her uncle.  This same organization, now provides educational funding for four Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts each year in the Singer/Actress's memory. A year later, Aaliyah began to take singing and acting seriously after performing as an orphan in the stage play, "Annie."  Despite her interest in singing and acting, the next few years were tedious and difficult as she searched for exposure.  Aaliyah auditioned for parts and roles all over Detroit, including for the TV sitcom "Family Matters." When Aaliyah was 10, things began to change.  She appeared on "Star Search" and although she didn't win for her rendition of Chaka Khan's "My Funny Valentine," she received her first national exposure.   Her natural beauty and cute smile were adored by thousands who watched the program. Next, in 1991, Gladys Knight invited Aaliyah to perform with her during a five night stint in Las Vegas.  She was a success and loved by the crowds. With this in mind, Barry Hankerson, Aaliyah's uncle and founder of Blackground Records, then R. Kelly's manager, introduced the producer/singer to her.  This was Aaliyah's big break.  R. Kelly was impressed with what he saw, and began working with the young girl on her first album, "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number," which became an instant hit when it was released.  Overnight, the unknown 14 year-old became an international star. Because of Aaliyah's strong singing, lithe body, and sensual dance moves, the public had to have her debut album.2  "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number" went platinum selling more than a million copies and resulted in two top 10 gold singles (each selling more than 500,000 copies), "Back and Forth" which hit #1 on the R&B charts, and "At Your Best (You Are Love)."  Suddenly, with Aaliyah's explosion onto the music scene with such success at such a young age, other record labels, began searching for their own Aaliyahs. Aaliyah's sudden success brought mixed blessings.  Detractors, envious about her talent and success attempted to tarnish the singer's clean, "sweet but street" image with malicious rumors.  They declared that the young teen had secretly married her producer R. Kelly and that she was pregnant.  Despite constant denials from Aaliyah and the fact that no evidence existed, they refused to relent.  They kept on, also calling the teen singer a "one hit wonder" for two years until her next album was released and also became an instant success. It should be noted, that to this date, neither Aaliyah's family nor R. Kelly have made statements that would lend credence to the vicious rumors. Despite the two years of malicious rumors, Aaliyah's clean-cut image remained intact.  Her popularity and fame continued to soar.  A Detroit tribute to Aaliyah attests to this:  "Aaliyah possessed a beautiful spirit that touched the lives of many.  She will forever be an inspiration to people who strive to accomplish their dreams through hard work and decency," declared Kenneth Burnley, Detroit Public Schools Boss.3 Aaliyah's second album, "One In A Million," on which she worked with the esteemed hip-hop producers Timbaland and Missy Elliot was released in 1996, ending a two year hiatus.  It immediately went double platinum selling more than 2 million coopies and transformed R&B from a "live instumentation" sound to more of a computer-generated track backing.4 The first single, "If Your Girl Only Knew" immediately hit #1 on the R&B charts and made the top 10 on Billboard's Top 100 Chart.  Two additional singles, "One In A Million" and "Are You That Somebody" shared similar success, with the latter becoming the hit song of 1998 and garnering Aaliyah her first Grammy nomination. While Aaliyah's popularity reached new heights in the music world, she also found time to act as herself in a 1997 TV episode.  She played herself on an episode of the popular TV series "New York Undercover." "Journey To The Past" on the Anastasia sound track led to Aaliyah's first Oscar nomination.  Although she didn't win, Aaliyah had the opportunity to perform on national TV during the award ceremonies. Then in 1999, Aaliyah made a successful acting debut in the hit film, "Romeo Must Die."  In this movie, filmed in Vancouver, Canada, Aaliyah was the leading actress beside the internationally acclaimed Jet Li.  In fact, Aaliyah did so well in "Romeo Must Die," she received offers for leading roles in further films.  At the time of her death, Aaliyah had finished filming for the leading role, Queen Akasha, in Anne Rice's adaptation of "Queen of the Damned," preliminary filming of the Matrix 2 acting along side Keanu Reeves (in July), and was scheduled to play a leading role alongside Reeves in the Matrix 3.  She was scheduled to fly to Australia for filming of the Matrix 3 in early 2002. Furthermore, Aaliyah's hit song, "Try Again" from "Romeo Must Die" was so popular, it became the first song to hit #1 on the Billboard Top 100 Singles Chart based on airplay alone.  The "Romeo Must Die" sound track and "Try Again" single hadn't yet been released when the song soared to #1! "Try Again" also won best female video and video from a film honors for Aaliyah at the 2000 MTV Awards and garnered her a second Grammy nomination (2001).  At the time of her death, "Try Again" had been nominated for R&B Song of the Year at the 2001 Soul Train "Lady of Soul" Awards scheduled to take place in September. Despite her acting success, Aaliyah continued to love music.  During filming of "Queen of the Damned" in Australia, she worked on a majority of her third album, the self-titled "Aaliyah" album which was released on July 16, 2001. In this latest album, Aaliyah continued her reputation of being on cutting edge of R&B exercising great versatility.  She sung to a slow beat about domestic violence in "Never No More," about wanting a future and turning away from a bleak past in "I Gave It All To You," and experimented with jazz rhythms in "I Care 4 U." When "Aaliyah" was released it debuted at #2 on Billboard's Top 100 Pop and R&B Charts.  Like Aaliyah's previous two albums, it was also an overnight success.  Within 5 weeks it was certified gold well on its way to platinum+ status, having sold more than 500,000 copies in just 5 short weeks. Also, two weeks prior to her death, Aaliyah completed filming of her "More Than A Woman" video.  At the same time, Aaliyah was engaged in a cross country tour promoting her hit single, "Rock The Boat." Yet, despite her hectic schedule, Aaliyah made time for her fateful trip to Abaco Island of the Bahamas to work on her "Rock The Boat" music video directed by Hype Williams.  They left Florida on a Metroliner III and arrived to the Bahamas where filming began on a picturesque beach.  Soon things fell behind schedule prompting the group to cancel their chartered Sunday morning (August 26th) return flight, also on a Metroliner III.  However, with Aaliyah pressed for time, and wanting to get to New York as soon as possible to prepare for her role as a presenter during the September 6th MTV Awards, the pace quickened. The group got up each day at 4:30 AM and began filming after a quick breakfast.  The "Rock The Boat" shoot took the entire day leaving Aaliyah only time for a quick dinner and sleep.   By the time, filming had been completed, slightly ahead of schedule due to the challenging pace which had been set to compensate for the delays that had made them fall behind schedule, Aaliyah was tired and drained, but happy.5 Eager to leave immediately for the United States, the group chartered a smaller Cessna 404 in lieu of the Metroliner III they had flown in.  Unknown to the group, Blackhawk International, their air charter company switched to an even smaller Cessna 402B as the 404 was fueled.  This last minute decision proved fatal. When Aaliyah and her group boarded the Cessna 402B they had no idea the plane couldn't hold all of their equipment since the Cessna 404 which they had chartered had the necessary capacity.  As a result, reports exist that an argument ensued over the weight capacity with the pilot eventually gave in.  If they had chartered a plane capable of carrying everything, they weren't about to accept arguments to the contrary believing they were a mistake. Also unknown to Aaliyah's group, Blackhawk International had been cited 9 times in 4 years for safety and drug testing violations.  The pilot was very inexperienced, about to make his first flight, was unauthorized to fly the plane since Blackhawk never registered him with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),  had once been arrested for grand theft and possession of stolen property, and had pleaded no contest for possession of cocaine just 12 days earlier. Then prior to takeoff, as reported by another charter pilot, Lewis Key, Aaliyah's pilot had difficulty getting one of the engines started.  Still, once the engine was started, they engaged in takeoff.  The Cessna 402B rolled down Marsh Harbour Airport's runway at about 6:50 PM and slowly but steeply climbed to about 50 feet.  It then suddenly banked sharply to the left (several witnesses reported hearing an engine shutdown, likely the left engine) and plunged nose first into a nearby swamp 200 feet from the runway and burst into flames upon impact.  Aaliyah and five others were killed instantly on August 25, 2001.  Three others died shortly afterwards of their severe injuries. Reports from the joint investigation conducted by Bahamian Aviation officials and U.S. National Transportation Safety Board officials (invited by Bahamian officials concluded that the plane having been about 700 pounds overweight with most of the distribution in the back, had had little chance of recovery from an engine failure.  The pilot's inexperience had also lessened their chances of recovery. When news reports of Aaliyah's untimely death began to circulate, fans were in disbelief.  No one wanted to believe it was her that had died, hoping that some kind of mistake had been made.  Only as a good part of Sunday had worn on had the tragic truth begun to sink in.  It was a painful and devastating loss, prompting many to ask, "why?" with no readily available answer. After days of mourning, public memorial services were held in Detroit, Michigan and in New York.  Fans attended two memorial services in Detroit, and a public memorial sponsored by Blackground Records and Virgin Records in New York.  In Detroit, fans said their tearful goodbyes at the High School Aaliyah had attended.  In New York, more than 5000 fans filed through Cipriani's Restaurant, which had been converted into an Aaliyah Museum playing her videos non-stop from 10:00 AM-8:00 PM on August 31st.   Even the predicted thunderstorms and rain didn't thwart them.   At one point during the mid-afternoon, bright lightning streaked across the sky followed by loud crashes of thunder.  Yet the people, just about all without umbrellas, kept their places in line which stretched almost two blocks.  An as if Aaliyah was looking out for her faithful friends, not a drop of rain fell on the  East 42nd Street area where they were waiting while nearby areas just several blocks away were drenched. Also on Friday, August 31st, a private funeral and church service were held for Aaliyah.  While the funeral was conducted at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home, several hundred somber fans stood outside across the street waiting to catch a glimpse of Aaliyah's silver-plated, copper, seamless casket and say a last farewell. When the funeral ended, Aaliyah's casket was loaded onto a horse-drawn carriage and transported 3 1/2 blocks to St. Ignatius Loyola Church.  During this procession, Aaliyah's tearful mother waved to the crowd and thanked them for coming. Following the Church service, 22 white doves were released,  the first by Aaliyah's sobbing mother.   One dove was released for each of the singer/actress's fleeting, but memorable 22 years.  Then as Aaliyah's body was taken out to be transported by hearse to its final resting place, the crowd of over a 1000 began singing, "One In A Million." Just over 30 people attended as Aaliyah's body made it to Ferncliff Cemetery in nearby Westchester County.  The saddened fans watched from a distance as the 30 vehicle motorcade arrived and Aaliyah's casket was carried into Unit #11, Ferncliff's newest mausoleum, for a private internment service.  Shortly afterwards, thundershowers drenched the cemetery and as an old saying goes, "when a person dies and it rains, their soul is in heaven." During her short, stellar career, Aaliyah never forgot her family, friends, and fans, and never compromised her moral values.  She remained humble and compassionate despite her success, beauty, and talent, and during her last days, continued to walk the streets of New York holding her mother's hand.  She was genuine and sincere; she was someone everyone could look up to. Even when she was badly fatigued from her "Rock The Boat" video shoot in the Bahamas she still found time for others.  Aaliyah spent her final moments, talking 15 minutes with an admirer of hers.  It was with this teen-aged admirer that Aaliyah's last photo alive was captured, which made the front page of the New York Post's August 28, 2001 edition. And just before she boarded the plane, when complimented about a recent $20,000 charitable contribution she had made, Aaliyah declared, "God blessed me with money, and now it's time to give it back."6 It was because of her sweetness and down-to-earth personality that Aaliyah touched so many lives.  It was because of her caring and compassion that Aaliyah with certainty now sings among God's angels, shining as a bright star from heaven above.  One song from Aaliyah's self-titled album sums her disposition best:  "I Care 4 U."  And we care for her.  May Aaliyah be loved, cherished,and remembered always.  Her 22 years have certainly blessed the music and movie industries, as well as our lives and this Earth forever. __________________________________________           1  Aaliyah Interview with the Boston Herald (March 2000).           2  Isaac Guzman, "Aaliyah's fans are left 'devastated,'" Daily News (August 27, 2001), p. 4.           3  "Detroit fans weep for Aaliyah," Daily News (September 3, 2001), p. 6.           4  MSNBC Online Story, "Was Aaliyah's plane overloaded before deadly crash?" (August 27, 2001).           5  Paula Froelich, John Lehmann, and Brad Hunter, "Aaliyah had time for devoted fan in hectic last days," New York Post (August 28, 2001), pp. 1 and 6.           6  Paula Froelich, et al., "Aaliyah had time for devoted fan in hectic last days," New York Post (August 28, 2001), p. 6.

Aaliyah Remembered2

Aaliyah Haughton

Aaliyah:  A Biography

Copyright 2001 -- MOCKBA1; All Rights Reserved.  No Part be duplicated without authorization from MOCKBA1.  Top Images of Aaliyah Dedication is the property of Blackground Records; Upper Middle Image is the property of The Journal News (The Journal News Westchester, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, Inc.  White Plains, NY); Lower Middle Image is the property of the New York Post; and the Bottom Image is the property of the Associated Press (AP).

Blackground.com (Blackground Records) Dedication to Aaliyah

August 28, 2001 New York Post Front Cover

Aaliyah Plane Wreck (AP Photo)

Gladys Knight