Saturday, November 8, 2008
Biography
Date of Death: 25 August 2001, Marsh Harbour, Abaco Island, Bahamas (airplane crash)
Birth Name : Aaliyah Dana Haughton
Nickname: Liyah, BabyGirl, Wonder Woman,Lee, Li Li
Height: 5' 7½" (1.71 m)
Spouse: R. Kelly (30 August 1994 - 7 February 1995) (annulled)
On January 16th 1979 the world was blessed with the birth of Aaliyah Dana Haughton in
Brooklyn, New York. Aaliyah was raised by her father, mother and brother Rashad Haughton in Detroit. At age 9 she appeared on "Star Search" (1983), the TV program and sang "My Funny Valentine", a song which her mother had sung years earlier. At age 11, she sang with Gladys Knight in a five-night stint in Las Vegas. In 1992, she began to work on her debut album with the help of singer R. Kelly. The album, "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number" was released in 1994 and received heavy praise. Aaliyah came under attack shortly after when reports suggested she was married to R. Kelly. At the time, she was 15, he was 27. The marriage was apparently annulled. In 1995, she began to work on her 2nd album, alongside Jermaine Dupri,Tim Mosley, Slick Rick and Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliott'. The album, titled 'One In A Million' was released on August 27th 1996. In 1998 she released the single, 'Are you that somebody?' from the Doctor Dolittle (1998) soundtrack, it was produced by her friends Tim Mosley. Later that year she released the single 'Journey to the past', from the Anastasia (1997) soundtrack. In 2000, she made her film acting debut and starred as Trish O'Day in the smash hit, hip-hop, kung fu film, Romeo Must Die (2000) alongside Jet Li. The producer was so impressed by her performance she got parts in The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003). She made numerous records for the soundtrack and released 'Try Again',for which she was nominated with 'Best female video' and 'Best Video in a film' with MTV. In 2001 she was nominated with 2 awards for MTV, the 'Breakthrough female' and 'best performing female'. In July 2001 she released her third album, the self-titled, 'Aaliyah'. In early August of the same year she filmed the video for the single 'More Than a woman', taken off the album and on the 23rd August she started filming for 'Rock The Boat', on Abaco Island,in the Bahamas. On 25th August, filming was completed and her and eight of her crew members including her hair stylist and bodyguard boarded a small plane. Shortly after take off, the plane crashed and exploded, Aaliyah and all on board, perished. Aaliyah's funeral was held on Friday August 31st in New York, and 22 white doves were flown to celebrate each year of her life. Soon after her death, the hit singles 'More Than a woman' and 'Rock The Boat' were released from her third album. In 2002, the film Queen of the Damned (2002) by Anne Rice was released in which Aaliyah played the lead, Queen Akasha. She was nominated for best Villain at the MTV movie awards 2002. Looking back at her biography, it's no wonder her name means 'Highest, most exhalted one; the best', she had achieved so much in her short life of 22 years.
Trivia
Auditioned for a role on the television sitcom "Family Matters" (1989).
Chosen as one of Teen People Magazine's "21 Hottest Stars Under 21." [1999]
3 tattoos: her initial and a star on her hand, a music symbol on her ankle and a dove on her lower back.
Voted First Place by the readers of Black Men Magazine for "The 10 Sexiest Women of the Year." [2000]
Performed with Gladys Knight at age eleven in Las Vegas.
Aaliyah's self-titled long awaited third album is released. [July 17, 2001]
Got her dove tattoo as a tribute to her grandmother.
Graduated from the Detroit High School of the Performing Arts with a 4.0 GPA.
Got her big break on the television show "Star Search" (1983).
Died in a plane crash on a return trip from shooting a music video in the Bahamas. The crash, which happened in Marsh Harbour, located on Abaco Island in the Bahamas, was determined to have been caused by the plane being overloaded. [25 August 2001]
She got her middle name Dana from her grandmother.
At the time of her death, Aaliyah and her boyfriend, Roc-A-Fella co-CEO Damon Dash, had plans to wed.
Parents: Micheal and Diane Haughton. Brother: Rashad Haughton (born 6 August 1977).
At the age of 5, she moved to Detroit, Michigan, where she grew up.
At the time of her death, she was scheduled to reloop her dialogue in Queen of the Damned (2002) and to film the majority of her role for The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003).
Posthumous single "More Than A Woman" reaches #1 in the UK. [January 2002]
The first female artist to have a posthumous number one single in the UK record charts.[January 2002]
In January 2002 she reached No. 1 in the UK with her single "More Than A Woman". She was knocked off the top spot a week later by another deceased artist - George Harrison.
At her funeral, 22 white doves were released from the steps of the church. One dove for each year of her life.
Sister of Rashad Haughton.
Auditioned for the Elton John Broadway show, Aida.
Her uncle, Barry Hankerson, was formerly married to singer Gladys Knight.
Her mother Diane was once a promising solo singer but gave it up to raise her children Aaliyah and Rashad Haughton.
She had a close friendship with producer/musical artist 'Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliott'.
It was announced in November 2002 that good friend 'Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliott' is to produce a tribute album to Aaliyah which will include stars finishing off songs Aaliyah was working on before her death in August 2001. In the same month, it was announced that a posthumous Aaliyah album will be released entitled 'I care 4 u'.
Was considered for the role of Alex in Charlie's Angels (2000), but casting directors deemed her too young and the part went to Lucy Liu.
Was considered for the part of Maggie in Get Over It (2001), but was already committed to Romeo Must Die (2000). Zoe Saldana was eventually cast in the role.
Was the first choice to play Valerie in Josie and the Pussycats (2001), but had already signed on for the lead role in Queen of the Damned (2002). Rosario Dawson eventually got the part.
Was almost the voice of Leah in Osmosis Jones (2001), but could not accept due to schedule conflicts. The part was eventually voiced by Brandy Norwood.
Her grandmother was Native American.
She was close friends with Nicole Richie.
Was originally cast in the title role in Honey (2003) but died before production began. Jessica Alba won the part after her death.
Best friend was Kidada Jones.