James Dean Biography

Aaliyah Haughton was born on January 16, 1979 in Brooklyn, New York. At the age of five, her family moved to Detroit where she started what seemed to be a promising career. Only time would tell if this upcoming star would live up to that aspiration and her name, which means "highest, most exalted one" in Swahili.

This bright and rising star started her career with a voice that could be compared to those of Toni Braxton and Janet Jackson.

Aaliyah's talent was recognized at a young age when her mom secured the services of a voice teacher before the young girl even enrolled in school. Young Haughton spent her pre-teen years between singing in school plays and auditioning for various TV projects.

At the age of 9, she appeared on the television show Star Search where she sang My Funny Valentine as an homage to her mom. Just two years later, she went on a five-night stint singing with Gladys Knight's troupe in Las Vegas.

At this early stage in her career, Aaliyah already had relative success and some good connections to continue her rise to the top of Hollywod's fame. Her uncle Barry Hankerson was the CEO of the artist management company Blackground Enterprises.

In 1992, she met with R&B artist R. Kelly, who quickly took Aaliyah under his wing as they started working on various songs and recording projects. Aaliyah's debut album was launched in June of 1994. Titled Age Ain't Nothing But a Number, it topped the charts with the single "Back and Forth," as well as with the remake of the Isley Brothers' hit "At Your Best (You Are In Love)," which reached the Top 5.

Rumors were spreading that the young singer had something going on with Kelly, an allegation that both parties eventually denied. She toured the world pulling big crowds in Japan, Europe, South Africa, and in the US. She decided to return home and pursue her studies in Performing Arts, while majoring in Dance.

Her time was devoted to performing as she made collaborative projects with Junior M.A.F.I.A., Kriss Kross, and she appeared on the Notorious B.I.G.'s video for "One More Chance." She also recorded the sultry "Are You Ready?" for the Sunset Park soundtrack.

Aaliyah eventually decided to return to the studio to record her second album. She decided to surround herself with high-profile artists, most notably Jermaine Dupri, Timbaland, and Slick Rick, which would obviously lead to sprucing up her image.

Released in the summer of 1996, One in a Million brought Aaliyah to the next level in the industry standards, and she was not considered a side act anymore. She reached No. 1 on the R&B singles chart with her single "If Your Girl Only Knew." The album was certified double platinum after only ten months on the market, putting Aaliyah among the superstars of the music industry.

She was soon featured in Elle, Seventeen and Cosmopolitan, and turned her talent towards Hollywood when she recorded singles for the soundtracks of Dr. Dolittle and Anastasia, with the song "Journey to the Past." She performed the latter at the Academy Awards, making her one of the youngest ever performers of an Oscar nominated song.

Her acting debut was in 2000's Romeo Must Die, in which she portrayed the daughter of a mobster and co-starred Hong Kong's action hero, Jet Li. The movie, which was described as a hip-hop reworking of Romeo and Juliet, wasn't a blockbuster, but the budding actress received critical acclaim, and it was evident that more film roles were on the way.

Her hit single from the Romeo Must Die soundtrack, "Try Again," garnered Aaliyah 2 Grammy nominations and the 2000 MTV awards for Best Female Video and Video From a Film.

Aaliyah had just completed filming for the title role in The Queen of the Damned, an adaptation of the Anne Rice novel, when she was killed in a plane crash that took the lives of eight others on Saturday, August 25th, 2001, on the way to Miami from the Bahamas.

The 22-year-old singer/actress was in the Bahamas shooting a music video. The self-titled Aaliyah, the singer's third album, was released in July 2001, and debuted in the Top 5 on the Billboard magazine album chart.

Slated to appear in the much-anticipated The Matrix sequels, it's clear the Aaliyah, "the highest, most exalted one," was on her way to superstardom.

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