What Happened? Aaliyah

Aaliyah

Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born on January 16, 1979, in Brooklyn, New York. She was the second and younger child of Diane and Michael Haughton.  At a young age, Aaliyah was enrolled in voice lessons by her mother, and she would perform at weddings, church choir and charity events. When she was five years old, her family moved to Detroit, Michigan, where she was raised along with her older brother, Rashad. She attended a Catholic school, Gesu Elementary, where she received a part in the stage play Annie in first grade. From then on, she was determined to become an entertainer. Aaliyah's mother was a vocalist, and her uncle, Barry Hankerson, was an entertainment lawyer who had been married to Gladys Knight. As a child, Aaliyah traveled with Knight and worked with an agent in New York to audition for commercials and television programs, including Family Matters; she went on to appear on Star Search at the age of nine. She then auditioned for several record labels and appeared in concerts alongside Knight at age 11.

Barry Hankerson signed a distribution deal with Jive Records, he signed Aaliyah to his Blackground Records label at the age of 12. Hankerson later introduced her to recording artist and producer R. Kelly, who became Aaliyah's mentor, as well as lead songwriter and producer of the album, which was recorded when she was 14. Aaliyah's debut album, Age Ain't Nothing but a Number, was released under Jive and Blackground Records; the album debut at number 24 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 74,000 copies in its first week. It ultimately peaked at number 18 on the Billboard 200 and sold over three million copies in the United States, where it was certified two times Platinum by the RIAA. Aaliyah's debut single, "Back & Forth", topped the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for three weeks and was certified Gold by the RIAA. The second single, a cover of The Isley Brothers' "At Your Best (You Are Love)", peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 . The title track, "Age Ain't Nothing but a Number", peaked at number 75 on the Hot 100. Additionally, she released "The Thing I Like" as part of the soundtrack to the 1994 film A Low Down Dirty Shame.

“Age Ain't Nothing But a Number “received generally favorable reviews from music critics. Some writers noted that Aaliyah's "silky vocals" and "sultry voice" blended with Kelly's new jack swing helped define R&B in the 1990s. Her sound was also compared to that of female quartet En Vogue. Christopher John Farley of Time magazine described the album as a "beautifully restrained work", noting that Aaliyah's "girlish, breathy vocals rode calmly on R. Kelly's rough beats”.

With the release of “Age Ain't Nothing but a Number, rumors circulated that their work relationship was more than that. Shortly after, the release of "Age Ain't Nothing but a Number" there was speculation about a secret marriage between the two. Vibe magazine later revealed a marriage certificate that listed the couple married on August 31, 1994, in Sheraton Gateway Suites in Rosemont, Illinois. Aaliyah, who was 15 at the time, was listed as 18 on the certificate And Robert Kelly as 19; the illegal marriage was annulled in February 1995 in Detroit by her parents. The pair continued to deny a marriage ever existed. Recent allegations surrounding the marriage is the subject of the book “Behind The Man” a book written by a former road manager for R. Kelly. stating that not only either were they  married but R. Kelly impregnated Aaliyah .

In 1996, Aaliyah left Jive Records and signed with Atlantic Records. She worked with record producers Timbaland and Missy Elliott, who contributed to her second studio album, “One in a Million”, the album yielded the single "If Your Girl Only Knew", which topped the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for two weeks. It also generated the singles "Hot like Fire" and "4 Page Letter". The following year, Aaliyah was featured on Timbaland & Magoo's debut single, "Up Jumps da Boogie". “One in a Million “ peaked at number 18 on the Billboard 200, selling over 3.7 million copies in the United States.

Aaliyah attended the Detroit High School for the Performing Arts, where she majored in drama and graduated in 1997. Aaliyah began her acting career that same year; she played herself in the police drama television series New York Undercover. During this time, Aaliyah participated in the Children's Benefit Concert, a charity concert that took place at the Beacon Theatre in New York. Aaliyah also became the spokesperson for Tommy Hilfiger Corporation. She contributed on the soundtrack album for the Fox Animation Studios animated feature Anastasia, performing a cover version of "Journey to the Past" which earned songwriters Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Aaliyah performed the song at the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony and became the youngest singer to perform at the event. The song "Are You That Somebody?" was featured on the Dr. Dolittle soundtrack, which earned Aaliyah her first Grammy Award nomination. The song peaked at number 21 on the Hot 100.

Aaliyah landed her first major movie role in “Romeo Must Die”. Aaliyah starred opposite martial artist Jet Li, playing a couple who fall in love amid their warring families. It grossed US$18.6 million in its first weekend, ranking number two at the box office.  In addition to acting, Aaliyah served as an executive producer of the film soundtrack, where she contributed four songs. "Try Again" was released as a single from the soundtrack; the song topped the Billboard Hot 100, making Aaliyah the first artist to top the chart based solely on airplay; this led the song to be released in a 12" vinyl and 7" single. The music video won the Best Female Video and Best Video from a Film awards at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. It also earned her a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocalist. The soundtrack went on to sell 1.5 million copies in the United States. After completing “Romeo Must Die”, Aaliyah began to work on her second film, “Queen of the Damned”. She played the role of an ancient vampire, Queen Akasha, which she described as a "manipulative, crazy, sexual being”. She was scheduled to film for the sequels of “The Matrix” as the character Zee. She was in negotiations to play Sparkle in the movie of the same  title.

Her third and final studio album, Aaliyah, was released on July 17, 2001, under Blackground and Virgin Records. Preparation for the album started in 1998 but, with the filming of martial arts film Romeo Must Die (2000), Aaliyah postponed the recording of the album. Much of the album was completed in various studios throughout New York City prior to Aaliyah's trip to Australia for the filming of”Queen of the Damned” (2002). While recording process lasted more than a year, most of the tracks were completed by early 2000, when the production team and songwriters had secured recording time at New York Sound King Studios to work on the album together. In September 2000, Virgin Records flew the group out to Australia, where it spent a month recording the majority of the album at the Sing Sing Studio in Melbourne with Aaliyah. With three recording studios going simultaneously, producers J-Dub, Bud’da and Keybeats each worked in separate rooms. During the sessions, Garrett and co-writer Digital Black would move from studio to studio to check each producer's progress. At peak periods, they would work on 10 songs at the same time. With filming ending in Australia in December 2000, production of the album went into full-force in America and Europe.

The first single, "We Need a Resolution", featured Timbaland and was released in late April in the United States. The song reached number fifty nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the issue dated June 9, 2001, and remained on the chart for sixteen weeks.  The music video was premiered on Much More Music, Black Entertainment Television's (BET) 106 & Park and MTV's TRL on April 26, 2001. "Rock the Boat", the second single, was released in early August. Aaliyah started promotion for the expected second single "More Than a Woman", but the single was pushed back to promote "Rock the Boat" the  summer single that gain recognition due to her untimely death. "Rock the Boat" was the second single in America while and the third single internationally. "I Care 4 U", the fifth single (US only), was released on Mother's Day 2002. It managed to reach number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number three on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Aaliyah entered the US Billboard 200 and the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums at number two, with 190,000 copies sold in the first week. Within 5 weeks of the album release it was certified Gold for sales. In the week of her death (seventh week) the album rose to number one on the Billboard 200 and two on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums . It also became the third album from Aaliyah to receive the award of multi-platinum.  The album has sold more 2.95 million copies in the US. The album spent 188 weeks on the Billboard 200, making it one of the longest stays in the Billboard 200 albums chart up to that point. The album debuted at number two on the charts. In the week of her death the album rose from number 25 to number 1, with more than 888,000 copies sold.

August 25, 2001, at 6:45 pm (EST), Aaliyah and various members of the record company boarded a twin-engine Cessna 402B (registration N8097W) at the Marsh Harbour Airport in Abaco Islands, The Bahamas, to travel to the Opa-locka Airport in Florida, after they completed filming the music video for the single "Rock the Boat". They had a flight scheduled the following day, but with filming finishing early, Aaliyah and her entourage were eager to return to the United States and made the decision to leave immediately. The designated airplane was smaller than the Cessna 404 in which they had originally flown. When the aircraft attempted to depart, it was over its maximum takeoff weight by 700 pounds (320 kg) and was carrying one excess passenger, according to its certification. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff, about 200 feet (60 m) from the runway.  Aaliyah and the eight others on board, pilot Luis Morales III, hair stylist Eric Forman, Anthony Dodd, security guard Scott Gallin, video producer Douglas Kratz, stylist Christopher Maldonado, and Blackground Records employees Keith Wallace and Gina Smith, were all killed.

According to findings from an inquest, conducted by the coroner's office in The Bahamas, Aaliyah suffered from "severe burns and a blow to the head", in addition to severe shock and a weak heart. The coroner theorized that, even if Aaliyah had survived the crash, her recovery would have been virtually impossible given the severity of her injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report stated that "the airplane was seen lifting off the runway, and then nose down, impacting in a marsh on the south side of the departure end of runway 27 and then exploding in flames.” It indicated that the pilot was not approved to pilot the plane he was attempting to fly. Morales falsely obtained his Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) license by showing hundreds of hours never flown, and he may also have falsified how many hours he had flown in order to get a job with his employer, Blackhawk International Airways. Additionally, an autopsy performed on Morales revealed traces of cocaine and alcohol in his system. The NTSB reported that the maximum allowed gross weight of the plane was "substantially exceeded" and that the center of gravity was positioned beyond its rear limit. John Frank of the Cessna Pilots Association stated that the plane was "definitely overloaded.

The day of the crash was Morales' first official day with Blackhawk International Airways, an FAA Part 135 single-pilot operation. Morales was not registered with the FAA to fly for Blackhawk. As a result of the accident, Aaliyah's parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company, which was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.