Aaliyah

Aaliyah Dana Haughton January 16 1979 August 25 2001 was an American singer actress dancer and model Known as the Princess of RB and Queen of Urban Pop she is credited with helping to redefine contemporary RB pop and hip hop Aaliyahs accolades include three American Music Awards and two MTV VMAs along with five Grammy Award nominations Born in Brooklyn and raised in Detroit she first gained recognition at the age of 10 when she appeared on the television show Star Search and performed in concert alongside Gladys Knight At the age of 12 Aaliyah signed with Jive Records and her uncle Barry Hankersons Blackground Records Hankerson introduced her to R Kelly who became her mentor as well as lead songwriter and producer of her debut album Age Aint Nothing but a Number 1994 The album sold three million copies in the United States and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America RIAA After allegations of an illegal marriage with Kelly Aaliyah ended her contract with Jive and signed with Atlantic Records Aaliyah worked with record producers Timbaland and Missy Elliott for her second album One in a Million 1996 which sold three million copies in the United States and more than eight million copies worldwide In 2000 Aaliyah made her acting debut in the action film Romeo Must Die alongside Jet Li She contributed to the films soundtrack which was supported by her single Try Again The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 solely through airplay becoming the first in the charts history to do so After completing the film Aaliyah subsequently filmed her starring role in Queen of the Damned which was released posthumously and released her third album Aaliyah 2001 which topped the Billboard 200 The album spawned the singles We Need a Resolution Rock the Boat and More Than a Woman On August 25 2001 at the age of 22 Aaliyah was killed in a plane crash along with eight other people on board when the overloaded aircraft she was traveling in crashed shortly after takeoff The pilot was later found to have traces of cocaine and alcohol in his body and was not qualified to fly the aircraft designated for the flight Aaliyahs family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the aircrafts operator which was settled out of court After her death Aaliyahs music has continued to achieve commercial success aided by several posthumous releases including the compilation albums I Care 4 U 2002 and Ultimate Aaliyah 2005 She has sold 81 million albums in the US and an estimated 24 to 32 million albums worldwide Description above from the Wikipedia article Aaliyah licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia