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Aaliyah, was an American R&B singer, dancer, model, and actress. She was a Grammy Award-winning recording artist. Introduced to audiences by R&B singer R. Kelly, Aaliyah became famous during the mid-1990s with several hit records from the songwriting/production team of Missy Elliott and Timbaland, and their associate Steve "Static" Garrett.
Notable for recording several hit records, including several number one R&B hits, a number one pop hit, and nine top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, She also modeled for Tommy Hilfiger and starred in two motion pictures before her death in a 2001 plane crash at the age of 22.

Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York on January 16, 1979 to Michael and Diane Haughton, and was raised in Detroit, Michigan. Her name means "Highest, Most Exalted, The Best" in Arabic. Aaliyah pronounced as Ah-lee-yah was brought up as a Roman Catholic with her older brother Rashad Haughton. Diane Haughton, Aaliyah's mother, also a vocalist, encouraged Aaliyah's career. Her uncle, Barry Hankerson, is a prominent individual in the music industry and Aaliyah's aunt, through marriage to Hankerson, is Gladys Knight, a legendary soul singer with Gladys Knight & the Pips.
Aaliyah appeared on the TV talent show program Star Search at age ten, singing her mother's favorite song, "My Funny Valentine". Although she did not win, Aaliyah worked with an agent in New York and began to attend auditions for TV shows, including Family Matters.
Following her appearance on Star Search Aaliyah performed on stage in Las Vegas with Gladys Knight. In her early teens, Aaliyah attended the Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts, and graduated as a dance major with a 4.0 GPA average.

In 1997, Aaliyah appeared on the soundtrack album for the Fox Animation Studios animated feature Anastasia, singing the pop version of "Journey to the Past". The song was nominated for an Academy Award, and Aaliyah performed the song at the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony, becoming the youngest female recording artist to perform at the ceremony. Not only was Aaliyah the youngest female to perform but she was the youngest African American to have the nominee for Best Original Song.
Aaliyah had a hit in 1998 with "Are You that Somebody" (number one airplay U.S. eight weeks), the main single from the Dr. Dolittle soundtrack. Its video was the third most-played on MTV that year, and the song's success helped make Aaliyah a household name.
In 2000, she co-starred with Jet Li in the martial-arts film Romeo Must Die, which debuted at number one at the box office. Aaliyah and Timbaland executive produced the film's soundtrack album and Aaliyah contributed four songs: "Are You Feelin' Me?," "I Don't Wanna," "Come Back in One Piece," a duet with DMX, and the international number one hit "Try Again." Aaliyah made history once more when "Try Again" became the first song to ever reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 based solely on the strength of its radio airplay, without any single sales factored in. After the huge success of "Try Again" at radio, a 12" maxi single was released for consumer purchase. The radio-only single, "I Don't Wanna", (which was also featured on the soundtracks for the films Next Friday and Romeo Must Die) peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks chart.
In 2001, Aaliyah went to Australia to co-star with Stuart Townsend in the film Queen of the Damned, an adaptation of the Anne Rice novel of the same name. Aaliyah also recorded most of her third studio album, Aaliyah.

Death
On August 25, 2001, at 6:49 pm, just after wrap up filming of the "Rock the Boat" video was completed in the Bahamas, Aaliyah and seven friends boarded a twin engine Cessna 402B (N8097W) piloted by Luis Morales III. It is believed that this aircraft was headed to Opa-locka Airport near Miami, Florida, when the flight crashed shortly after takeoff. The pilot and all eight passengers were killed. Her remains are interred at Ferncliff Cemetery in New York, USA.

Investigation
NTSB reports indicate that the pilot, Luis Morales III, was not qualified to pilot the plane he was attempting to fly. Morales falsely obtained his 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 cocaine and alcohol in his blood.
Further investigations determined the plane was over its total gross weight by several hundred pounds. Although witnesses claimed that the passengers had been asked to leave some luggage behind, it was later discovered that the passengers, including Aaliyah, had not been informed of the excess weight.
Eddie Golson, president of Pro Freight Cargo Services at Opa-locka Airport, said workers carted "a pickup truck of freight" from the crash site Monday. "That's absurd to think that this pilot got in this airplane with eight other people and a truck full of freight and expected this thing to fly," Golson said. "What the hell was going on?" A baggage handler was reported to have said that no one weighed the passengers or baggage. Two of the passengers, members of Aaliyah's entourage, weighed in the neighborhood of 300 pounds and sat in the rear of the plane, where the baggage was also stored.
The day of the crash was Mr. Morales' first official day with Blackhawk International Airways, a Part 135 single-pilot operation. He had been employed with Golden Airlines, from which he was fired only four hours before the fatal crash. In addition, Luis Morales III was not registered with the FAA to fly for Blackhawk. As a result of the accident, a wrongful death law suit was filed by Aaliyah’s parents and was later settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
Barry & Sons, Inc., a corporation formed in 1992 to develop, promote and capitalize on the musical talents of Aaliyah and to oversee the production and distribution of her records, tapes and music videos, brought an unsuccessful lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against Instinct Productions LLC, (a company hired by Barry & Sons, Inc. in August, 2001 to produce the "Rock the Boat" music video). The case was dismissed since New York State's wrongful death statute only permits certain people to recover damages for wrongful death.