Alia Dana Houghton, aka Aaliyah, is a well-known R&B, hip-hop, soul and pop music artist.
She was repeatedly nominated for a Grammy Award, as well as an Oscar Award for her song for the film Anastasia.
Childhood singer
She was born on January 16, 1979 in New York, but spent her childhood in Detroit. Her mother, Diana Haughton, was also a singer, so she raised her children to pursue musical careers. Aaliyah was the niece of Barry Hankerson, a top music executive who married popular soul singer Gladys Knight.
When she was 10 years old, she took part in the TV show Star Search, singing her mother's favorite song. Although she did not win, she began working with a music agent, which led her to attend auditions for various TV shows.
She then graduated from Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts in dance class with excellent grades.
The beginning of the career of the singer Aliya
To launch her creative career, she began working with her uncle, who owned Blackground Records. In 1994, at the age of 14, her debut album, Age Ain't Nothing But a Number, was released.
This album became popular and peaked at number 18 on the Billboard 200 chart, and the number of copies sold exceeded 2 million. This album included the single Back And Forth, which went gold and peaked at number 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and 5 - position in the 100 Hot Singles category.
In 1994, at the age of 15, she secretly married in Illinois to her mentor, singer R. Kelly, who at that time was 27 years old. But five months later, the marriage was annulled through the intervention of Aliya's parents due to her minority. In 1995, she sang the US national anthem during a basketball game for the Orlando Magic.
Career development and One in a Million album
The second album One in a Million was released on August 17, 1996, when the singer was 17 years old. Music critics praised this album, leaving positive comments. This served to further take off Aaliyah's musical career, which has become one of the most important figures in the world of R&B music.
In 1997, Tommy Hilfiger hired her as a model for his advertising campaigns. In the same year, she sang a song for the soundtrack to the cartoon "Anastasia", for which she was nominated for an Oscar.
Aliya became the youngest performer to receive a nomination in the Best Original Song category. By the end of 1997, the song had sold 3,7 million copies in the US and 11 million worldwide.
In 1998, Alia received significant success with the song Are You That Somebody? from the movie "Dr. Dolittle", and the video for this song was the third most shown on MTV during that year.
In 2000, Aliya, along with Jet Li, participated in the filming of the martial arts film Romeo Must Die, which became very popular in America. She also performed the soundtracks for this movie.
The single We Need a Resolution from her third album was released on April 24, 2001. But it didn't get as much popularity as the previous singles, despite the great video clip. The album was released on July 17, 2001.
And although the new album debuted at number 2 on the 200 Hot Albums, sales were very low, but increased significantly after the death of the singer.
A week after Aaliyah's accident, the album hit #1 on the US charts and was certified Platinum for over 1 million copies sold.
The tragic death of Aaliyah
On August 25, 2001, Aliya and her team boarded a Cessna 402B (N8097W) after filming the video for Rock The Boat. It was a flight from the island of Abaco, in the Bahamas, to Miami (Florida).
The plane crashed almost immediately after taking off. The pilot and eight passengers, including Aliya, died instantly. The accident occurred due to overload, as the amount of luggage significantly exceeded the norm.
According to the results of the investigation, Aliya received severe burns and a strong blow to the head. The investigation suggested that even if she survived the accident, she would not be able to recover, as the injuries were very severe. The singer's funeral was held at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in Manhattan.
The news of Aliya's death markedly increased the sales of her albums and singles. The single More Than A Woman peaked at number 7 in the US on the R&B chart and at number 25 on the 100 Hot Singles. It also reached number 1 on the UK charts. To date, it is the only single by a deceased artist to reach the top of the UK charts.
Aaliyah's album has sold nearly 3 million copies in the US. In 2002, the premiere of the film Queen of the Damned took place, in which the singer starred a few months before her death. The premiere of this film gathered a significant number of fans of the singer's talent in cinemas.
In 2006, another collection of her songs, Ultimate Aaliyah, was released, which included all of her most famous hits and singles. 2,5 million copies of this collection have been sold.
