Aaliyah Dana Haughton (January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001),
better known as
Aaliyah (), was an American
R&B singer and actress. Introduced to audiences by R&B-pop singer
R. Kelly, Aaliyah became famous during the mid-1990s with several hit records from the
songwriting/
production team of
Missy Elliott and
Timbaland. She found success with her debut album
Age Ain't Nothing but a Number, while introducing a "street but sweet" look which would become her trademark throughout her career. Followed by two more albums,
One in a Million and the self-titled
Aaliyah, she has sold a total of 32 million albums worldwide. The success has also earned her five Grammy nominations.
In addition to her commercial success, her collaborations with
Timbaland helped shape the sound of R&B in the latter half of the 1990s.
She also modeled for
Tommy Hilfiger and starred in two
motion pictures,
Romeo Must Die and
Queen of the Damned, before her death in a plane crash in
the Bahamas on August 25, 2001.
[Aaliyah Killed In Plane Crash. MTV News. August 26 2001.] Since then, Aaliyah has received much commercial success with hit singles like
Miss You, and
I Care 4 U. She also had 10 Top 25 hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100 including the worldwide #1 hit "
Try Again", which became the first song in history to top the Billboard Hot 100 only on airplay.