Soul And / Or Related Artists
aaliyah

Aaliyah

b. Aaliyah Dana Haughton, 16th January 1979, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.

d. 25th August 2001, Marsh Harbour, Bahama's.

Aaliyah's aunt is the legendary soul singer, Glady's Knight.

R. Kelly assisted her in her early years and her debut album, 'Age Ain't Nothing But A Number' included the debut single 'Back And Forth', which made the national and R & B charts.

Aaliyah then moved to Chicago, where her debut album was recorded at R Kelly's residence.

She remained at the Detroit High School of the Performing Arts throughout these recordings.

Her age became a controversial issue when news of her marriage to her producer, R. Kelly, was leaked out at the end of the year.

In 1996 she resurfaced with 'One in a Million'.

The mid-nineties moulded Aaliyah into a more mature soulstress, giving her a chance to broaden musically and personally.

By the end of the decade, she had a deal with Virgin.

She starred in the action flick 'Romeo Must Die' with Jet Li, and contibuted to the soundtrack with the songs 'Try Again' and 'Are You Feelin' Me?'.

A self-titled third album followed in summer 2001 before disaster struck.

Aaliyah died when a small plane that was to carry her and eight others back to the United States crashed after takeoff in the Bahamas.

Eight were killed in the crash, and one critically injured man was flown to Florida for treatment.

The cause of the crash was unclear.

Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in Atlanta, said the plane was a Cessna 402 owned by Skystream, a company based in Pembroke Pines, Fla.

She said the plane crashed at the end of the airport's runway at 6:50 p.m., 25th August 2001, Marsh Harbour, Bahama's.

Reports followed regarding the reputation of the pilot of the jet:

'MIAMI, 29th August 2002. The Federal Aviation Administration said today that the pilot of a plane that crashed in the Bahamas on Saturday, killing the singer Aaliyah and eight others, was not authorized to fly the craft and that the agency was investigating why he was at the controls.

The agency's investigators also want to know more about the relationship between SkyStream Inc. the registered owner of the plane, and Blackhawk Airways International, which was listed in documents with the Customs Service as its operator.

'We're in the process of looking into the relationship between the two companies and trying to determine what company was actually flying that plane,' said Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Representatives of the South Florida companies could not be reached for comment.

Also today, investigators from the Bahamian Department of Civil Aviation, assisted by the United States National Transportation Safety Board, were again examining the engines, cockpit instruments and debris from the wrecked Cessna 402B, in Marsh Harbor to determine why it crashed shortly after taking off for Opa-Locka, Fla.

The F.A.A. said Blackhawk had authorization for extremely limited use of the plane. That would have prevented the pilot, Luis Morales III, who also died in the crash, from flying it, even though he was licensed to fly multi-engine commercial aircraft.

'Blackhawk had single-pilot authorization meaning only one individual was authorized to fly the plane for that company,' Ms. Bergen said. 'The person that was authorized was not flying the plane when it crashed.'

...Aaliyah lyrics...

Real Player

Albums:

Age Ain't Nothing But A Number (Jive 1994)

One In A Million (Atlantic 1996)

Aaliyah (Virgin 2001)

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