Aaliyah: A Career to Remember
In 22 short years, Aaliyah left an indelible mark.
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Angel Among Us - Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born Jan. 16, 1979 in Brooklyn, New York. Four years later, her mother Diane, father Michael and older brother Rashad moved to Detroit, Michigan.(Photo: Courtesy of Behind The Music, VH1)
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A Star Is Born - Aaliyah said she always knew she wanted to sing and that someday she'd be a star. Here she is at 10 years old singing "My Funny Valentine" on the hit '80s show Star Search.(Photo: Courtesy Of CBS)
Photo By Photo: Courtesy Of CBS
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Uncle Barry and Aunt Gladys - Before Aaliyah was born, her Uncle Barry Hankerson married a certified superstar in Gladys Knight. When Aaliyah was 11, her aunt had a show in Las Vegas and invited her out onstage to sing. Glady recalls the budding star being completely unintimidated by the crowd.(Photo: Getty Images, Aaliyah.com)
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Rated R - By the time Aaliyah was 12, she'd signed a record deal with Jive. Meanwhile, her Uncle Barry was managing a singer/songwriter on-the-verge in Chicago named R. Kelly. Barry introduced the two and the rest is, as they say, history.(Photo Courtesy of Vibe)
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Striking Gold - In 1994, at the tender age of 15, Aaliyah releases her debut album, Age Ain't Nothing But a Number, and achieves much success with hit singles "Back and Forth" and the Isley Brothers remake "At Your Best." The record goes gold with R. Kelly's assistance as executive producer. Rumors begin to swirl about the teen's relationship with her much older mentor and the two quietly part ways.(Photo: Jive Records)
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Back to the Future - Aaliyah meets Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott and Timbaland. Together they introduce the world to a new futuristic flow and sound. Her sophomore album, One in a Million goes double platinum in less than a year and features the hits "4 Page Letter," "Hot like Fire," "If Your Girl Only Knew" and the title track.(Photo: Jive Records)
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One Billion Strong - In 1997, Aaliyah becomes the one of the youngest artists to perform at the Oscars when she sings her nominated theme song, "Journey to the Past," from the animated film Anastasia. The 70th Annual Academy Awards was viewed by over 1 billion people that night — it was the year of Titanic.(Photo: ABC)
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Making Her Mark - In 1999, Aaliyah recorded a song for another soundtrack, Dr. Doolittle, starring Eddie Murphy and Rayven Symone. She is nominated for a Grammy for the single, "Are You that Somebody?" The song was a huge success, with beats by Timbaland and a music video with moves from Fatima Robinson, and a guest appearance from a falcon at the end(Photo: Jive Records)
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Making Her Mark - In 1999, Aaliyah recorded a song for another soundtrack, Dr. Doolittle, starring Eddie Murphy and Rayven Symone. She is nominated for a Grammy for the single, "Are You that Somebody?" The song was a huge success, with beats by Timbaland and a music video with moves from Fatima Robinson, and a guest appearance from a falcon at the end(Photo: Jive Records)
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Triple Threat - The year 2000 marks the moment when Aaliyah added actress to her professional resume. Not only could she sing and dance, she was now set to take over Hollywood. The release of her first film, Romeo Must Die, with Jet Li and DMX, also gave the star another notch in her belt, serving as executive producer to the film's soundtrack and scoring another Grammy nod for the single, "Try Again." (Photo: Getty Images)
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