January 16 *Aaliyah was born on this date in 1979. She was an African-American singer and actress. She was born Aaliyah Haughton in Brooklyn, relocating to Detroit, she moved there when she was a young girl. Aaliyah began performing at a young age, and by the time she was eleven, she was singing on stage in Las Vegas for a five-night stand with Gladys Knight's troupe. In 1994, she recorded her debut album Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number at age fourteen. It went platinum and spawned a pair of gold singles: "Back & Forth" and "At Your Best (You Are Love)".
Aaliyah embodied originality with her mysterious, smooth vocal delivery, sophisticated musical sensibilities, and a masterful sense of independence. She released One in a Million as she began her senior year as a student at Detroit's Performing Arts High School. Her song “Try Again'' earned her a Grammy nomination for best female R&B vocalist. She made her feature-acting debut in the film ``Romeo Must Die.'' She also had signed on to appear in two sequels to the high-tech thriller ``The Matrix.''
Unfortunately Aaliyah age 22, died on August 25, 2001 after a small plane that was to carry her and eight others back to the United States crashed after takeoff in the Bahamas. She was to begin shooting the video for “Rock The Boat’’ in Miami, according to her Web site. It was not clear whether she filmed that video while in the Bahamas.
Sited from The African American Registry Reference: All Media Guide 1168 Oak Valley Drive Ann Arbor, MI 48108 USA
