Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born January 16th 1979 In Brooklyn New York. From Day 1 Her parents Diane and Michael were determine to make their daughter feel special and they did just that by naming her Aaliyah meaning �The Highest Most Exalted One ~ The Best.� When she was just a few months old her mother Diane Haughton abandoned her own plans for a singing career, devoting herself full time to Aaliyah and Rashad.

When Aaliyah was 5 her family moved to Detroit, there they enrolled Aaliyah in Geus, a private catholic school known for its Drama program. Aaliyah quickly earned roles for school productions of Annie, 42nd Street and Hello, Dolly and found a home in the spotlight. 42nd Street was her 1st experience with dancing, singing and acting all together, she knew then that it was something she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

By the time Aaliyah was 10 years old she was ready to take a shot at the national stage. She saw an opportunity in her favorite TV show �Star Search�. Her and her mother watched that show every week and she always wanted to be on it. They heard there was an open audition and she went, they liked her and they gave her a private audition and they wanted her to do the show. Aaliyah�s Choice for a song was �My Funny Valentine� which her mother had performed in an amateur play a few years earlier. Unfortunately she didn�t win, but Aaliyah stayed strong and didn�t give up. She learned about rejection and that she didn�t always win. �THAT�S RIGHT GIRL�

Aaliyah continued working on her songs and in the fall of �93� she met R. Kelly. By the spring of �94� they were working on her debut album. Worried that people would be more focused on her age instead of her talent she decided to deliver a message with the records title tune �Age Ain�t Nothing But A Number.� Aaliyah�s debut was the company�s first release but it quickly became a hit. As her debut album went platinum and unexpected hit. In December 94 rumors began that the 15-year-old singers relationship with 27-year-old R. Kelly had turned personal. Aaliyah and R. Kelly denied they were married. �OK I don�t want to type any more about this RUMOR� By the spring of �96� Aaliyah had broken away from R. Kelly personally and professionally.

Aaliyah moved on to a new mentor (Missy Elliot). Missy and Timberland came up with a fresh sound for Aaliyah in the title tune �One In A Million�. Her Sophomore Album �One In A Million� was released in the summer of �96� selling nearly 2 million copies making another hit single �If Your Girl Only Knew�.

Aaliyah was a rising star in the music scene and she was determined to remain down to earth. For nearly 2 years she dropped out of sight focusing on graduating high school. She graduated high school in �97� with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

By March of �98� Aaliyah was back baby! She added a song to the soundtrack for the movie �Dr. Dolittle�, �Are You That Somebody� which got Aaliyah her first GRAMMY nomination and was named one of the best 20 singles of the 1990�s. Still just a teenage Aaliyah already had 2 Platinum Albums but the best was yet to come.

At just 20 years old Aaliyah had a GRAMMY nomination, 2 Platinum albums and a growing army of devoted fans (Still growing). In the spring of �99� after taking acting lessons she won a lead role in action film Romeo Must Die. The film and its soundtrack, which featured Aaliyah�s song �Try Again�, were both hits.

Within Months of the Movies release Aaliyah met Damon Dash (The Cofounder of Roc-A-Fella Records) Dash was a regular on the New York party scene. Damon had long had a Rep. Of a man around town but when he met Aaliyah in the summer 2000 he was quickly Love-struck. Awww! They were IN LOVE.

In Sept. 2000 Aaliyah was nominated for a MTV Music Award Video Award for the song �Try Again� and SHE WON! In The Fall of 2000 Aaliyah traveled to Australia where she began shooting another movie ANNE RICE �Queen Of The Damned�. She was filming the movie by day and recording the album by night and flew home to see her family and Damon every chance she had.

In the spring of 2001 Aaliyah returned to the U.S where she began working on videos for her new album. Her self-titled �Aaliyah� was released on July 17th, 2001.

In summer 2001 with the single �Rock The Boat� getting regular radio airplay the video for the song was put into production. They began shooting on August 22 on a Miami sound stage. As usual Aaliyah was surrounded by the �Dream Team�. Derek Lee, Fatima Robinson, Eric Forman, Chris Maldonado and Anthony Dodd.

On the Morning of Thursday August 23rd the production moved to the Bahamas. With close family friend Keith Wallace, Aaliyah and her crew boarded a Sky Limo Airline 15 seat plane (Mind You ~ Aaliyah HATED Small Planes). The 45minute flight to the Bahamas went smooth. Everything seemed so perfect! Her album hit number 2 on the charts, she had just signed a deal to star in the Sequels to the Matrix and she was IN LOVE with Damon Dash. On Friday August 24 the crew woke early on Idyllic Treasure Key to begin shooting.

On Saturday the group woke early to do the dance routine. By 4 o�clock that afternoon the production was ahead of schedule so they decided to wrap the shoot a day early. Aaliyah was hoping to leave the island to see her family and her boyfriend Damon. Aaliyah along with her crew (FRIENDS) Gina Smith, Douglas Kratz, Scott Gallin, Eric Forman, Chris Maldonado, Anthony Dodd and Keith Wallace were hoping to return to the States on the same 15 seat Turbo they flew in on but the �Sky Limo� wasn�t expecting to pick the up until the next day. They ended up hiring Black Hawk International Highways. The company assigned pilot Luis Morales to fly to the Bahamas in a 9 seat Cessna 402B to pick up Aaliyah and her crew. Aaliyah and her crew a boarded the plane. The plane-crashed just minutes after take off killing Aaliyah instantly along with the 8 others on the plane with her.

There you have it! The life of the beautiful, Multi Talented, HEAVENLY ANGEL Aaliyah Dana Haughton