Following her appearance on Star Search Aaliyah performed on stage in Las Vegas with Gladys Knight. In her early teens, Aaliyah attended the Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts, and graduated as a dance major with a 4.0 average.
Aaliyah signed with her uncle Barry Hankerson's Blackground Records label in 1993 at the age of 14 years old. She released her debut album, titled Age Ain't Nothing but a Number, in 1994 at the age of 15 years old. R. Kelly acted as Aaliyah's mentor and he was a leading songwriter and producer on her debut album. The album displayed her smooth and velvety vocals and the production work was said to be original and innovative. The album went platinum within months. The album featured the gold-selling singles "Back and Forth" (#1 U.S. R&B, 3 weeks and #5 Hot 100 ), "At Your Best" (#2 U.S. R&B and #6 Hot 100 ), a cover of The Isley Brothers' 1976 song, the album-titled single "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number" (#75 Hot 100 and #25 US R&B, 2 weeks), and "Down with the Clique" (#12 R&B Airplay, 3 weeks). In June 1995, Aaliyah released another single to radio only, "No One Knows How to Love Me Quite Like You Do." A track on the album entitled "Street Thing" proved that she had great range and power in her voice. The album has sold over 2.5 million copies in the U.S. to date and nearly 6 million worldwide.
In 1995, a rumor surfaced that 15-year old Aaliyah and 27-year old R. Kelly had secretly married. Both camps initially denied the rumor, but VIBE magazine magazine published a copy of their marriage license, which showed that Aaliyah's age had been falsely listed as eighteen. Some claim that this is the reason why the album's third single, "Age Ain't Nothing but a Number", failed, only making it to number seventy-five on the Hot 100. The marriage was annulled a few months later.
In 1995 at age 16, Aaliyah performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" live at an Orlando Magic game.
One in a Million, Aaliyah's sophomore album, was chiefly written and produced by then unknowns Missy Elliott and Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley and released on August 27, 1996 when she was 17 years old. The album was a landmark in Aaliyah's career, garnering her mass critical acclaim and introducing Aaliyah's more mature side. It embarked the newfound chemistry of Aaliyah and Timbaland. The album was certified double-platinum within a year, making Aaliyah a major R&B star and igniting the successful careers of Missy Elliott and Timbaland. One in a Million featured the international smash hit "If Your Girl Only Knew" (number one U.S. R&B, 2 weeks and #11 Hot 100), "One in a Million," (#1 U.S. R&B airplay, six weeks), the #8 U.S. R&B and #9 Hot 100 single "The One I Gave My Heart To," a ballad written by Diane Warren, "4 Page Letter" (#1 U.S. R&B Airplay, three weeks), "Hot Like Fire" (two versions) (#16 Radio-Play), and "Got To Give It Up" (#6 Hot 100).
Tommy Hilfiger gave Aaliyah her first endorsement deal. He signed Aaliyah onto print campaigns, runway shows, and a commercial. During this period, Aaliyah would also make guest appearances on albums by artists such as Missy Elliott, Timbaland & Magoo, Ginuwine and Playa. Timbaland and Playa's frontman Steve "Static" Garrett would remain Aaliyah's principal collaborators for the duration of her career. To date, One in a Million has sold over 3 million copies in the U.S. and over 11 million worldwide.
In 1997, Aaliyah appeared on the soundtrack album for the Fox Animation Studios animated feature Anastasia, singing the pop version of "Journey to the Past". The song was nominated for an Academy Award, and Aaliyah performed the song at the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony, becoming the youngest female recording artist to perform at the ceremony.
Aaliyah had a hit in 1998 with "Are You that Somebody" (number one airplay U.S. eight weeks), the main single from the Dr. Dolittle soundtrack. Its video was the third most-played on MTV that year, and the song's success helped make Aaliyah a household name.
In 2000, she co-starred with Jet Li in the martial-arts film Romeo Must Die, which debuted at number one at the box office. Aaliyah and Timbaland executive produced the film's soundtrack album and Aaliyah contributed four songs: "Are You Feelin' Me?," "I Don't Wanna," "Come Back in One Piece," a duet with DMX, and the international number one hit "Try Again." Aaliyah made history once more when "Try Again" became the first song to ever reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 based solely on the strength of its radio airplay, without any single sales factored in. After the huge success of "Try Again" at radio, a 12" maxi single was released for consumer purchase. The radio-only single, "I Don't Wanna", (which was also featured on the soundtracks for the films Next Friday and Romeo Must Die) peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks chart.
Aaliyah was considered for the role of Alex in the 2000 film Charlie's Angels, but was too young at the time.
In 2001, Aaliyah went to Australia to co-star with Stuart Townsend in the film Queen of the Damned, an adaptation of the Anne Rice novel of the same name. Aaliyah also recorded most of her third studio album, Aaliyah.
"We Need a Resolution," the first single from Aaliyah's third studio album, was released April 24, 2001#59 US #15 US R&B. The self-titled Aaliyah was released three months later on July 17, 2001. The album was an instant critical success but sales were initially lower than expected, although they increased considerably after her death. Aaliyah introduced a darker and edgier side to Aaliyah's music and was noted as having showcased her growth as an artist. Around the time of the album's recording and release she had been filming Queen of the Damned, which helped her show a dark and edgy side as her character was a deadly villain. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 200,000 copies in its first week, and was certified gold (500,000 copies sold) within four weeks, before her death. The week after the plane crash it climbed to number one. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails was to produce a song on the album but scheduling conflicts did not permit the collaboration.
In the summer of 2001, Aaliyah filmed the video for Aaliyah's intended second single, "More Than A Woman". The video was to be released but "Rock The Boat" began receiving huge amounts of radio-play, so she was immediately sent to the Bahamas to shoot the video. The "Rock The Boat" music video was put in the 106 and Park hall of fame, making the countdown over 65 times. "More than a Woman" made the number-one spot after "Rock the Boat" was retired. "Rock the Boat" was #2 U.S. R&B and #14 Hot 100 single. "I Care for You" was #3 U.S. R&B and #16 Hot 100 single. The album went on to sell over 7 million copies worldwide.
Aaliyah worked with Virginia boy band Outsiderz 4 Life on a duet "Ain't Never". The song never took due to her untimely death.
On August 25, 2001, at 6:49 pm, just after wrap up filming of the "Rock the Boat" video was completed in the Bahamas, Aaliyah and seven friends boarded a twin engine Cessna 402B (N8097W) piloted by Luis Morales III. It is believed that this aircraft was headed to Opa-locka Airport near Miami, Florida, when the flight crashed shortly after takeoff. The pilot and all eight passengers were killed.
-Wikipedia
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