Aaliyah

1979年1月16日艾莉娅生于美国纽约市的布鲁克林区，她的名字来自斯瓦希里语，意为“最高贵的人”。她是父母亲Diane和Michael Haughton的第二个孩子，也是他们最小的孩子，有非裔和美国原住民血统。母亲Diane是一名声乐家，因此在艾莉娅很小时就让她开始学习声乐；叔叔巴瑞·汉克森（Barry Hankerson）是一位娱乐业律师，曾与歌手格拉迪斯·奈特（Gladys Knight）有过婚史，因此艾莉娅很小时就跟随奈特参加各种广告和电视节目的试演，甚至还曾与她同台演出。

5岁时，艾莉娅跟随全家搬到底特律生活。9岁时参加美国电视节目Star Search，演唱“My Funny Valentine”，但没有赢得比赛。12岁时，在叔叔的帮助下与Blackground Records签约，并与R&B歌手R·凯利（R. Kelly）相识。此后凯利开始为她创作并制作歌曲。在与凯利合作之下，1994年，15岁的艾莉娅发行了个人首张专辑“Age Ain't Nothing But a Number”。该专辑取得了美国Billboard 200排行榜第18名的成绩，在美国本土的销量超过两百万张，其中著名的单曲有：Back & Forth、At Your Best (You Are Love)、Age Ain't Nothing But a Number。单曲 Back & Forth 连续三周蝉联排行榜最热R&B歌曲第一名，At Your Best 则获得Billboard Hot 100排行榜的第六名。 Vibe杂志公开了一张两人的“结婚证明”，上面写有两人的结婚日期为1994年8月31日，结婚地点在伊利诺伊州Rosemont的Sheraton Gateway Suites，以及“结婚”时艾莉娅当时为15岁。但当事人双方一直否认这个说法。 1996年，艾莉娅转与Atlantic Records签约，与Timbaland、蜜茜·艾利尔特（Missy Elliott）等艺人合作，并于同年发表她的第二张专辑“One in a Million”。该专辑取得Billboard 200排行榜第18名的成绩，在美国本土销量超过两百万张，在全球则创下了超过八百万张的销量。其中的单曲 If Your Girl Only Knew 连续两周蝉联排行榜最热R&B歌曲第一名。 此后艾莉娅进入底特律表演艺术高中学习戏剧；1997年，以4.0的GPA成绩毕业，并从此开始了她的演员生涯。2000年，艾莉娅在改编自莎士比亚名著《罗密欧与朱丽叶》的影片《致命罗密欧》（Romeo Must Die）中，与李连杰演对手戏。]她还为这部电影贡献了四首歌曲，包括获得Billboard Hot 100排行榜第一名的单曲 Try Again。 2001年7月，艾莉娅发行了她的第三张专辑——同名专辑“Aaliyah”，其中几首最成功的歌曲仍然由Timbaland监制。该专辑获得了极佳的评论，在Billboard 200排行榜上取得了第二名的成绩，发行后第一周销量就达187,000张。

同名专辑面世一个月后，艾莉娅与唱片公司的人员前往巴哈马群岛为该专辑中的第二支单曲“Rock the Boat”拍摄MV。在拍摄完毕后，于北美东部时间2001年8月25日下午6:45，艾莉娅和随从乘坐一架双引擎的 Cessna 402B (N8097W) 小飞机从巴哈马阿巴科群岛（Abaco Islands）的马什港（Marsh Harbour）出发，飞往美国佛罗里达州的一个机场。考虑到转日还有航班，单曲MV的拍摄也已结束，他们便决定将所有的拍摄仪器一并放到飞机上，运回美国。但这导致飞机严重超载。这架飞机在起飞不久后即坠毁（坠毁地点距离跑道只有60米），发生撞击后爆炸起火，艾莉娅和包括机长在内的其他七名成员当场死亡，第九位伤者送到医院不治。事后的调查发现，失事时飞机严重超载，机长体内也被检出了酒精和可卡因成分。艾莉娅在逝世时年仅22岁。她的葬礼于2001年8月31日在纽约的St. Ignatius Loyola教堂举行，参加人数超过800人。 在艾莉娅逝世后一周内，她生前发行的同名专辑“Aaliyah”从Billboard 200排行榜的第19名升到第一名，单曲 Rock the Boat 也取得排行榜最热R&B歌曲第二名的成绩。 Aaliyah Signed to a recording contract at the age of 12, Aaliyah became an overnight R&B sensation. At the height of her stardom, a fatal plane crash ended her life. (1979-2001) Who Was Aaliyah? Brooklyn-born Aaliyah Dana Haughton started voice lessons shortly after she learned to talk. Determined to be a star, she signed a contract with Jive Records at the age of 12 and came to popular acclaim in 1994. On her way home from a music video shoot in 2001, a plane crash killed Aaliyah and eight members of her film crew. She was 22 years old at the time of her death. Early Life Singer and actress Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born on January 16, 1979, in Brooklyn, New York. Raised in Detroit, Michigan, the young singer competed unsuccessfully on the television program Star Search at age 11. Later that same year, she performed with R&B legend Gladys Knight, the former wife of her uncle and manager, Barry Hankerson, at a five-night stand in Las Vegas. Big Break In 1994, at the age of 15, Aaliyah catapulted onto the R&B charts herself with her debut album, Age Ain't Nothing But a Number. Produced by the successful singer R. Kelly, the album quickly sold a million copies and eventually earned platinum status based largely on the success of two hit singles, "Back and Forth" and "At Your Best (You Are Love)." Later that year, tabloid reports surfaced claiming that the sultry teen singer had married the 27-year-old Kelly, but Aaliyah denied the union and the marriage was reportedly annulled. While a student in the dance program at Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts (she graduated in 1997), Aaliyah released her sophomore album, One in a Million (1996). Helmed by the well-known pop producer Timbaland and featuring rap performer Missy Elliott, One in a Million portrayed the 17-year-old singer as a sultry hip-hop chanteuse with a self-confidence well beyond her years. The album garnered favorable reviews and sold two million copies. Commercial Success Aaliyah gained even more recognition in 1997 when she recorded "Journey to the Past," the Academy Award-nominated theme song to the animated feature Anastasia. She also performed the song for the Oscar telecast in 1998. Her next soundtrack effort, "Are You That Somebody?" for 1998's Dr. Dolittle, starring Eddie Murphy, went to No. 1 on the R&B charts, was a pop crossover hit, and earned Aaliyah her first Grammy Award nomination. Budding Film Career In 2000, Aaliyah made her acting debut in the surprise action hit Romeo Must Die, starring opposite martial arts star Jet Li in a Romeo and Juliet-inspired story set in modern-day Los Angeles. She was also an executive producer of the movie's soundtrack and performed the hit single "Try Again," which netted her a second Grammy nomination as well as two MTV Music Video Awards for Best Female Video and Best Video From a Film. Her third album, Aaliyah, was released in July 2001 and reached No. 2 on the Billboard album chart. Also in 2001, she played the title role in Queen of the Damned, based on the bestselling novel by Anne Rice and released in theaters in 2002. She scored a major casting coup when she signed to appear in two upcoming sequels to the blockbuster sci-fi thriller The Matrix, starring Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne. Death Tragically, Aaliyah was killed on August 25, 2001, when a small Cessna passenger plane carrying the singer and her video crew crashed and burst into flames shortly after takeoff from Abaco Island in the Bahamas, where they had just completed work on a video. The plane was headed for Miami, Florida. Aaliyah and seven other people, including the pilot, were believed to have died instantly, while a ninth passenger died later at a Bahamian hospital. Aaliyah was 22 years old at the time of her death.