By: HISTORY.com Editors
Hours after filming a music video for her hit song “Rock the Boat,” 22-year-old R&B singer and actor Aaliyah dies in a plane crash in the Bahamas.
The 10-seat Cessna, carrying Aaliyah and seven members of her team, crashed immediately after takeoff from the airport on the Bahamian island of Abaco. All eight passengers and the pilot died. The aircraft, which had been overloaded with luggage and equipment, was later found to be dangerously overweight by 700 pounds.
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Born Aaliyah Dana Haughton on January 16, 1979, in Brooklyn, New York, the singer was raised in Detroit. At 10 years old, Aaliyah competed on “Star Search,” but her loss to an 11-year-old competitor didn’t stop her. Two years later, she joined R&B legend Gladys Knight for a five-night stint in Las Vegas and was signed professionally. When Aaliyah released her first album, “Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number” (1994)—featuring the chart-topping hit “Back & Forth”—she was just 15 years old.
For her sophomore album, “One in a Million” (1996), Aaliyah teamed up with pop producer Timbaland, who became a close collaborator. The album went double platinum while Aaliyah was still a student at the Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts (now the Detroit School of Arts).
Aaliyah’s biggest crossover hit was 1998’s “Are You That Somebody?” from the Dr. Doolittle soundtrack, featuring Timbaland’s playful sample of a crying baby.
In 2000, Aaliyah added Hollywood actor to her resume, appearing in the surprise hit Romeo Must Die opposite the Chinese martial arts star Jet Li. The next year, she filmed Queen of the Damned, appearing as the titular character in the vampire film, which was released in 2002.
A month after dropping her third album, the self-titled “Aaliyah” (2001), the singer flew to the Bahamas to film a video for the hit single “Rock the Boat.” The deadly plane crash occurred on Aaliyah’s return flight.
Two years after her death, Aaliyah’s parents received an undisclosed settlement in a wrongful death suit brought against the company that arranged Aaliyah’s transport.
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