Aaliyah: Always A Legend!

The biggest shock in hip-hop was the fatal plane crash that killed Aaliyah.

August 25, 2001, the hip-hop and R&B community lost Aaliyah Dana Haughton in a tragic place crash in the Bahamas. The singer and actress was wrapping up filming for her music video "Rock the Boat" when she and her entourage gathered on a charter plane. The pilot was apparently under the influence risked it all by carrying the entertainer, equipment, suitcases and several members in the film crew on a plane that was overweight.

The plane crashed shortly after take off.

The incident was filmed. There's a rumor that the footage of people trying to save the victims online but I had trouble trying to find it.

Nonetheless, Aaliyah was badly burned and could not be saved. She was 22 year old at the time of her passing.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Detroit, she first gained recognition at the age of 10, when she appeared on the television show Star Search and performed in concert alongside Gladys Knight. At the age of 12, Aaliyah signed with Jive Records and her uncle Barry Hankerson's Blackground Records. Hankerson introduced her to R. Kelly, who became her mentor, as well as lead songwriter and producer of her debut album, Age Ain't Nothing but a Number (1994). The album sold three million copies in the United States and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). 

After allegations of an illegal marriage with Kelly, Aaliyah ended her contract with Jive and signed with Atlantic Records.

Her life was cut short.

That marriage became the nail in the coffin for R. Kelly. In his federal trial, witnesses claim that a 14 year old Aaliyah was in the back of a tour bus having sexual intercourse with Kelly. An associate of Kelly illegally bribed a state worker to forge documents making Aaliyah 18 years old when they got married.

Aaliyah was 15 at the time of the wedding, while Kelly was 27. To conceal her age, an associate of Kelly's allegedly bribed an Illinois official to obtain a fraudulent marriage license that listed Aaliyah's age as 18.

Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in federal time out.

Aaliyah worked with record producers Timbaland and Missy Elliott for her second album, One in a Million (1996), which sold three million copies in the United States and more than eight million copies worldwide. In 2000, Aaliyah made her acting debut in the action film Romeo Must Die, alongside Jet Li. She contributed to the film's soundtrack, which was supported by her single "Try Again". The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 solely through airplay, becoming the first in the chart's history to do so. After completing the film, Aaliyah subsequently filmed her starring role in Queen of the Damned (which was released posthumously), and in July 2001, released her eponymous third album, which topped the Billboard 200. The album spawned the singles "We Need a Resolution", "Rock the Boat" and "More Than a Woman".

She spent months working on the album with her longtime friend and producer Timbaland. She also had Static Major, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, Rapture and Bud'da help her work on the album.

She was engaged to then Roc-A-Fella Records CEO Damon Dash and was happy.

I still remember that night I've heard she died in a plane crash. It was heartbreaking.

Aaliyah was killed in the Marsh Harbour Cessna 402 crash along with eight other people on board, when the overloaded aircraft she was traveling in crashed shortly after takeoff. The pilot was later found to have traces of cocaine and alcohol in his body and was not qualified to fly the aircraft designated for the flight. Aaliyah's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the aircraft's operator, which was settled out of court. In the decades following her death, Aaliyah's music has continued to achieve commercial success, aided by several posthumous releases, including the compilation albums I Care 4 U (2002) and Ultimate Aaliyah (2005). She has sold 8.1 million albums in the US and an estimated 24 to 32 million albums worldwide. In 2010, Billboard listed her as the tenth most successful female R&B artist of the past 25 years, and the 27th most successful in history.

Her death shook the community. Rappers Jay-Z, the late DMX, Missy "Misdemeanor" Eliott, Timbaland and Lil Kim attended her funeral.

Aaliyah, hair stylist Eric Forman, Anthony Dodd, security guard Scott Gallin, Keith Wallace, make-up stylist Christopher Maldonado, and Blackground Records employees Douglas Kratz and Gina Smith --- were killed when pilot Luis Morales III was under the influence when he piloted the twin-engine Cessna 402 in the Bahamas.

Her death rocked the hip-hop community. She was riding on a wave of success at the time. She released her album which was self-titled as Aaliyah (Red). It would be her final album.