A star in the R & B world before she was even our of her teens, Aaliyah's promising career was tragically cut short by her death in a plane crash at age 22. Aaliyah's death came on the heels of her third and most accomplished album, making it especially unfortunate that she was robbed of a chance to continue her creative development.
Aaliyah Dana Haughton
was born January 16, 1979, in Brooklyn, and named after a Swahili word meaning
"most exalted one." Still very young, she moved with her family to Detroit,
where she sang in several school plays. At age nine, she successfully auditioned
for the TV show Star Search, where she performed "My Funny Valentine" (and
lost). Two years later, thanks to her uncle Barry Hankerson's connections, she
spent five nights in Las Vegas performing a s part of Gladys Knight's revue. In
addition to his niece, Hankerson was also managing a rising R & B star named R.
Kelly, and introduced the two in 1992. Kelly soon took Aaliyah under his wing
and began writing and producing songs for her.
In 1996,
Aaliyah released her follow-up album, One in a Million, which signaled a newly
emerging maturity. She worked with several different producers, most notably
Timbaland, who co-wrote several tracks with his songwriting partner, Missy
"Misdemeanor" Elliott (soon to become a solo star in her own right). In the
meantime, Aaliyah graduated from high school (in 1997) and contributed several
songs to film soundtracks. "Journey to the Past, " from Anastasia, was nominated
for an Oscar, and in early 1998 she had a major hit with "Are You That
Somebody?" from Eddie Murphy's Dr. Dolittle (in which she also made a cameo
appearance).
Aaliyah took her
time recording a follow-up, and put the process completely on hold to start an
acting career. She co-starred with martial-arts master Jet Li and rapper DMX in
2000's urban Shakespeare adaptation Romeo Must Die, and her accompanying
soundtrack single "Try Again," became her first number one hit on the pop charts
that summer.
Aalliyah
subsequently completed filming on the Anne Rice vampire flick Queen of the
Damned, playing the title role as a vampire queen, and was cast in prominent
role in the two sequels to The Matrix. Plus, she finally finished her
long-awaited third album, with Timbaland again handling the most prominent
tracks.
About a
month after the album's release, Aaliyah traveled to the Bahamas to film a video
for its second single, "Rock the Boat." On August 25, she and several members of
the crew boarded a small twin-engine Cessna plane returning to the mainland. The
plane crashed shortly after takeoff, exploding on impact. Aaliyah and seven
other passengers were killed instantly and the ninth later died at a Nassau
hospital.
Naturally,
the R & B community reacted with an outpouring of shock and sorrow, and Aaliyah
became the singer's only chart-topping album, eventually going double platinum.
"Rock the Boat" and "More Than a Woman" were both posthumous Top Ten hits on the
R & B chart, and Queen of the Damned was a commercial success upon its release
in early 2002, topping the box office in its first week. At the end of 2002, the
posthumous album I Care 4 U entered the charts at number three; it mixed some of
the singer's biggest hits with a selection of unreleased material. The title
track was a Top 20 pop hit, and "Miss You" topped the R & B charts early the
next year.
Lyrics to the song
oh-h-h, hey yea yea yea, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no.
(chorus)
Its been too long, and I'm lost without you
what am I gonna do, said I been needing you, wantin' you
wonderin if your the same, and who's been with you
is your heart still mine, I wanna cry sometimes(I miss you)
(verse 1)
Off to college, yes you went away
straight from highschool, you up and left me.
We were close friends, awesome lovers.
Did everything, for one another.
Now your gone and I'm lost without you here now.
But I know I gotta live and make it some how.
(bridge)
Come back to me
can you feel me(callin)
hear me, callin
for you(cause its)
Repeat chourus x's 1
(verse 2)
Now I'm sitting here
thinking bout' you, and the days we used to share
Its driving me crazy, I don't know what to do,
I'm just wondering if you still care
I don't wanna let you know, that its killing me,
I know you gotta another life you gotta concentrate, baby
repeat bridge x's 1
repeat chorus x's 2
ay-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi
ay-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi(I miss you)
ay-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi
ay-yi-yi-yi-yi
I-can't-breathe-no-more(no more, no)
since you went away
I, don't really feel like talking (no)
Don't wanna hear ya don't love me(no,no,no)
baby, don't you understand me
I can't do a thing without you
repeat chorus [until fade]
