On August 25, 2001, Aaliyah—the “Princess of R&B”—died in a plane crash in the Bahamas shortly after completing the music video for "Rock the Boat." She was only 22.
Her sultry voice and the stylized choreography of her music videos made her one of the top pop stars of her time. She began her career at an early age and quickly rose to fame.
In honor of Aaliyah Dana Haughton's birthday on January 16, when she would have turned 47, we’ve compiled a list of interesting facts about one of the best singers of the ’90s.
Here are 20 things you didn't know about Aaliyah.
(A version of this story was originally published in 2011. The story has since been updated.)
Gladys Knight is Aaliyah’s aunt.
Legendary soul singer Gladys Knight—best known for various hits with her group the Pips—is Aaliyah’s aunt through her marriage to Aaliyah’s uncle, Barry Hankerson. Knight and Hankerson married five years before Aaliyah was born in 1974.
Hankerson played a major role in Aaliyah’s success as he managed her career. Knight also helped Aaliyah rise to prominence by allowing the young singer to perform with her during a five-night stint in Las Vegas when Aaliyah was just 11-years-old. —Julian Pereira
Aaliyah once appeared on Star Search.
When Aaliyah was 10-years-old, she appeared on the music discovery show Star Search. As a finalist, she chose to sing the song “My Funny Valentine” from the musical Babes In Arms. She said of the choice, “[It] was my mommy’s song...So that song is special to me because of her.”
Aaliyah didn’t win, but she finished with the judges giving her a cumulative score of 3.25 out of 4. When she was asked about it afterward she said, “It was an incredible experience—me and [Ed] McMahon and just being on the Star Search stage because it was a show that I really looked up to.” —Julian Pereira
Aaliyah had a 4.0 grade point average in high school.
In 1997, just a couple of months after One in a Million was released, Aaliyah graduated from Detroit’s High School for the Fine and Performing Arts. She was an excellent student, graduating with a perfect GPA. —Julian Pereira
Eary in her career, there were rumors she had a glass eye.
Because early on she wore sunglasses all the time, or covered one of her eyes with her hair, there were all these rumors swirling around her, including the rumor that she had a fake eye. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
Aaliyah almost wore jeans to her senior prom.
Aaliyah was a style icon, but she had a complicated relationship with getting glammed up. During her senior prom, she almost wore jeans before changing her mind at the last minute and choosing something a little more prom-appropriate. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
She met her best friend Kidada Jones at a Tommy Hilfiger fashion show.
One of Aaliyah’s closest friends was Kidada Jones, the daughter of legendary producer Quincy Jones. Their friendship was well known; Kidada appeared in the “More Than a Woman” video, and Aaliyah once bragged about the two having matching charm bracelets. The two met at a Tommy Hilfiger fashion show that Kidada was styling and soon became inseparable. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
She was working on a brand with Kidada Jones called Dolly Pop before her death.
Not only were the two friends joined at the hip, but they were also planning to launch a clothing brand together.
In 2022, we spoke to Derek Lee, a member of Aaliyah’s glam squad, who shared what the brand would have been like, saying it was inspired by a futuristic Japanese look. Speaking about the brand, he said, “It was well thought out and it was ready to go. And it was for that one particular person. And since that one particular person isn’t here, it went away.” —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
“Try Again” was the first song to reach No. 1 on the Hot 100 based solely on radio airplay.
“Try Again,” which appeared on the soundtrack for Romeo Must Die, was easily the biggest hit of the singer’s career, becoming her only true No. 1.
The song was so popular that it reached No. 1 despite the fact that, at the time, there were no CD single sales, meaning it topped the chart purely on radio airplay. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
Eve’s "Gotta Man" was originally meant for Aaliyah.
In a 2011 interview with super-producer Swizz Beatz, he let go of a surprising nugget of information: The beat for Eve’s 1999 hit single “Gotta Man” was intended for Aaliyah.
Swizz recalled that back when Aaliyah was working with Timbaland on her uncle’s Blackground Entertainment label, she reached out in hopes of working with him. However, their schedules and labels prevented the collaboration from happening. Rather than let the “Gotta Man” beat go to waste, Swizz put it in Eve’s hands because he was also working on her album at the time. —Julian Pereira
She shot scenes for The Matrix Reloaded before her death.
In 2001, Aaliyah was cast in The Matrix Reloaded and its sequel Revolutions, where she would play Zee, the wife of Link, a crew member of the Nebuchadnezzar. The singer had already filmed her scenes for The Matrix Reloaded before her death. Directors Lilly and Lana Wachowski ultimately recast the role with Nona Gaye, the daughter of Marvin Gaye.—Dimas Sanfiorenzo
She loved the Harry Potter books.
During an interview with MTV's Striped, Aaliyah talked about her hobbies. One in particular was reading the Harry Potter books.
She said, “If I’m not going to take a bath to relax, maybe I’ll just get a really good book. Right now, I’m totally obsessed with Harry Potter. I love Harry Potter. I’m on the second book [Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets].”
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire would be the last book released during her lifetime. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
She almost played Alex Munday in Charlie’s Angels.
When the movie Charlie’s Angels came out in August of 2000, Aaliyah was 21. During casting for the reboot she was considered for the role of Alex Munday. However, the studio felt she was too young and the role went to Lucy Liu. —Julian Pereira
Aaliyah was the youngest singer to perform at the Oscars.
A big moment in Aaliyah’s career came when her song “Journey to he Past, which appeared on the soundtrack to Anastasia, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
The nomination was overshadowed by her performance of the song at the event. At 19-years-old, she became the youngest artist ever to perform at the Oscars. —Julian Pereira
Aaliyah and Jonathan Davis from Korn were planning on working together.
The last movie Aaliyah starred in before her death was the vampire film Queen of the Damned. The soundtrack was composed by Richard Gibbs and Jonathan Davis of the nu-metal band Korn. Apparently, Aaliyah was a big fan of Korn and wanted to collaborate with Davis. In a 2022 interview with Stereogum, Davis said, "Richard and I were going to write a song for her. That never got to happen." —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
Her favorite horror movie was The Silence of the Lambs.
During an interview, she revealed her favorite horror movies, mentioning that she also loved Scream, Misery, and Halloween. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
Aaliyah was originally cast as Honey Daniels in Honey.
With her outstanding dance skills and a couple of quality acting roles under her belt, Aaliyah was perfect for the lead role in the 2003 dance-film Honey. Casting directors thought the same thing, which is why the role of Honey Daniels was originally cast to the singer. After Aaliyah’s tragic and untimely death in August of 2001, the role was given to Jessica Alba. —Julian Pereira
Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails was supposed to produce a song for Aaliyah.
Aaliyah was once asked if she liked rock music and said that she liked "rock and all kinds of music.” Specifically, the singer was a big fan of Nine Inch Nails.
In 1999 she reached out to Trent Reznor to produce a song for her. The two camps engaged in discussions before her death but, ultimately, scheduling conflicts prevented the collaboration from happening. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
The ending of Romeo Must Die was changed at the last minute.
Romeo Must Die, a loose retelling of Romeo and Juliet, originally had an ending in which Aaliyah, who plays Juliet, kissed Jet Li, who plays Romeo. However, that ending scored poorly during early screenings, so the producers changed it to a hug instead. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
She was a huge fan of cult British singer Lewis Taylor.
Not surprising to learn that Aaliyah was super tapped in. During an episode of Stripped, she spoke about her appreciation for a ’90s UK singer named Lewis Taylor, who released his self-titled debut in 1996 but never found a mass audience. Aaliyah called his song “Bittersweet” “perfect,” adding that “he should be huge… he is absolutely amazing… his music is so different and cutting-edge,” before saying, “Lewis, if you’re watching or listening, call a sister, let’s hook up.” —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
Aaliyah’s last interview came just four days before she died.
Just one day before she began filming the “Rock the Boat” video, Aaliyah appeared on BET’s 106 & Park to give away a Cadillac and $20,000 as part of a promotion. During the appearance, she spoke about the song—considered risqué by her label—which was set to be her next single. The interview would become the last one she ever gave, making it an eerie watch. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo