Aaliyah Dana Haughton was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop, and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the “Princess of R&B” and “Queen of Urban Pop”.
Born in Brooklyn but 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.
What was Aaliyah’s cause of death?
On August 25, 2001, Aaliyah died at the age of 22 in an airplane accident in the Bahamas, when the overloaded aircraft she was traveling in crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all nine on board. 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 later filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the aircraft’s operator, Blackhawk International Airways, which was settled out of court.