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AALIYAH DANA HAUGHTON
January 16, 1979 (Brooklyn, New York, USA) - August 25, 2001 (Marsh Harbor, Abaco Islands, Bahamas).
She is an American singer, dancer, model and actress.
She was born to Diane and Michael Houghton.
Beginning vocal training at an early age with her mother, she performed in wedding ceremonies, charity events, and sang in the church choir. When she was 5, the family moved to Detroit, Michigan. She attended Gesu Elementary, a Catholic school, where she was cast in the first grade production of Annie. Alia's mother was a singer and her uncle, Barry Hankerson, was a show business lawyer. At age 9, she participated in the show Star Search.
In 1997, she graduated from the Detroit School of Arts, where she studied drama. In the same year, appeared in the television series "Undercover Cops".
Participated in the Children's Benefit Concert in New York City. She recorded the song "Journey to the Past" for the animated film Anastasia, and the songwriters were nominated for an Oscar in the category Best Song for a Film. In 1998, she performed this song at the Oscars, becoming the youngest singer to perform at the ceremony.
In 2000 she starred in her first movie, Romeo Must Die, and participated in the recording of the film's soundtrack; one of the four songs performed by Alia was Try Again, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making her the first singer to top the chart solely through radio airplay.
The music video won two awards at the MTV Video Music Awards: "Best Female Video" and "Best Song to a Movie." Alia was also nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Singer. The soundtrack sold 1.5 million copies in the United States.
After finishing filming, she began working on her second film, Queen of the Damned.
In July 2001, Alia released her eponymous album. The album hit number two on the Billboard 200 chart.
Tragically died in a plane crash in the Bahamas. On August 25, 2001, at 6:45 p.m., after filming her "Rock the Boat" music video, Alia and several members of her record company boarded a plane near Marsh Harbor (Abaco Islands, Bahamas) to fly to Opa-locka, Florida. A flight was scheduled for the next day, but since the filming ended early, Alia and her entourage insisted on returning to the U.S. Against the advice of the movers and the pilot, all the equipment was loaded onto the plane. They did not know that the plane could not hold all the equipment. Thus, the weight of the cargo on board exceeded the allowable weight. The plane went down shortly after takeoff, about 60 meters from the runway. Everyone on board perished.
