IN HER FLEETING, 22-year life, singer
Aaliyah served as both mouthpiece and muse for some of R&B's most forward-thinking producers.
R. Kelly, Timbaland, and Missy Elliott all drew inspiration from her flexible and seductive vocals. Her smoky tone and unfussy delivery made her the ultimate foil for their expansive vision of taut, modern R&B.
Small wonder the singer's death hasn't ended the public's romance with her music. Since her death in a plane crash five years ago today, she has moved even more discs than before - nearly 4 million, post-, to just over 3 million, pre-.
The singer seemed destined to snare attention from the start. Not only did she have talent, she had connections. Born Aaliyah Haughton (her first name is Swahili for "most exalted one"), the singer's uncle was Barry Hankerson, a powerful manager and entertainment lawyer who, for a while, was married to Gladys Knight.
But her big break (and eventual scandal) came starting at age 15, when Hankerson introduced her to another artist he was managing: R. Kelly. The singer was so taken with Aaliyah, he wound up writing and producing her entire debut CD, 1994's "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number."
One song from that CD, "Back and Forth," hit No. 1 on the R&B chart. But controversy threatened to overshadow it when it was revealed that Kelly and the underage Aaliyah had secretly wed.
The union was annulled months later and Aaliyah also split with Kelly professionally.
She then hooked up with two major producers on the rise - Timbaland and Missy Elliott. They helped make Aaliyah's second CD, "One In A Million," a critical and commercial smash.
By the time Aaliyah graduated from high school, she had contributed several songs to a film score for "Anastasia" and begun an acting career, appearing in 2000 with Jet Li in "Romeo Must Die." That film's soundtrack housed her first No. 1 pop hit, "Try Again."
Aaliyah also earned an acting role in the movie version of Anne Rice's vampire novel "Queen of the Damned."
The singer's third album, 2001's "Aaliyah," had only been out about one month when tragedy struck.
The outpouring of grief shot "Aaliyah" to No. 1. The CD, which sold roughly 500,000 copies before her death, went on to move 2.1 million more. A posthumous release in late 2002, titled "I Care 4 U," hit No. 3 on the charts and sold 1.6 million copies.
In the time since, Aaliyah hasn't been forgotten, inspiring "shout outs" from scores of R&B and hip-hop stars. And while R&B radio stations tend to avoid older tracks, Aaliyah's memory lives on for all those who know her sweet tone and the savvy sounds that surrounded it.
What was it like working with Aaliyah: It was a privilege. The misconception is that people think we hung out everyday. Its not so. We talked on the pagers and stuff. We did a lot of shows together and we were both hot at the time but we didn’t really hang out, hang out.
