Remembering Aaliyah Today on What Would Have Been Her 41st Birthday (Born 1/16/79)

Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born January 16, 1979, in Brooklyn, and named after a Swahili word meaning “most exalted one.” Her uncle, Barry Hankerson, was a manager and entertainment lawyer who was married to Gladys Knight for a time, and her mother, also a singer, enrolled Aaliyah in voice lessons before she’d even started school. At a young age, her family moved to Detroit, where she sang in many school plays. She successfully auditioned for the TV show at the age of 9. In 1992, R.Kelly soon took Aaliyah under his wing and began writing and producing songs for her.

Aaliyah was an R/B star with a promising career but her life was cut short in a plane crash at the age of 22. She had a budding acting career starring in classic films like Romeo Must Die, and Queen of the Damned.

Happy birthday Aaliyah. You will always be our r/b princess.

Here’s a few Iconic Aaliyah pictures along with quotes.

It’s really a sad story, and I liked that. The songs on this album talk about relationships in every aspect.

You have to love what you do to want to do it everyday.

I don’t want to abandon one work for the other, and I don’t think I need to sacrifice anything to put my all into either one of them.

If you want to go to the mall, you have to take security. But it’s always cool. The kids are amazing.

I don’t think about my previous success. I’m happy that the work I’ve done has been very successful.

All I can do is leave it in God’s hands and hope that my fans feel where I’m coming from.

I want people to remember me as a full on entertainer and a good person.

It’s hard to say what I want my legacy to be when I’m long gone.

I don’t feel I made any sacrifices at all. I’m doing my best to juggle.

Keep working hard and you can get anything that you want.