Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born on January 16th 1979 in Brooklyn, New York. Her name meant "The Highest And Most Exalted" in Arabic. She was one of two children of Michael and Diane Haugton. Her elder brother was Rashad. Aaliyah's mother had given up the chance of a promising singing career by deciding to concentrate on bringing up her two children, Aaliyah and Rashad. At the age of five, Aaliyah and her family moved to Detroit. This was to be her home for the rest of her life. With her mother's love of singing, Aaliyah soon followed in her footsteps and showed a real talent beyond her tender years.

At the age of 11, Aaliyah appeared on the talent show "Star Search" where she sang the song "My Funny Valentine". She finished as a runner up, but this didn't hold back the young star. During this time, Aaliyah's uncle, Barry Hankerson, was married to the soul singing legend Gladys Knight. Aaliyah performed with the legend during several shows in Las Vegas at the tender age of 11, showing no signs of fear. Soon after, Aaliyah would become a star herself.

In 1993, her uncle Barry Hankerson, was manager of R&B superstar Robert Kelly AKA R Kelly and head of a record label called Blackground Enterprises. R Kelly was impressed with Aaliyah's vocals, who was just 13 years old. Aaliyah was signed up straight away to Blackground Enterprises and R Kelly went straight to work on her debut album. R Kelly wrote and produced all of the songs on her debut album "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number" and it quickly became a smash. The air of mystery that surrounded Aaliyah surfaced. The unique look arrived, with the dark shades and aura of mystery. The album was a multi platinum smash, with massive hits such as "Back & Forth", "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number", "At Your Best" and "The Thing I Like". Aaliyah had arrived on the scene and nothing could stop her, until some controversial rumours surfaced.

It was claimed that R Kelly and Aaliyah, who just 15 years old had been married in secret. The vibe magazine even went as far as showing a marriage certificate. This was a shock to many and sales of Aaliyah's debut album were affected. Aaliyah denied ever marrying R Kelly, while to this day R Kelly has never discussed the matter. While for some, rumours such as this would have destroyed careers; Aaliyah took her time and came back on her second album with a completely new look and a revolutionary new sound.

In 1996, Aaliyah resurfaced with the album "One In A Million". This time there was no R Kelly, who was completely absent from the album and so it would remain for the rest of her career. In came underground producers Missy Elliot and Tim "Timbaland" Mosely. Gone was the teen star that had the baggy jeans, and in came the sexy and cool woman who had even more mystery than before. The first single "If Your Girl Only Knew" was a smash hit going to number one on the charts. The sound on this album was completely different. Timbaland and Missy Elliot gave us the distinctive drum beats and hooks that were to become their trademark. The lyrics were powerful, oozing sophistication and style never seen before. Soon, hit after hit followed with classics such as "One In A Million", "The One I Gave My Heart To", "Got To Give It Up", "4 Page Letter", and the sexy "Hot Like Fire". Aaliyah was a true superstar, humble and gracious at her amazing success despite being so young.

In the following years, Aaliyah had some massive hits taken from the soundtracks to Hollywood blockbusters. "Journey To The Past" was an Academy Award nominated song, which she performed, for the soundtrack of "Anastasia". Later in the year she received a Grammy nomination for her hit song "Are You That Somebody?" taken from the movie "Dr Doolittle". This helped her break further into the mainstream both in America and in Europe. After this, Aaliyah then began to delve into the world of movies by signing up for "Romeo Must Die" in 1999. In the summer she filmed for 4 months in Van