Aaliyah Dana Haughton (January 16, 1979 - August 25, 2001), who performed under the mononym (mononymous person) Aaliyah (pronEng??li??), was an American recording artist, actress and model. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in Detroit, Michigan. At an early age, she appeared on the television show Star Search and performed in concert alongside Gladys Knight. At age 12, Aaliyah signed with Jive Records and Blackground Records by her uncle, Barry Hankerson. He introduced her to R. Kelly, who became her mentor, as well as lead songwriter and producer of her debut album, Age Aint Nothing but a Number (Age Aint Nothing but a Number). The album sold two million copies in the United States and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). After facing allegations of an illegal marriage with Kelly, Aaliyah ended her contract with Jive and signed to Atlantic Records.

Aaliyah worked with record producers Timbaland and Missy Elliott for her second album, One in a Million (One in a Million (Aaliyah album)); it sold two million copies in the United States and over eight million copies worldwide. In 2000, Aaliyah appeared in her first major film, Romeo Must Die. She contributed to the films soundtrack, which spawned the single "Try Again". The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 (Billboard Hot 100) solely on airplay, making Aaliyah the first artist in Billboard (Billboard (magazine)) history to achieve this feat. "Try Again" earned Aaliyah a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocalist.

After filming Romeo Must Die, Aaliyah filmed her part in Queen of the Damned (Queen of the Damned (film)). She released her third and final album, Aaliyah (Aaliyah (album)), in 2001. On August 25, 2001, Aaliyah and eight others were killed in an airplane crash in The Bahamas after filming the music video for the single "Rock the Boat (Rock the Boat (Aaliyah song))". The pilot (aviator), Luis Morales III, was unlicensed at the time of the accident and had traces of cocaine and alcohol in his system. Aaliyahs family later filed a wrongful death (wrongful death claim) lawsuit against Blackhawk International Airways, which was settled out of court. Since then, Aaliyahs music has achieved commercial success with several posthumous releases. Selling over 24 million records worldwide, it has been credited for helping redefine R&B (Contemporary R&B) and hip hop (Hip hop music), earning her the nickname "Princess of R&B (Honorific nicknames in popular music)".