Hip-Hop historians credit Aaliyah's 1994 platinum debut album Age Ain't Nothing But A Number, for paving the way for Brandy, Monica, and a whole bunch of other teen stars that go by one name. Aaliyah Haughton, or Aaliyah as she's better known as, was born on January 16,1979.

She first got the world's attention when at age 15, her bumping first single "Back and Forth" (6/9/94 went gold) went to #1 on the Hot 100 singles chart dethroning her mentor and producer R.Kelly's track,"Your Body's Callin". Her album was released on June of 94. She released another top five single called, "At Your Best (You Are Love)" (10/25/94 gold).

This was a remake of an old Isley Brothers tune. Other hit singles soon followed including the groove friendly "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number" (the title track), and "Down With The Clique", a bass heavy jam.

Soon after her album Age Ain't Nothing But A Number went platinum on 9/01/94, Aaliyah instantly grabbed fans attentions with her mix of good-girl/bad-girl style. Her sound had a real street flare, and she wasn't doing the bubble gum pop thing like the rest of the teen queens that came before her. In addition to fans, critics gushed in Entertainment Weekly (6/17/94) "Imagine En Vogue packed into one teenage body and backed by hip-hop svengali R. Kelly, and you have Aaliyah...a promising start..."

Her hit single from the Romeo Must Die soundtrack, "Try Again," garnered Aaliyah 2 Grammy nominations and the 2000 MTV awards for Best Female Video and Video From a Film.

Aaliyah had just completed filming for the title role in The Queen of the Damned, an adaptation of the Anne Rice novel, when she was killed in a plane crash that took the lives of eight others on Saturday, August 25th, 2001, on the way to Miami from the Bahamas.

The 22-year-old singer/actress was in the Bahamas shooting a music video. The self-titled Aaliyah, the singer's third album, was released in July 2001, and debuted in the Top 5 on the Billboard magazine album chart.

Slated to appear in the much-anticipated The Matrix sequels, it's clear the Aaliyah, "the highest, most exaled one," was on her way to superstardom.