The heartbreaking truth was that she was already sealing her legacy.
Twenty years have passed since Aaliyah Dana Houghton died, and one wish of her legacy endures.
It’s safe to say she is remembered for this and so much more.
Learn more about Aaliyah as we celebrate the enduring art she left to the world.
Shecompeted on the talent competitionhosted by Ed McMahon when she was just 10.
“I was hot!
I had on a hot little dress.”
He even toldVibethat Aaliyah had star quality when she walked onstage.
“There is a desire in that person to just the audience.
You see enough of it to recognize it.
And that’s what I saw with Aaliyah.”
Fox Music adjusted the lyrics and sound to fit Aaliyah’s style and recorded it.
He’s my best friend in the whole wide world."
Themarriagewas swiftly annulled, and Aaliyah distanced herself from Kelly.
When asked how she takes time to relax, during anMTV Strippedspecial, she gushed about the series.
She said she was “obsessed” with the boy wizard and that reading helped her wind down.
“I love Harry Potter,” she said.
“I’m on the second book.”
So it may not come as a surprise that the singer was into the undead.
Her character was ancient vampire Akasha, whom she described as “sexy” but “evil.”
But not all aspects of transforming into Akasha were sexy.
According toPeople, her fangs once flew out of Aaliyah’s mouth during a heightened scene while filming.
“It was so embarrassing,” she said.
“They had to make me a different pair that stayed in my mouth.”
“I have black-out shades in my apartment, I push a button, it’s totally dark.
“Her fearless play with tomboy style and sexuality made her unique in every way.”
As a teenager, she was fixated on her GPA.
After aninterviewercongratulated her on being a straight-A student in 1994, she responded with joy.
“Yes, yes, and I’m proud of it!”
“I just got my 4.0.
And I’m going to maintain it.”
And she most certainly did.
One reason she thrived academically was that Aaliyah’s schools fostered her creativity.
Her primary education at Gesu Catholic School got her out on the stage early.
The singer’s interest in acting started early.
according to Aaliyah’s biography “Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah.”
In fact, the singer had already filmed portions in Australia before her sudden death in 2001.
In the end, her part was filled by Nona Gaye, daughter of late musician Marvin Gaye.
10 on her playlist.
“Some of Timbaland’s beats, that electronic kind of thing that Trent Reznor does.”
The feeling was mutual, because talk about a collaboration between Aaliyah and Reznor began to percolate.
According toMTV News, after meeting at the MTV Video Music Awards, the pair spoke about working together.
However, Aaliyah wasn’t taking the bait.
Rather than play out the drama, the two ended up becoming friends.
In an interview withBillboard, Brandy described Aaliyah as humble, unique, and always real.
She recalled Aaliyah’s professional comradery when they performed together at a radio event.
It felt like [there] was no competition, or any of that.
She was just very, very supportive.”
She even permanently carried around an Egyptian symbol.
She famously didn’t yield to reporters trying to pry open certain topics, showing confidence in creating boundaries.
whenever I brushed on topics like her rumoredrelationship with Damon Dash."
Aaliyah explained why she was a closed book on certain topics, like her romantic life, onMTV Stripped.
She admitted that, as a public figure, her life “belongs” to her fans.
“And that’s fine, that comes with the territory,” she said.
“But there’s some things you have to hold on and keep for yourself.
“She always had a very serious fear of planes in general,” he said.
“So she had to overcome her fear to get on that plane on the way there.”
Dash said this particular twin-engine plane was especially daunting to the singer.
