Aaliyah was just 22 years old when she died on August 25, 2001. It is when a small Cessna passenger plane carrying the singer and her video crew crashed and burst into flames shortly after takeoff from Abaco Island in the Bahamas, where they had just completed work on a video.
The plane was headed for Miami, Florida. The R&B sensation and seven other people, including the pilot, were believed to have died instantly, while a ninth passenger died later at a Bahamian hospital.
Brooklyn-born Aaliyah Dana Haughton started voice lessons shortly after she learned to talk. Determined to be a star, she signed a contract with Jive Records at the age of 12 and came to popular acclaim in 1994.
Learn more about Aaliyah by checking these 25 facts shared by The Boombox.