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| Welcome To A Tribute To Aaliyah- 1979-2001 |
NEW YORK — The inscription at the bottom of Aaliyah's picture at a memorial here on Friday may have best described her years of touching people's lives: "We Were Given a Queen, We Were Given an Angel."
Even in the afterlife, Aaliyah remains the epitome of class and grace. Her white casket was transported Friday morning (August 31) from Campbell Funeral Home to St. Ignatius Church — where her funeral was held — in a white carriage pulled by two white horses. Dozens of white and pink roses lay on the top of the carriage. Her boyfriend, Damon Dash, and one of her "Romeo Must Die" co-stars, Delroy Lindo, were among the loved ones who walked the streets behind the carriage en route to the private service.
Fans converged at the funeral home as early as 6:30 a.m. to pay their respects to the singer and actress, who was killed in a plane crash with eight others six days earlier in the Bahamas (see "Report Shows Aaliyah's Plane Was Overloaded"). They wrote messages in the home's condolence books and followed the procession. Police estimated 1,000 fans were there.
"[I came] because of Aaliyah's spirit," said Walter Green, who was in the crowd that walked four blocks from the funeral home to the funeral on Manhattan's Upper East Side. "I met her twice, she's the most wonderful person. She touched so many people worldwide."
"She touched my life the way no other did," said Karolyn Parchment, who was joined by her teenage daughter Natasha. "I listened to her songs. They were positive. She was a role model and I wanted [my daughter] to look up to her."
When the procession reached the church, where Jay-Z, P. Diddy, Busta Rhymes, and Timbaland were among the mourners, they were greeted by more fans.
One glassy-eyed girl, who looked no older than 14, held up a giant piece of cardboard with lyrics to Aaliyah songs written on it. Another girl wore a pair of jeans with the star's name written multiple times on them. Further down the block, a group of kids were draped in T-shirts that read, "May God Give Her Soul Eternal Peace."
"I have mad love for Aaliyah," said Nichelle Broadway, whose T-shirt was embroidered with a photograph of Aaliyah she had taken at a record-store appearance in July. "She was so nice. I've been crying all week. I'm trying to hold it in now. I just can't believe it."
While some wept, others talked among themselves about Aaliyah's contributions, keeping their eyes focused on the goings-on at the church. Twenty-five-year-old Melvina Simone suggested that instead of wallowing in grief, fans should celebrate someone who lived a short but full life (see "Hard-Working Aaliyah Packed Hit Albums, Movies Into Short Life").
"This is how we gonna remember her, through her music," the Brooklyn, New York, resident said, turning up the volume on her boom box as "We Need a Resolution" blasted through the speakers. "I'm grieving for the family and praying for their strength, but [playing the music is] just in memory of her."
As Aaliyah's funeral left the church, 22 white doves were released — one for each of her 22 years.
In Midtown, meanwhile, at the restaurant Cipriani's, fans poured in for an all-day public memorial service. They left flowers, teddy bears and cards. And they prayed, and reminisced by watching highlights of Aaliyah's career on two giant screens, singing along to songs such as "Are You That Somebody?," "One in a Million" and "Try Again".
Cipriani's was flooded with white ribbons, bouquets, and candles. A shrine to Aaliyah was the centerpiece: Between the video screens was a photograph of the woman her friend and collaborator Timbaland fondly called "Baby Girl." She looked elegant in an aqua gown. At the bottom of the picture, an inscription read:
Aaliyah Dana Haughton
At her family's request, the Aaliyah Memorial Fund has been established, with donations going to breast cancer research and patient support.
Half of the funds will benefit the Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program, a Virgin Records spokesperson said. The other half will go to the beneficiaries of the October 27 Breathe concert, which will raise money to help underprivileged women suffering from breast cancer. Aaliyah was scheduled to perform at the all-star event (see "Third Eye Blind Frontman Plans All-Star Breast Cancer Benefit").
Gladys Knight — who was Aaliyah's aunt by her former marriage to the singer's uncle Barry Hankerson — issued a statement Tuesday that read, in part: "She brought joy to my heart, and I felt blessed to encourage and support her professionally and personally as she strove for each new goal. Her star had just begun to shine so brightly. Though she was ours for only a short time, what a time it was. I love Aaliyah, and I will miss her for the rest of my life."
As a child, Aaliyah had performed with Knight in Las Vegas.
A public memorial service for Aaliyah will be held Friday, according to a Blackground Records spokesperson, who said details will be announced Thursday. Funeral services for the singer are being kept private.
Donations to the Aaliyah Memorial Fund can be sent to:
Cards will be sent to the family notifying them of all donations.
For credit card donations, call Newton at (818) 760-7722 or e-mail her at mnewton@eifoundation.org.
Boxer Mike Tyson, singer Gladys Knight and singer P Diddy were among mourners for the service at the Frank E Campbell Funeral Home.
Afterwards a horse-drawn hearse carried the singer's coffin to the St Ignatius Loyola Roman Catholic Church in New York, where hundreds of fans gathered for the funeral.
Please click here to see the funeral pictures.
Aaliyah's body will rest in a silver-plated casket, carried on a 100-year-old, white, glass-sided hearse pulled by two white Percheron horses with black plumes on their heads.
The hearse is manned by a driver and a brakeman, both dressed in black and wearing top hats.
One woman who had camped outside the church since last night said Aaliyah is "going out like a princess."
The 22-year-old singer, her seven-member video crew and their pilot were killed Saturday when the plane taking them from the Bahamas to Miami crashed in flames seconds after takeoff.
People associated with Aaliyah were looking to film the funeral procession, sources said. The sources believe the filming may be the work of director Hype Williams, who shot Aaliyah's final video in the Bahamas.
But music execs said the video could be part of a Williams "tribute" to Aaliyah if it's released.
Sadly the star tragically died in a plane crash earlier in this week and as a tribute to her, dotmusic is giving fans another chance to see the clip again.
Aaliyah's funeral took place yesterday in New York.
Please click here to watch the interview.
A glass-paneled carriage, pulled by a pair of cream-colored horses, brought the casket carrying pop star Aaliyah to a Manhattan church for a Friday morning funeral as more than 500 fans gathered outside. Ten pallbearers carried the cream-colored casket into the church, with the singer’s mother and brother following behind. The hearse carried the body of the two-time Grammy nominee about four blocks from the Madison Avenue funeral home to a private service at St. Ignatius Loyola Roman Catholic Church.
AFTERWARD, AALIYAH’S MOTHER stood a few feet from the casket in tears and released a single white dove into the sky. Within seconds, another 21 doves were released — one for each year of the singer’s life.
Celebrities including Gladys Knight, Mike Tyson, R&B singer Usher and movie director Joel Silver were among those invited to the private service for the two-time Grammy-nominated singer.
“It is so beautiful. She’s going out like a princess,” said Nicole Campbell, 24, of Brooklyn, who had been camping out in front of the church since 6 p.m. Thursday.
“I’m totally devastated by this great loss,” said Glory Mosby, 29, one of the first to sign the book. The funeral for the two-time Grammy nominee for best female R&B vocalist is scheduled for Friday. Although the service is to be closed to the media and the public, fans are expected to line up outside the church for a glimpse of the singer’s casket.
The 22-year-old singer-actress died Saturday in a plane crash in the Bahamas, where she had been shooting a music video. All nine people in the small plane were killed in the accident, which is under investigation.
A public memorial service that is to include a continuous loop of Aaliyah’s videos, performances and music is to be held outside a midtown restaurant.
“May U Rest in Peace. You are still the greatest,” one person wrote in the guest book. “Your light will shine on.”
Others solemnly printed their names and addresses. By late afternoon on Thursday, an employee of the funeral home added pages to the book, which was filled with names and statements.
The daylong memorial event for fans and members of the public who wish to honor the memory of the singer is at Cipriani’s 42nd Street on East 42nd Street in Manhattan, near Grand Central Terminal.
Aaliyah’s music and videos will play continuously during the memorial, which will run from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.
The private funeral, to be attended by as many as 1,200 people by invitation only, will be at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home, at 84th Street and Park Avenue, said the funeral home’s general manager, Kevin Mack.
After the mass, 22 trained doves are to be released to fly overhead, one for each year of the singer’s life.
Aaliyah’s family gave permission for the funeral home to put a register book outside for fans to sign and which will be given to her family. Similar registers will be placed at other funeral homes across the country.
After the funeral, Aaliyah’s family and other mourners are to accompany her body to the Ferncliff Cemetery and mausoleum in suburban Hartsdale, N.Y.
Ramon Polenberg, 24, a UPS employee, pulled his truck over in front of the building to sign the book. Polenberg said he met Aaliyah at a toy store where she stopped to buy candy. He remembered her selections — “red fish and M&Ms.”
“She just seemed like one of those people that had a real glow to them,” he said.
Darlene Corbin, 33, stood outside the funeral home for more than an hour, watching people come and go.
“So many lives she touched,” Corbin said. “She probably never had an inkling as to how many people loved her.”
Several large flower arrangements were carried in through a side door, including a bouquet of pink roses bearing a card with “Aaliyah” printed inside a heart. A pink teddy bear was propped near the guest book. Children stood on tiptoes to read the pages and write their names.
“She was sending out a message to all the young kids, and the kids loved her,” said Mary Harvey, 25, who brought her three young nieces from Brooklyn. “She will be missed.”
One of Harvey’s nieces, Coral Foxworth, 9, said: “She never made negative songs. She was all positive, and family came first.”
Aaliyah Haughton's sudden death has touched fans the world over, but for those who knew and loved her, the tragedy has been almost unimaginably painful.
Aaliyah's boyfriend, Roc-a-Fella co-CEO Damon Dash, said Tuesday that losing her was heartbreaking.
"She was the best person I ever knew. ... I never met a person like her in my life," Dash said, his voice breaking with emotion. "Every day that we were together, we cherished. Every memory — every day was a special event, whether it was going to a store or going to a movie or just sitting in a house. Wherever we were was like our own little party, in our own little world."
"She came out of the womb special." — Jomo Hankerson, Aaliyah's cousin
The couple shared the ability to thrive in varying social settings — from Harlem to the Hamptons and beyond — as well as a certain sense of humor, Dash remembered.
"She was the only girl that got to hang out with my homeboys on the level of a homeboy," he said. "It was like being able to be with your homeboy and your girl at the same time. ... We just generally had a lot of fun together."
Dash said that although they were not formally engaged, he and Aaliyah had planned on getting married.
"We were definitely gonna be married. As soon as she had time, we were getting married — like after 'The Matrix,' " he said. "She was the one — she was definitely the one for me. It wasn't an official proposal, we had just talked about it, you know?"
Despite her fame, Aaliyah often traveled without security and delighted in such ordinary activities as grabbing some fast food, Dash said. "She would just carry herself like such a normal individual. We just would pop into McDonald's or Wendy's or something, and people just wouldn't believe [it]," he said.
Aaliyah's cousin, Jomo Hankerson, said Aaliyah had been a star well before the world knew her name.
"We always knew Aaliyah could be something special," he said. "She came out of the womb special."
For a feature interview with Aaliyah, check out "Aaliyah: Been A Long Time."
The fact that the R&B singer Aaliyah has died is still hard to accept not only by her family and friends, but also by her fans.
As funeral services are being planned for Aaliyah on Friday in Manhattan, fans are rushing to stores to purchase copies of her album for memory's sake. According to SoundScan, sales from her third self-titled album have increased by 41 percent since the day of her death.
Aaliyah's boyfriend, Roc-a-Fella records co-CEO Damon Dash, who reportedly hasn't gotten out of bed since he heard of the fatal accident, told Sonicnet.com on Thursday that the loss was "heartbreaking."
"She was the best person I ever knew. I never met a person like her in my life," Dash said as his voice broke with emotion. The pair had planned to marry "as soon as she had time," he said. But what will the music industry do to keep the singer's memory alive?
According to video director Hype Williams, the ideal move would be to release the video for her song "Rock the Boat" as a tribute to the star. Williams directed Aaliyah in the video filmed at the Bahamas days prior to her death.
"I know there's a lot of pain involved, but that's all the more reason people would appreciate what we've done as a group," Williams said on Thursday.
According to Williams, clips from the footage showed Aaliyah on the beach with her back towards the ocean, dressed in a red top and wearing dangling hoop earrings, as she sang slightly suggestive lyrics to the song.
A spokesperson for Blackground Records said it was too soon to say what would become of the footage.
The tiny Cessna aircraft that crashed and killed Aaliyah and eight others on Saturday was overloaded, a report from investigators in the Bahamas shows.
In a statement issued Thursday, Randy Butler of the Bahamian Civil Aviation Department said the Cessna 402B was loaded with fuel and cargo to a weight of 5,495 pounds. Since the craft's maximum authorized takeoff weight is 6,300 pounds, that left only 805 pounds available for the passengers and pilot — just under 90 pounds per person.
"The plane was definitely overloaded," said John Frank of the Cessna Pilots Association, based in Santa Maria, California. Officials have yet to determine the exact weight of the people onboard the plane. They were able to weigh all baggage except one piece, which sank into a swamp, the statement said.
Overloading alone may not be enough to cause a crash, Frank said, adding that the behavior of the plane — witnesses said it veered sharply to the left soon after takeoff — suggests the load was not balanced evenly, which would have made the craft more difficult to handle. The report said the location of the bags on the aircraft before the crash has not been determined.
The report also said both of the plane's engines were in good working order and that the craft showed no evidence of "pre-crash damage." Butler said that information on the plane's maintenance records and pilot is still being gathered and that the craft's propellers will be examined in the U.S.
The pilot, Luis Morales III, pleaded no contest to charges of cocaine possession on August 13, according to Broward County court records (see "Pilot Of Aaliyah's Plane Had Been Caught With Cocaine, Was Not Authorized To Fly"). He had a clean flying record with no enforcement actions against him, Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Kathleen Bergen said.
Blackhawk International Airways, the plane's operator, was cited by the FAA four times between 1997 and 2000 for a total of nine violations that included failure to follow drug-testing rules and failure to perform proper maintenance, according to FAA documents. Three of the citations resulted in "letters of correction" from the agency, while one — a 1998 citation for failing to comply with a foreign country's regulations while flying in that country — drew a \$1,500 fine, according to documents.
Butler also said that neither Blackhawk nor the plane's owner, Skystream Inc., was authorized to operate charter flights in the Bahamas. Calls to Blackhawk have not been returned, and Skystream's number is unlisted.
For the main story on the evening's winners, click here.
LUIS ANTONIO MORALES BLANES, 30, had not been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly the twin-engine Cessna for its owner, Blackhawk International Airways, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.
Blackhawk is cleared to fly charters under what is known as an air-taxi certificate, which authorizes a single pilot to fly the plane that crashed. Bergen said that pilot wasn’t Blanes.
Blanes pleaded no contest to cocaine possession and three other felonies 12 days before the accident.
The funeral service, details of which were being worked out Wednesday, will be private. There will also be a separate, public memorial for fans.
The private service was being arranged by the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home and Virgin Records. Campbell’s general manager, Kevin Mack, said plans for a a public memorial also are going forward.
Mack said Aaliyah’s family had had a private visitation but there were no plans for a wake.
Virgin distributed records for Aaliyah’s label, Blackground Records. A Blackground spokeswoman said the public service was scheduled for Friday, but she had no details on where or when it would take place, although New York was a likely choice. She said an announcement was expected Thursday night. Campbell’s has held funerals for such prominent figures as former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, boxer Jack Dempsey and entertainers Judy Garland and Rudolph Valentino.
Aaliyah’s body was flown back to the United States Tuesday as safety experts examined the debris of the plane that crashed in the Bahamas.
A private jet carrying the body of the 22-year-old singer and movie actress landed at Newark International Airport in New Jersey, and a hearse carried the casket away. Hours earlier, heartbroken fans gathered outside a Nassau funeral home to watch as a black hearse drove away with Aaliyah’s body.
At Nassau International Airport, police stood guard while her white cardboard coffin, stamped “Extreme Care,” was loaded onto the jet.
A funeral home spokeswoman said she expected the bodies of all nine killed in the crash to be returned to various cities in the United States by midday Wednesday. Aaliyah and her crew, all U.S. citizens, were leaving Marsh Harbour in the northern Bahamas after shooting a music video when the twin-engine propeller plane crashed.
Investigators were trying to determine if engine problems or excess weight played a role in the crash, Bahamian police said. Witnesses said baggage handlers had argued with those boarding the Cessna 402B that there was too much baggage.
Bahamian and U.S. investigators removed the engines and cockpit instruments from the plane and took them to a secure building at the airport for inspection. Authorities in Florida said Wednesday that Blanes pleaded no contest in Broward County court on Aug. 13 to charges of cocaine possession, dealing in stolen property, grand theft and driving with a suspended license.
He received a sentence of three years probation and was required to undergo urine testing for illegal drugs.
According to court records, a Broward County sheriff’s deputy saw Blanes run a stop sign in Pompano Beach on July 7.
“The officer observed crack cocaine on the seat, arrested the gentleman on traffic violations, had the car inspected and what was found was cocaine residue on a tube in a bag,” said Broward State Attorney’s Office spokesman Ron Ishoy.
The stolen property and theft charges stemmed from an arrest last November when Blanes allegedly tried to sell a stolen model airplane and a toolbox worth about \\$345 back to the store where they had been purchased
The judge in the case withheld adjudication on the condition that Blanes successfully complete his probation. Without a finding of guilt, he was able to continue flying.
Blackhawk was cited by the FAA four times from 1997 through 2000 for various violations, including failing to follow drug-testing rules for employees in 1999 and failing to perform proper aircraft maintenance last year, Bergen said.
The company was also fined \\$1,500 in 1999 for violating a rule that requires pilots flying U.S.-registered planes to follow foreign countries’ regulations while in their airspace.
The singer, born Aaliyah Dana Haughton in Brooklyn, New York, moved to Detroit at age 5. She started singing at a local church and by age 11, was performing in Las Vegas with Gladys Knight. Knight’s ex-husband, Barry Hankerson, was Aaliyah’s uncle.
Aaliyah attended the Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts, and saw her 1994 debut album, “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number,” sell a million copies. She released her third album, “Aaliyah,” last month.
She made her acting debut last year with a starring role in the Jet Li film “Romeo Must Die” and was booked to appear in the upcoming sequels to “The Matrix.” Aaliyah had recently finished shooting “Queen of the Damned,” playing the vampire queen Akasha in the movie based on the Anne Rice novel.
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In Santa Monica, Calif., Tuesday night, organizers of the 7th annual Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards dedicated the show to Aaliyah, a two-time nominee.
Accepting the Lena Horne Award for lifetime achievement, singer Patti LaBelle told the crowd: “I’m just accepting this for Aaliyah, because pretty soon in her life she would have gotten this Lena Horne award. I know this. I just know it.”
Her debut album sold more than 1 million copies, she was nominated for a Grammy twice and a foray into the movies yielded a surprise hit.
Aaliyah Haughton's singing career took off when R&B superstar R. Kelly produced her debut album, ``Age Ain't Nothing But A Number.'' The album spawned hit singles like ``Back & Forth'' and ``At Your Best (You Are Love).''
Aaliyah's next disc, ``One in a Million,'' did even better as she began a partnership with producer/rappers Missy ``Misdemeanor'' Elliott and Timbaland.
Her latest record, ``Aaliyah,'' debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's Top 200 albums chart when it was released last month.
In 1999, she was nominated for a Grammy award for best female R&B performance for ``Are You That Somebody''; she was nominated again this year for ``Try Again,'' the song from ``Romeo Must Die,'' her first shot at the movies.
Please click here for details on how to watch the exclusive video.
There will also be a public memorial for fans, according to her label, the Virgin-distributed Blackground Entertainment, but the details are still being worked out and a full announcement is expected Thursday.
The body of the 22-year-old R&B songstress and budding actress, killed with eight others in a plane crash in the Bahamas Saturday, was flown to Newark International Airport on Tuesday and taken to the Frank E. Campbell Funeral home in New York, where friends and family came and paid their respects.
No further details--such as where the funeral will take place and where Aaliyah's remains will be interred--were available.
The bodies of the other eight victims are expected to be returned to their respective hometowns by the end of Wednesday.
Meanwhile, in the Bahamas, investigators are still trying to piece together what went wrong Saturday night when the chartered Cessna twin-engine carrying the singer and her entourage crashed just seconds after lifting off.
There have been reports the plane was overloaded with gear and luggage and eyewitness accounts suggest the plane lost its left engine.
More troubling, however, is a Miami Herald report saying the pilot, 30-year-old Luis Antonio Morales Blanes, was not authorized to fly the plane, which was owned by Blackhawk International Airways. Morales was killed in the crash.
Blackhawk had been cited by the Federal Aviation Administration three times in four years for various safety violations, according to the Associated Press. Among the transgressions: failure to follow drug-testing guidelines and performing improper aircraft maintenance.
Officials in Broward County, Florida, also confirmed Wedesday that Morales pleaded no contest on August 13 to cocaine possession, dealing in stolen property, grand theft and driving with a suspended license.
Meanwhile, Germany's Die Zeit newspaper has published exerpts of a recent interview with the singer in which she describes an eerie recurring dream:
"It is dark in my favorite dream. Someone is following me. I don't know why. I'm scared. Then suddenly I lift off. Far away. How do I feel? As if I am swimming in the air. Free. Weightless. Nobody can reach me. Nobody can touch me. It's a wonderful feeling."
Bahamian authorities continue to probe what caused the small Cessna plane to plunge to the ground shortly after takeoff, killing all nine people aboard. At the request of Bahamian aviation officials, the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board have sent an investigator to look into the tragedy. However, officials will have their work cut out for them since the Cessna was not equipped with a black box flight recorder.
According to police, the twin-engined propeller plane apparently suffered engine failure and went down roughly 200 feet from the end of the runway at Marsh Harbour airport on Abaco Island, just 100 miles north of Nassau. The plane, which was heading to the Miami suburb of Opa-locka, Florida, burst into flames immediately upon impact.
An eyewitness told authorities he saw the Cessna, which lifted off in clear blue skies, veer sharply to the left before suddenly losing control and plummeting to the ground.
CNN and two Bahamian newspapers, the Tribune and the Freeport Press, reported the pilot and ground crew believed the plane to be dangerously overloaded and requested the passengers to leave behind some of their luggage but the passengers refused.
Meanwhile, the Miami Herald reported Aaliyah and her companions were supposed to go out on a later flight on a much larger aircraft but opted instead to try and fly out on another company's charter on Saturday.
Within minutes of the crash, volunteer firefighters were on scene and found several badly burned bodies. Of the nine aboard, six people were killed instantly in the crash, including Aaliyah. Three more survived but were in critical condition and died within hours of their injuries.
In addition to the 22-year-old singer, the victims were: Douglas Kratz, 28, director of video production for Aaliyah's record company, Virgin; Eric Foreman, 29, and Anthony Dodd, 34, hairstylists to the R&B star; Keith Wallace, 49, a manager at the Virgin-distributed Blackground Entertainment; Gina Smith, 29, Aaliyah's product manager for Blackground; Scott Gallin, 41, the singer's bodyguard; Christopher Maldonado, 32; and the pilot, Luis Antonio Morales Blanes, 30. The bodies will be flown back to the States this week. Funeral arrangements are pending.
The crew had just completed shooting a music video for her new single, "Rock the Boat." There is no word yet on when or if the video will be released.
Aaliyah's death also brings into question the fate of several of her big-screen projects. She had recently wrapped a starring role in Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned for Warner Bros. (which pushed back the release of her self-titled third album to July).
She had also reportedly done some preproduction work on Warners Matrix sequel, The Matrix Reloaded. But that project wasn't due to begin principal photography in Australia until the fall. She was supposed to costar opposite Keanu Reeves in both the second and third installments of the sci-fi franchise.
Warners Bros., which released her first film, Romeo Must Die in which she played Jet Li's love interest, refused to comment on the status of any of her pending film projects.
Instead, Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, Warner's president of worldwide production released a statement saying, "Aaliyah was one of the finest young women I have ever worked with. She was a consummate professional, an amazing talent with limitless potential and, most importantly, an exceptional person.
"Her passing is a huge loss to her many friends here at Warner Bros. and we extend our heartfelt sympathy to her family and to those who loved her as we did."
Earlier, Virgin and Blackground expressed similar sentiments. And Aaliyah's survivors--her mother, father and brother--issued a statement simply saying they were "devastated."
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Authorities in the Bahamas say that they're going to looking into reports that the plane carrying singer Aaliyah may have been overloaded. The plane crashed in the Bahamas on Sunday, killing the singer, and eight others. Authorities say that they will consider all possibilities in trying to determine the cause of this crash. Aaliyah was a platinum selling Grammy-nominated singer with a promising film career on the horizon. She had also completed initial shooting for a sequel to the movie "The Matrix."
Now across the country, fans of Aaliyah are mourning her death. In Los Angeles, Monday, a crowd gathered for a candlelight vigil. And in Detroit, hundreds gathered outside Aaliyah's former high school for a vigil there to remember the 22-year-old singer. Some fans there people carried pictures of Aaliyah, and there posters scrawled with messages.
Joining us now by phone from New York this morning is Aaliyah's uncle, Barry Hankerson. He is also CEO of Blackground Records.
And, Mr. Hankerson, we want to thank you for taking time to talk with us in what's got to be a difficult time for you, and we extend to you our condolences for all of this.
Let me ask you, first of all, your reaction to the pictures if you are seeing us right now, if you are watching us, the pictures from fans; reaction across the country. Have you been surprised by any of that?
BARRY HANKERSON, AALIYAH'S UNCLE: No, not really, because we are her record label, we are statistically very toned into the fan base, and it's very strong, it's very reactive to Aaliyah, and because she started so young, she was in that magic time when, you know, youngsters were reacting to role models and to certain types of songs and messages, and so she was creating that, that Madonnaesque and Janet (Jackson) kind of following from a young age. So it doesn't really surprise me.
HARRIS: So what is it about her, that you think that resonates with the Madonna-like phenomenon? What do you think it is that she had that nobody else had?
HANKERSON: She had this quiet kind of charisma. You know, the way she chose her songs. The way that she chose her performances in her videos were a bit understated, yet very pensive and very penetrating, and it was very remarkable that, in the very beginning, she had a way that she wanted to sound and a way that she wanted to look, and she stayed with it. She would be very adamant about those types of create decisions in a very young career.
HARRIS: I understand that Blackground Records is very much like a family operation?
HANKERSON: Yes, it is.
HARRIS: You've got to be devastated. What is this going to mean to Blackground Records?
I know, this morning, before you begin your answer, I spent the better part of this morning trying to get onto your Web site, and apparently you've got so much traffic there, we can't get in.
HANKERSON: No, it's been quite remarkable. Before the tragedy, our Web site is very well traveled for Aaliyah, and a couple of our other artists, Timbaland, and Magoo and Tank, who are also doing very substantially well, but Aaliyah was the queen of our label. She was the one that started our label off and believed in us as a label. And we have additional artists, but everybody's so devastated, I really can only tell you, we will try to regroup in our headquarters next week and try to ascertain where we are.
HARRIS: Let me ask you something else, more of a philosophical kind of question. You have seen in recent years, the continuing growth of the mystique of Tupac Shakur, do you see the same thing happening because of the circumstances of Aaliyah's death. Do you see the same thing happening with her and her legend from here on out?
HANKERSON: I think you know, that what's going to happen. I was just thinking this morning, waiting for you to call, that it does have a flair to it of the unfinished song, the unfinished play, the unfinished screenplay, where the whole, you know, the public at large wants to dream about what she could have done and how far she could have gone. ... Very, very few people, young people in America, (have) at that age 22 been nominated for Grammys, and major films and multiplatinum records. This year, on this album, internationally, we've already sold over a million units before the tragedy occurred, and she was beginning, we didn't know -- we saw no limits for Aaliyah.
HARRIS: Let me ask you this morning, Mr. Hankerson, because I know you can't speak about the investigation, I have to ask you this. You hear the reports this morning about those on the plane insisting that all of them go on board and that all of them carry all of their luggage. Does that sound like Aaliyah to you?
HANKERSON: No, I'll be very honest with you. I think we are going to again have a mystery regarding that flight, regarding how it happened, because that's the nature of our culture, is just to keep a mystery going and intrigue going. I think it's just a tragedy for nine people to meet their end, and I believe that we'll never really know, and I believe that it will always be a mystery to someone, somewhere. I think what we need focus on right now, nine families are heartbroken, and it really doesn't matter how it happened, because if we find out, it's not going to bring anybody back.
HARRIS: Barry Hankerson, thank you very much for taking time to talk with us in this very difficult hour. Our condolences to the loss of Aaliyah and your staff members there as well. Take care. Best of luck to you.
Ms. Smith, 30, a graduate of Southwest High School and the University of Texas at Arlington, died Saturday in a plane crash in the Bahamas along with eight other people, including R&B singer Aaliyah.
As a product manager for Blackground Records in New York City, Ms. Smith handled promotions and marketing for Aaliyah, according to co-workers.
"She was one of the most genuine people that you could ever meet," said Michelle Cramer, 35, who worked with Ms. Smith at Blackground Records, the company that produced Aaliyah's latest album.
Ms. Smith was born July 12, 1971, in Fort Worth and graduated with honors from Southwest High School in 1989. In 1993 she graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a marketing degree.
Bertha Scott, principal at Glencrest Middle School in south Fort Worth, said Ms. Smith was always a lovable child.
Ms. Smith joined Greater Abyssinian Missionary Baptist Church as a child and was active as a choir member and youth speaker, said Evelina Dean, the church's assistant youth director.
Ms. Smith's sorority, the Fort Worth Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, will begin tonight's visitation with an "Ivy Beyond the Wall" ceremony, said Denise Kahn, chapter president.
The funeral will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, 956 E. Jefferson St. Burial will be at Laurel Land Memorial Park.
Survivors include her parents, Clewesto Smith, an attendance coordinator for the Fort Worth school district; Shirley Tippens Smith, a retired schoolteacher; and a grandmother, Ora B. Tippens of Oakwood.
A candlelight vigil for Aaliyah, Ms. Smith and the other crash victims will be from 7 to 9 p.m. today at 100 N. Commerce St. on the east side of the Tarrant County Courthouse.
For information, call Donnell Ballard at (866) 244-3645.
Colleagues also mourned the 22-year-old New Yorker who died with eight others when her plane crashed after takeoff Saturday in the Bahamas.
"She was a special, special talent and I am feeling awful about the people who were on the plane and the people who passed that day, period," said singer Patti LaBelle as she arrived at the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards on Tuesday night. Aaliyah, among those nominated for an award, did not win.
"What brings peace to my heart is that she was able to do what she loved to do," singer-actor Tyrese said as he arrived. Rapper Lil' Kim added: "She was so beautiful, inside and out. I mean this is really devastating."
Rhythm and blues legend Gladys Knight, who was married to Aaliyah's uncle, said the singer displayed enormous talent early in life.
"When she first performed with me in Las Vegas, she was still quite young, but she already had it, that spark the world would later see and fall in love with," she said in a statement. "I will miss her for the rest of my life."
"I think it's wonderful how people have responded," said Tower Records store manager Heidi Schroeder. "Some people showed up with ladders to write on the sign since there was no room left below. It's just grown overnight into so much more. It's a sad loss."
Brandie Torres, 11, and sister Celina, 10, signed the billboard Tuesday.
"It felt very sad," said Celina. "We watched her videos on MTV and my dad brought us to get her CDs."
The billboard's fate hadn't been decided yet, but the memorial won't be destroyed, said a spokesman for the manufacturer.
"It has too much value to her fans," said Paul Hagerty, accounts manager for the North Hollywood-based Solbrook Display Corp.
Aaliyah's body was flown to New York on Tuesday, and the bodies of the other victims were to be returned to the United States today.
The other victims were: bodyguard Scott Gallin, 41, of North Miami, Fla.; Gina Smith, 29, of North Bergen, N.J.; and Los Angeles residents Douglas Kratz, 28, a Virgin Records representative, Eric Forman, 29, a makeup artist, Keith Wallace, 49, Anthony Dodd, 34, and Christopher Maldonado, 32.
Also killed was the plane's pilot, Luis Antonio Morales Blanes, 30, who lived in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but was originally from Puerto Rico.
Investigators trying to determine the cause of the crash said they would look into the possibility the twin-engine Cessna was overloaded.
In lieu of flowers, Aaliyah's managers have asked that donations be sent to The Aaliyah Memorial Fund, care of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, 11132 Ventura Blvd., Suite 401, Studio City, Calif. 91604. Inquiries may be directed to Merrily Newton, (818) 760-7722.
"She was someone who was just positive," said Kelly, a senior at Cleveland Naval Junior ROTC Academy High School. "She seemed like she was just a fun person and easy to talk to."
Kelly was among more than 300 fans who attended a memorial ceremony for Aaliyah Tuesday at Streetside Records, 6314 Delmar Boulevard in University City.
Aaliyah Haughton, 22, and eight others perished Saturday when her charter Cessna crashed at Marsh Harbour airport on Abaco Island, about 100 miles north of Nassau, The Bahamas.
"When I first heard the news, I didn't believe it was true," Kelly said. "Now, I'm still in a state of shock."
The ceremony, sponsored by KMJM "Majic 105" (104.9 FM) and the KATZ "The Beat" (100.3 FM), was organized to give fans a chance to express their sentiments for the recording star and actress, said Dwight Stone, host of an afternoon drive time show on The Beat.
"We just gave them (the fans) the opportunity to deal with it today and voice it publicly," Stone said.
Paula Brud-Brown, manager of Streetside, said her store had sold more than 100 Aaliyah CDs since the singer's death. "I had to make phone calls to try to get more on Monday, before we even opened, and all the suppliers are out," Brud-Brown said.
Fans waited in long lines to sign cards, receive posters, light candles and read poems while listening to Aaliyah's songs. Stone said the items would be sent to Aaliyah's family.
"I wanted to pay my last respects to her," said Rachal Lakine, 16. "I wanted to show that I am a fan and I appreciate what she did for music today."
Hundreds of fans came out to pay tribute to rhythym and blues singer Aaliyah at Streetside Records Tuesday evening. The young up-and-coming singer died in a plane crash in the Bahamas on Sunday. Traffic came to a standstill on Delmar Boulevard in the University City Loop as fans spilled out into the street to pay tribute to the star and have a moment of silence for her. Hundreds of people signed this poster that was going to be sent to Aaliyah's family by a local radio station.
David Adelson hosts a 30-minute special report on the tragic death of R&B diva Aaliyah. The 22-year-old singer was killed in a plane crash Saturday, August 25, 2001. Now, get the latest on the investigation and find out how Aaliyah was ready to hit big in both the record industry and film. Plus, E! relives one of Aaliyah's last interviews, and more.
Macon radio station WIBB, 97.9 FM, asked fans to pay their respects by signing a banner outside the station offices. Nearly 100 people had signed it by late Monday.
"She had a lot of fans in Middle Georgia," said deejay Jade Starr, who organized the signing. "We're getting a lot of requests for her songs. We're playing at least one or two per hour."
Aaliyah, 22, and eight others died Saturday in the Bahamas when their airplane fell out of the sky shortly after takeoff. The investigation into the crash widened Monday as U.S. officials joined efforts to determine what happened.
Aaliyah and the others had gone to the Bahamas to shoot a music video, authorities said. Their twin-engine Cessna was bound for Opa-Locka, Fla., when it went down roughly 200 feet from the end of the runway at Marsh Harbour airport on Abaco Island, 100 miles north of Nassau.
Bahamian investigators have searched through the wreckage for clues to the crash. Police Superintendent Basil Rahming said only that one of the Cessna's engines "apparently failed." Monday, two newspapers, The Tribune and The Freeport News, quoted an unidentified baggage handler as saying he had warned the pilot that the plane was too heavy for a safe takeoff.
Born in New York City and raised in Detroit, Aaliyah - whose name in Arabic means "powerful one" - had deep roots in the R&B community.
"Aaliyah's family is devastated at the loss of their loving daughter and sister," said a statement from the singer's publicist, PMK. "Their hearts go out to those families who also lost their loved ones."
Anthony Wilkes, 31, said he was saddened by the news. The Warner Robins man added his sentiments to the Macon station's banner Monday.
"She seemed sincere," Wilkes said. "You don't see that a lot in today's society."
Wilkes said sending a message to the singer's family "hopefully will show she was loved."
Among the notes scribbled across the 12-foot banner: "You will always be in our hearts" and "God bless you - A talent we will never forget."
Greg Roberts, WIBB's program director, said Aaliyah connected with listeners because of "her realness, her down-to-earthness." She mainly sang about relationships.
Ronald "Dirty" Jackson, another deejay at the station, said the singer was "on the brink of stardom."
"She was going uphill," he said. "It's a major loss for the music industry and her fans."
Aaliyah's third album, self-titled, hit stores last month and debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's Top 200 albums chart.
In 1999, she was nominated for a Grammy award for best R&B performance for "Are You That Somebody." She was nominated again this year for "Try Again," from her movie debut in "Romeo Must Die."
Her death could drive up sales of her new album. At Best Buy at Eisenhower Crossing, Brenda O'Steen said Aaliyah albums are "flying off the shelves."
"We had 25 copies yesterday," she said. "There aren't any left now. We're totally out."
O'Steen said she isn't sure why a celebrity's death often creates a buying frenzy among fans.
"People have been asking for her new album all weekend," she said. "She's a good musician. Her (music) was really tight and clean."
But at Media Play on Pio Nono Avenue, sales of Aaliyah albums were not as brisk.
"In reality, in Macon, people are not as aware of that kind of dance music as they are in the bigger cities," said Steffans Hardin, the store's general manager. "Sales of her albums will probably pick up over the next week."
Welton Sims, a music specialist there, said although Aaliyah had a fan base in Macon, most of her appeal was to big cities such as New York, Detroit and Chicago.
"She had an appeal up North," Sims said. "The South is pretty much just rap. R&B in the South is just down right now."
Quadranee Burnett, 26 of Macon, considered herself one of Aaliyah's biggest fans.
"I was devastated and in disbelief," she said. "It's just a tragic loss. She was really young and very talented."
Starr said she's glad she can provide her listeners with a way to remember the singer.
"The people are responding," she said. "This (accident) caught me off guard and really opened my eyes. I'm young and have a full life ahead of me, but God may not see it that way. We all need to take advantage of our opportunities because tomorrow's not promised."
Aaliyah is survived by her mother, father and brother. Police identified the other victims of the crash as bodyguard Scott Gallin, 41; Keith Wallace, 49, of Los Angeles; Douglas Kratz, 28, a representative for Virgin Records, makeup artist Eric Foreman, 29, Gina Smith, 29, all of Hollywood, Calif.; Anthony Dodd, 34, of Los Angeles; and Christopher Maldonado, 32, of New Jersey. The plane's pilot, identified only as L. Maradel, also died.
Aaliyah fans wishing to sign a banner that will be sent to the late singer's family can do so between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. today at radio station WIBB's offices at 7080 Industrial Highway in Macon.
People held candles and signs professing their love for the singer and her music. Aaliyah, who was 22, died with eight other people as the result of a plane crash in the Bahamas on Saturday night.
The cause of the crash is being investigated by the NTSB, the FAA, and Bahamian authorities.
One of the crash victims was a Fort Worth woman. Gina Smith, 30, worked for a New York company which was helping film Aaliyah's music video in the Bahamas.
Smith's parents say the UTA graduate and Fort Worth native was smart and kind.
Smith’s father Clewesto Smith said, “I don't think she had a mean bone…. Just a nice person.”
Smith, Aaliyah and the others were returning from filming the music video when the Cessna crashed.
Please click here for info how to view the video for this tribute.
The death of Aaliyah, 22, the latest singer to perish in a small plane - joining Otis Redding, Patsy Cline and Rick Nelson, among others - shook the R&B world over the weekend.
Although most plane deaths have been tied to tours, Aaliyah's demise in the Bahamas was a first in the MTV age: She had been shooting a video.
Among eight others killed in the crash of the twin-engine Cessna shortly after takeoff was makeup artist Eric Foreman, 29, and Virgin Records director of video production Douglas Kratz, 28.
Aaliyah hadn't had a chance to begin a proper tour for her eponymous third album, which made its debut at No. 2 when it was released last month. After making her name in music with five No. 1 R&B singles and a pair of Grammy nominations, Aaliyah had been moving into film in recent years, following a starring role in the 1999 Jet Li film "Romeo Must Die." She's in an upcoming adaptation of Anne Rice's "Queen of the Damned" and the two sequels to "The Matrix." She had completed initial filming for "The Matrix Reloaded" in Los Angeles last month, and was to fly to Australia next year for principal photography for both "Reloaded" and "The Matrix III."
Her career was in high gear. A video for her second single "More Than a Woman" was completed two weeks ago, and Aaliyah was scheduled as a presenter next week at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York.
At last year's event, she won two awards, including best female video against Macy Gray, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.
It was a nice Aaliyah moment.
At a time when she was between albums, her low-key and relentlessly upbeat single "Try Again" - which repeated the good advice "when at first you don't succeed, pick yourself up and try again" - became one of her biggest hits.
Her optimistic worldview, evident in recent interviews, is what must have helped spark her career at an extraordinarily early age. Aaliyah was just 14 when she recorded the aptly titled "Age Ain't Nothing but a Number" debut. The 1994 album went platinum on the strength of two gold singles - "Back & Forth" and "At Your Best (You Are Love)."
Her second album, "One in a Million" in 1996, did even better, selling 2 million copies on the strength of two more hits, "If Your Girl Only Knew" and the title song.
But it was two songs for movie soundtracks that sent her into a new orbit: "Are You That Somebody" from the first "Dr. Dolittle" and "Try Again" from "Romeo Must Die." Each earned a Grammy nomination.
No longer would her name (Aah-LEE-ah, Arabic for "most exalted one") be mispronounced on TV - as it was in 1998, when Neve Campbell made the flub at the Oscar telecast. where Aaliyah sang the Oscar-nominated "Journey to the Past" from "Anastasia."
Born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, N.Y., Aaliyah Dana Haughton began singing shortly after her family moved to Detroit when she was 5. She competed on TV's "Star Search" at 10 and made her Las Vegas debut at 11, thanks to her grandfather once being married to Gladys Knight.
But it was a style and sophistication well beyond her years that caught the attention of R. Kelly, the Chicago hit maker who wrote and produced her first album (he was also tied to her romantically in a long-boiling rumor that Aaliyah always handled with grace and aplomb).
Virtually alone as a teen singer who held her own on the Top 40 charts, Aaliyah set the mark high for pop acts like Britney and Christina, who would follow with hits that always seemed more fussy and garish than Aaliyah's consistent cool allure.
Aaliyah's success more immediately led to the rise of the fresh-sounding producers and writers on her second album. Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott and Tim Timbaland each became stars shortly after their work on Aaliyah's "One in a Million."
And though Timbaland continued to work with the singer, producing six tracks on this year's "Aaliyah," the new album also showed more of the artist's hand as executive producer. At the same time, her vocals showed more confidence in a number of fields, from the blues of "I Care 4 U" to the breezy ballad with sampled piano on "It's Whatever," to the rock riffs of "I Can Be."
The added tragedy of Aaliyah's death, coming at a time when she was reaching her creative peak in music and film, is how much more she could have accomplished in her life. She'll be remembered by the positive vibe she infused in everything she left behind.
The music community reacted Monday to the loss of one of its brightest young stars, praising the late Aaliyah for her creativity, warmth and kindness.
"She was like blood, and I lost blood," producer Timbaland, whose collaborations with Aaliyah included the hits "Are You That Somebody?" and "We Need a Resolution," said in a phone call to "TRL." "Me and her together had this chemistry. I kinda lost half of my creativity to her. It's hard for me to talk to the fans right now. Beyond the music, she was a brilliant person, the [most special] person I ever met."
"She was like blood, and I lost blood." — Timbaland
Aaliyah, 22, was killed when the small plane she and eight others were traveling in crashed soon after takeoff in the Bahamas on Saturday (see "Aaliyah Killed In Plane Crash"). The singer was on Abaco Island filming a video for "Rock the Boat," her label said, adding that it's too early to tell whether or not the video will ever air.
A visibly shaken P. Diddy, hosting "TRL" Monday, talked about his friendship with Aaliyah and mourned the death of an artist whose best work was yet to come. "She was one of those individuals that would light up a room," he said. "She always greeted you with a smile. Her time was coming; [she] was just about to explode."
He said Aaliyah's family was the closest he'd ever seen. Aaliyah is survived by her parents, Diane and Michael Haughton, and a brother, Rashad.
Other artists remembered the singer and actress as much for her personality as for her work.
DMX, who co-starred with Aaliyah in "Romeo Must Die" and dueted with her on "Come Back in One Piece" for the film's soundtrack album, characterized her as "talented, classy, warm, beautiful, compassionate [and] humble" in a statement issued Monday afternoon. Aaliyah was a "down-to-earth sister with enough energy to put anyone on a cloud," he said. "Let us pray."
"Words can't express what I'm feeling, she was family," Ginuwine said in a statement. "I will truly miss her."
"There are no words to express the loss of Aaliyah, whose unique talent was just beginning to blossom," Ernie Isley said in a statement. "The world will never get to see how her gift could have developed, and that is truly a loss." Aaliyah reworked the Isley Brothers' "Choosey Lover" for her 1996 album, One in a Million.
Michael Rymer, who directed Aaliyah in the title role of the upcoming "Queen of the Damned," remembered the star as a perfectionist and an exceptional young actress. "Aaliyah, who doesn't have an evil atom in her body, came off as this intensely sexual, sensuous, delightfully evil, naughty performer," he said. "It was a very tough role to pull off. ... I think she delivers."
"Of all the people I know, [she] had such a clear and pure spirit, such a clear idea of what she wanted. It's hard to imagine that being interrupted," added Rymer. Rymer said Aaliyah had planned to collaborate with Timbaland and Korn's Jonathan Davis for the film's soundtrack, but he wasn't sure if those plans came to fruition.
A Jive Records statement noted that R. Kelly, who produced Aaliyah's 1994 debut, Age Ain't Nothing but a Number, was "deeply saddened by the tragic loss. His thoughts and prayers are with her family during their time of grief."
Aaliyah's "Romeo Must Die" co-star Jet Li issued a statement extending his condolences to Aaliyah's family and the family of Eric Foreman, a makeup artist who also died in the crash.
"I heard of the devastating news and am deeply saddened that she is no longer with us," Li said. "She was a wonderful and talented artist who will be missed by everyone whose lives she touched."
One music-industry veteran who worked with Aaliyah early on was struck by her motivation as a 12-year-old with a burning desire to break into the business. "It was clear she had all the gifts," said Hank Neuberger, executive vice president of Chicago Recording Company, where Aaliyah recorded much of Age Ain't Nothing. "She had a great voice, she was stunningly beautiful and she had a strong sense of what she could do at a very young age."
"Her depth and versatility as an artist was matched by the passion and devotion she had for her craft," Virgin Records said in a statement issued Sunday (see "Aaliyah Mourned As Artist Who Had 'Limitless Potential'").
Fans responded to the tragedy with candlelight vigils and spontaneous memorials. In Detroit, a candlelight vigil was set for Monday evening outside the Detroit High School for Fine and Performing Arts, according to a school official. Aaliyah graduated from the school with a 4.0 GPA in 1997.
"We are devastated," said Stan Childress, Detroit Public Schools communications director and former student activities advisor at the high school.
"This tragedy has young people crying, hugging each other, expressing love for each other, saying things like, 'This has taught us how to value life, because you don't know what's going to happen,' " said Childress, who noted that Aaliyah had often given her time and advice to fellow students aspiring to enter the entertainment business. "She's an angel for this city."
Outside Tower records on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, fans wrote messages on an Aaliyah billboard and left candles and flowers, according to clerk Jonathan Stapleton. He added that the store has seen a huge increase in demand for her albums over the past few days.
In New York, a spray-paint artist was busy Monday creating a mural of the singer in Manhattan's Lower East Side, according to the Associated Press.
An investigation into the plane crash was ongoing Monday, and authorities in the Bahamas said initial indications pointed to engine failure as the accident's cause. Among the eight others killed in the crash were Foreman, 29, bodyguard Scott Gallin, 41, and Virgin Records' director of video production, Douglas Kratz, 28.
For a feature interview with Aaliyah, check out "Aaliyah: Been A Long Time."
NOBODY BELIEVED it at first. But less than an hour later, news reports confirmed that Aaliyah Dana Haughton, 22, had been killed instantly in a plane crash while returning from a video shoot in the Bahamas. The twin-engine Cessna 402 charter plane, had just taken off from Bahamas’ Marsh Harbour airport, in route to Opa-Locka, Florida, when it crashed at about 6:50 p.m. EST. Aaliyah was killed on impact. Police identified the other passengers killed as Scott Gallin, 41; Keith Wallace, 49, of Los Angeles; Douglas Kratz, 28, a representative for Virgin Records, and makeup artist Eric Foreman, 29, both of Hollywood, Calif.; Gina Smith, 29, also of Hollywood; Anthony Dodd, 34, of Los Angeles; and Christopher Maldonado, 32, of New Jersey. The plane’s pilot, identified only as L. Maradel, also died. CAUSE UNDETERMINED Music industry legend Quincy Jones, whose daughter Kidada was Aaliyah’s best friend, told CNN: “She was like one of my daughters. She was one of the sweetest girls in the world. She vacationed with me and my family together in Fiji. I loved her and respected her and I am absolutely devastated.”
Aaliyah was in the Bahamas doing a video shoot for her next single “Rock the Boat,” which was scheduled for release next month. Filmmaker Hype Williams, best known for his flashy hip-hop videos with artists like P. Diddy, Busta Rhymes and Missy, was directing the video. He was not on the plane.
Diane Blankumsee, head of Royal D Marketing in New Jersey, handled all of the video promotion for the Blackground label, which was distributed by Virgin. She heard about the tragedy last night through one of Aaliyah’s publicists.
“What really most affected me about Aaliyah is that she was so intelligent. She was brilliant,” Blankumsee said. “She was [as regular as] of her fans, but at any other given time, she’d be using a five-syllable world because she was just that smart. She was intelligent, but she was very, very down to earth. She was pegged as diva, but she was not the ice princess. She was very likable and not caught up. She didn’t give you that. She was very, very sweet.”
Aaliyah was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. on January 16, 1979. She was a talented young singer who earned a berth on “Star Search.” By age 15, she would complete an album with mentor R.Kelly called “Age Ain’t Nothin’ But a Number.” (1994) After rumors that the two had married, Aaliyah’s collaboration with him ended. She went on to make two more albums in a fruitful collaboration with producers Timbaland and Missy Elliot. Her latest self-titled CD, released a month ago, included the song for which the video was being shot.
The loss hit BET Networks especially hard. Aaliyah made her last television appearance on BET last week, handing over the keys to a Cadillac Escalade to winner Julian Hawkins, 19, of Chester, Pa.
“I didn’t believe it at first,” the stunned winner said Sunday. “It’s crazy to come into contact with somebody like that and then a week later, they’re gone from the face of the earth forever. But from that little bit of contact we had, it seemed like she was a cool person. When I first went up there, and we went to commercial, I didn’t know who to give the mic to. She was like ‘Sit down next to me.’ I couldn’t believe Aaliyah said that.”
POPULAR GUEST Because Aaliyah was in the business for so long, many people had fond memories of watching her evolve. Stephen Hill, BET’s vice of programming, is one of them, remembering a dinner he had with Aaliyah and her mother when the singer was only 17. “It’s an absolutely devastating loss,” says Hill. “She was a member of the BET family. She was just with us this past week, and we were involved in documenting her video shoot in the Bahamas it just goes to show how fragile life is. It’s still hard to grasp.”
Aaliyah’s film career had blown up, too. Her debut in last year’s “Romeo Must Die” garnered critical acclaim that helped her win roles in the upcoming film “Queen of the Damned,” and “The Matrix” sequels. It seemed that she was on the verge of the kind of multimedia superstardom enjoyed by Jennifer Lopez and Madonna. Industry observers considered Aaliyah to be a star on the rise. She was on the cover of Honey early last year, and editor-in-chief Amy DuBois Barnett says her career potential was limitless.
“Aaliyah had gone from a household name in the urban world to crossing over successfully through her music and recent film roles,” says Barnett. “We were just getting to know her as this funny, engaging person, a star in the truest sense of the word. “There aren’t that many strong, making-it-happen females for young women to look up to, so she was fabulous role model. She was dynamic, smart, sexy and respected herself, making it on more than just her looks alone.”
Veteran Bahamian charter pilot Lewis Key told The Post he overheard a heated argument between the pilot and Aaliyah's video crew about the weight of the equipment loading the plane down. "He tried to convince them the plane was overloaded, but they insisted they had chartered the plane and they had to be in Miami Saturday night," Key said. Aaliyah was in the Bahamian Abaco Islands finishing a music video.
Another possible cause of the tragedy, Keys said, could have been engine failure. Several people who witnessed the crash said the plane lost an engine on takeoff.
One witness, George Thomas told The Post he saw the plane slowly climbing to about 50 feet when it veered to the left and dove nose-first into a swamp, bursting into flames. "It didn't look like anyone could survive that crash," Thomas said. "The nose was broken right off and the fuselage was crumpled and there was TV equipment and luggage scattered about."
Investigators today were wading through the smoldering swampland, cording off areas and removing luggage and equipment as well as searching for any clues to the cause of the crash. A team from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are expected to join the search today.
The tragedy of Aaliyah's death has stunned her family and friends.
In a statement issued from Aaliyah's family, they are "devastated at the loss of their loving daughter and sister. Their hearts go out to the families who also lost their loved ones in this tragic accident."
Also traumatized is Aaliyah's latest love, Damon Dash, who would not comment on her death. However, sources say Aaliyah was the love of his life and he has not gotten out of bed since he heard the news.
The Cessna carrying Aaliyah and her party plummeted to earth in perfect weather Saturday afternoon soon after takeoff for Florida. A day later, investigators were still looking for answers as to what caused the crash. Police Superintendent Basil Rahming said only that one of the Cessna's engines ``apparently failed.''
Aaliyah, who at age 22 already had two Grammy nominations, a platinum album and several high-profile acting credits under her belt, was killed instantly. Five others on board also died at the scene, while three more died later of their injuries, Rahming said.
Born in New York City but raised in Detroit, Aaliyah had deep roots in the R&B community. She later returned to live in Manhattan. Saturday's crash left fans, friends and colleagues in mourning.
``She was like one of my daughters, she was one of the sweetest girls in the world,'' said Grammy-winning producer, arranger and composer Quincy Jones. ``She vacationed with me and my family together in Fiji. I loved her and respected her and I am absolutely devastated.''
Aaliyah and the others in her party had come to the Bahamas to shoot a music video, authorities said. Their plane was bound for Opa-locka, Fla., when it went down on Abaco Island, roughly 200 feet from the end of the runway at Marsh Harbour airport.
On Sunday, the Cessna's nose section was lying about 20 yards from the rest of the battered fuselage, and luggage and pieces of the plane were scattered about, covered in sand.
Abaco Island Chief Councilor Silbert Mills said he was at the airport 100 miles north of Nassau when the plane took off and then crashed. He said he helped rescue the injured.
``I pulled one from the aircraft, and he was screaming,'' Mills said. ``He said he was in a lot of pain.''
Police identified the other passengers killed as Scott Gallin, 41; Keith Wallace, 49, of Los Angeles; Douglas Kratz, 28, a representative for Virgin Records, and makeup artist Eric Foreman, 29, both of Hollywood, Calif.; Gina Smith, 29, also of Hollywood; Anthony Dodd, 34, of Los Angeles; and Christopher Maldonado, 32, of New Jersey. The plane's pilot, identified only as L. Maradel, also died.
Police were relying on handwritten cards filled out before the flight and were not sure about the spellings of the victims' names and did not have everyone's hometowns, said Assistant Superintendent Leland Russell.
A team of investigators from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (news - web sites) and the Federal Aviation Administration (news - web sites) will join the investigation Monday, said NTSB (news - web sites) spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz .
The bodies were taken to the morgue at Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau, where they were to be kept for relatives to help identify them, U.S. Embassy spokesman Brian Bachman said. Some were badly burned in the crash, authorities said.
Virgin Records offered to pay for the relatives to come, Bachman said. The company also was considering bringing the bodies to Miami to be met by family members there, but no arrangements have yet been made, he said.
Aaliyah is survived by her mother, father and brother.
``Aaliyah's family is devastated at the loss of their loving daughter and sister,'' said a statement from the singer's publicist, PMK. She is survived by her mother, father and brother.
Aaliyah's bodyguard, Scott Gallin, was also killed in the crash.
``Scotty was an extremely easy person to get along with,'' said Ted Van Rijn, a longtime friend and colleague at Moran & Nicholson, a personal protection services group. ``He literally lived for the moment.''
The Cessna 402 was owned by Skystream, a company based in Pembroke Pines, Fla., said Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Atlanta. The company's telephone number was not listed, and company officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
A spokeswoman for Wichita, Kan.-based Cessna, Marilyn Richwine, said she was not aware of any safety problems with the twin-engine 402 model. The company has not manufactured that model for about 12 to 15 years, she said.
Aaliyah was to begin shooting the video for ``Rock The Boat'' this month in Miami, according to her Web site. It was not clear whether she filmed that video while in the Bahamas.
Aaliyah's song ``Try Again'' earned her a Grammy nomination this year for best female R&B vocalist, and she was nominated in 1999 in the same category for ``Are You That Somebody.'' In 1996, she released her second album, and the single ``If Your Girl Only Knew'' went double platinum.
Aaliyah made her feature acting debut in last year's film ``Romeo Must Die'' and was signed on to appear in two sequels to the high-tech thriller ``The Matrix.''
She was born Aaliyah Haughton on Jan. 16, 1979, in Brooklyn. She made her stage debut as an orphan in a production of ``Annie'' at the age of 6. Her uncle was married to soul singer Gladys Knight, who invited Aaliyah to perform with her during a five-night stint in Las Vegas at age 11.
Aaliyah struck a licensing deal as a teen-ager after her uncle, Barry Hankerson, formed Blackground Records.
She went gold with her debut album, ``Age Ain't Nothing But Number,'' in 1994 - when she was 15 - and benefitted from working closely with hip-hop artist R. Kelly.
JaRuleworldwide would like all of you Aaliyah fans to pray for her and her family has her parents had to be in shock when this happend. Aaliyah was only 22 years-old and was one of the greatest R&B singers out there.
R.I.P- Aaliyah we will never forget you. You will always be in our hearts and you will always be in our prayers.
Below is the picture which Aaliyah was in when it crashed. |
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