Aaliyah's Real Name: Aaliyah Dana Haughton

Quick answer: Aaliyah was born Aaliyah Dana Haughton on January 16, 1979, in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Detroit. The R&B singer and actress released "Back and Forth," "One in a Million," and "Try Again" and starred in Romeo Must Die. She died at 22 on August 25, 2001, when her chartered plane crashed after takeoff in the Bahamas (Billboard/AP; Library of Congress).

Real name and early life

Billboard's 2001 report, carrying Associated Press copy, says she "was born Aaliyah Dana Haughton on January 16, 1979, in Brooklyn, N.Y." The Library of Congress name authority files her as "Aaliyah, 1979-2001." Its citations include "Aaliyah Dana Haughton, 1979-" and "b. Aaliyah Haughton." One LOC note spells the surname "Houghton," but the major news reports use Haughton.

The Los Angeles Times reported that she moved to Detroit at age 5 and began performing professionally at 9. She auditioned for record companies and TV pilots and sang on Star Search. According to Billboard, she made her stage debut as an orphan in a production of Annie at 6. Her uncle was married to soul singer Gladys Knight, who invited 11-year-old Aaliyah to perform with her during a five-night run in Las Vegas.

Career highlights

Aaliyah signed a deal as a teenager after her uncle, Barry Hankerson, formed Blackground Records. Her debut album, Age Ain't Nothing but a Number (1994), was released when she was 15. Its hits "Back and Forth" and "At Your Best (You Are Love)" helped it go platinum, the LA Times reported. Her second album, One in a Million (1996), went double platinum and included "If Your Girl Only Knew."

"Try Again" (2000) earned her a Grammy nomination for best female R&B vocal performance. That year she made her feature acting debut in Romeo Must Die. She had signed to appear in two sequels to The Matrix. Her third album, Aaliyah, debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in July 2001.

Her debut album was produced by R. Kelly. In 1994, when she was 15, he married her using a marriage license that falsely listed her age, and the marriage was later annulled. In 2021 a federal jury convicted Kelly of racketeering and sex trafficking. AP and the New York Times reported that evidence about the marriage was central to the case.

Death

On August 25, 2001, the twin-engine Cessna carrying Aaliyah and eight others crashed shortly after takeoff from Marsh Harbour on Abaco Island in the Bahamas. She had been there to film a music video. All nine people aboard died. Quincy Jones told AP, "She was like one of my daughters."

Name notes for searchers

Aaliyah performed under her first name alone. Haughton is her family surname. LOC uses the single-name heading "Aaliyah" with her full name as a cross-reference.