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Aaliyah

After landing a record deal at age 12, glamorous singer-actress Aaliyah became a star after working closely with mentor R. Kelly on her debut album, 1994's triple platinum "Age Ain't Nothing But a Number." Cultivating a "street but sweet" persona to match her silky vocals, Aaliyah added Missy Elliott and Timbaland to her list of mentors/producers, scoring again with 1996's multiplatinum "One in a Million." After singing the Oscar-nominated song "Journey to the Past" for the animated feature "Anastasia" (1997), Aaliyah's appeal earned her a starring role opposite Jet Li in the action romance "Romeo Must Die" (2000), which yielded her smash single "Try Again" on the movie's soundtrack. On a definite roll, both on the big screen and the Billboard charts, the down-to-earth performer, beloved by everyone working in the R&B/hip-hop world, filmed the title role in the Anne Rice adaptation of "The Queen of the Damned" (2002), followed by being cast in the back-to-back sequels to the monster hit "The Matrix" (1999). Unfortunately, fate had other plans. Shortly after the release of her third album, "Aaliyah," on Aug. 25, 2001, the 22-year-old and her entourage were killed instantly when the small plane they had chartered after filming a music video in the Bahamas crashed after takeoff. Posthumously, her eponymous album topped the charts while millions of fans, family and friends grieved over her premature loss. Although her charmed life was cut short, Aaliyah left behind a tragic legacy of what might have been, based on an already distinguished career that had showed no signs of slowing down.