It seems the good always die young and when 22-year-old Aaliyah was killed in a plane crash in 2001, R’n’B lost one its fastest rising and brightest stars. In a short space of time and with just three albums to her name, Aaliyah managed to establish herself at the vanguard of the new style of R’n’B and hip-hop that came to dominate popular music towards the end of the 1990s.

Co-written and produced by the then-ascending R. Kelly, Aaliyah’s debut album "Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number" was released in 1994 and spawned the hit singles "Back & Forth" and "At Your Best (You Are Love)". The follow-up, 1996’s "One In A Million" was considerable step forward as she teamed up with a number of different producers including Timbaland who, with his songwriting partner Missy ‘Misdemeanor’ Elliot, penned the hits "If Your Girl Only Knew" , "One In A Million" and "4 Page Letter" . Graduating from high school in 1997, Aaliyah contributed a number of songs to movie soundtracks, including the Oscar-nominated "Journey To The Past" from the movie Anastasia.

Having taken a detour with her acting career, Aaliyah paired up with Timbaland again and returned in 2001 with her eponymous third album and it was while returning from the Bahamas from filming the video for the "Rock The Boat" single that Aaliyah sadly met her untimely end.

Download Aaliyah now or subscribe to Wippit.