R&B singer Aaliyah perishes in plane crash
By Daily Bruin Staff
Aug. 26, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 The Associated Press R&B singer and actress
Aaliyah arrives at New York’s Paris Theater
earlier this month.
By Chris Moriates
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Actress and R&B singer Aaliyah died Saturday evening in a
small plane crash in the Bahamas, according to CNN.
The 22-year-old singer was slated to co-star in the sequel to
the sci-fi blockbuster “The Matrix” next summer.
The plane was a Cessna 402, which was owned by Skystream.
According to reports, the plane traveled about 200 feet, then
crashed into marshy land.
“I was really shocked and surprised by the news,”
said Gita Reddy, a fourth-year political science student at UCLA.
“I listened to her music all through high school and I liked
her a lot. I didn’t think that (the news of the accident) was
true at first.”
Aaliyah Haughton was born in Brooklyn, N.Y,. on Jan. 16, 1979.
Her song “Try Again” earned her a Grammy nomination
this year for “Best Female R&B Vocalist.”
“She was like one of my daughters; she was one of the
sweetest girls in the world,” said Quincy Jones, 68, the
Grammy-winning producer, arranger and composer, reported the
Associated Press. “She vacationed with me and my family
together in Fiji. I loved her and respected her, and I am
absolutely devastated.”
Aaliyah struck a licensing deal as a teenager after her uncle,
Barry Hankerson, formed Blackground Records.
Her debut album, “Age Ain’t Nothing But
Number,” went gold when she was just 14. She later married
her producer, R&B singer R. Kelly.
She recently starred in “Queen of the Damned,” the
latest Anne Rice vampire thriller.
“I was shocked by the news, but I didn’t really
listen to her music,” said Melissa Zimmermann, a third-year
art student at UCLA. “But that kind of stuff happens to rock
stars and musicians all the time, so maybe I was a little more
indifferent about it than I should have been.”
According to reports on the official Power 106 radio station
(105.9 FM) Web site, Aaliyah was in the Bahamas filming a new music
video.
With reports from the Associated Press.
