Aaliyah Haughton

*New York (Brooklyn) 16.1.1979 was born in Brooklyn, on January 16, 1979.

At the age of tive, she moved to Detroit. Aaliyah, whose name means "highest, most exalted one" in Swahili, says: "I've been singing all my life. live always wanted this. I sang in church, in school plays, and my parents gave me vocal lessons." She began professionally performing at the age of nine, auditioning regular1y for record companies, television pilots, and singing on Star Search. By the time she was eleven, Aaliyah was singing with Gladys Knight in Las Vegas for a five-night gig, whose ex-husband was Aaliyah's uncle, Barry Hankerson.