REMEMBERING AALIYAH



Aaliyah Dana Haughton
January 16, 1979 - August 25, 2001

R&B recording artist, actress and model Aaliyah was born in Brooklyn, NewYork and raised in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 10 she appeared on Star Search and at the age of 12 she was signed to Jive Records. Her uncle Barry Hankerson introduced her to R. Kelly who was the lead writer and producer of her debut album 'Age Aint Nothing but a Number'. The album sold three million copies in the United States and was certified double platinum. Aaliyah ended her contract with Jive and signed with Atlantic Records after allegations of an illegal marriage with R. Kelly.

 

Aaliyah worked with Timbaland and Missy Elliott for her second album 'One in a Million', it sold 3.7 million copies in the United States and 8 million copies worldwide. In 2000 she appeared in her first film 'Romeo Must Die' along side Jet Li and rapper DMX. The single 'Try Again' was on the soundtrack and topped Billboard Hot 100, it earned her a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B vocalist. The music video won the Best Female Video and Best Video from a Film awards at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. The soundtrack went on to sell 1.5 million copies in the United States.

Aaliyah began work on her second film 'Queen of the Damned', she palyed the role of Ancient vampire Queen Akasha. Her third and final album 'Aaliyah' was released in July 2001.

On August 25, 2001 after filming the music video 'Rock The Boat' in the Bahamas, Aaliyah and her crew were headed home when their aircraft  crashed shortly after take off. Aaliyah, her stylist Eric Forman, makeup artists Anthony Dodd and Christopher Maldonado, security guard Scott Gallin, video producer Douglas Kratz, Blackground employees Keith Wallace and Gina Smith, and the pilot Luis Morales III were all killed in the crash.

Eric Forman

Gina Smith

Douglas Kratz

More pictures of Aaliyah after the break:

R.I.P NICK ASHFORD

RESPECT A LEGEND

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY AP Music Writer

Nick Ashford, one-half of the legendary Motown songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson that penned elegant, soulful classics for the likes of Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye and funk hits for Chaka Khan and others, died Monday at age 70, his former publicist said.
 
Ashford, who along with wife Valerie Simpson wrote some of Motown's biggest hits, died in a New York City hospital, said publicist Liz Rosenberg, who was Ashford's longtime friend. He had been suffering from throat cancer and had undergone radiation treatment, she told The Associated Press.
 
Though they had some of their greatest success at Motown with classics like "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Reach Out And Touch Somebody's Hand" by Ross and "You're All I Need To Get By" by Gaye and Tammi Terrell, Ashford & Simpson also created anthems for others, like "I'm Every Woman" by Khan (and later remade by Whitney Houston). Ashford & Simpson also had success writing for themselves: Perhaps the best-known song they sang was the 1980s hit "Solid As A Rock."
 
"His music is unmatched in terms of great songwriting," Verdine White of Earth, Wind and Fire said after learning of his friend's death.

"They had magic and that's what creates those wonderful hits, that magic," White added. "Without those songs, those artists wouldn't have been able to go to the next level."

Continue:

AMY WINEHOUSE COLLECTIONS TO BE RELEASED



A look from Winehouse's Fred Perry line.

Photo: Fred Perry

 Before her death, Amy Winehouse was working on a clothing line for Fred Perry, with whom she'd signed a four-season deal. Following uncertainty over the fate of the remaining two seasons after Winehouse's death, Fred Perry has talked things over with her family and decided to release the fall 2011 and spring 2012 lines, which will be available in Fred Perry and other stores carrying the brand. Profits from the line will go to the forthcoming Amy Winehouse Foundation, which her dad says will "help children and young people in her name."

















Source: [The Cut]
Amy Winehouse [Fred Perry]Amy Winehouse For Fred Perry Collection to Continue [WWD]



R.I.P AMY WINEHOUSE

My little sisters Swiyyah and Veronica Blahnik put me on to Amy back in 2003 when she came out with Frank. I was truly amazed at the talent she was, there is not a song on that album that I don't love. She is in constant rotation with Mary J. Blige, Anita Baker, Brany, Kelly Price, Floetry, Faith, Tank and so many other talents that I adore. You Sent Me Flying, Amy you will be truly missed! I'm pumping Frank right now, check out one my all time favorites from Amy!

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