The Childhood Home of Aaliyah: Detroit, Michigan

Aaliyah was born January 16, 1979 and died August 25, 2001 in a plane crash at only 22 years old.

Where some people may just find that as a footnote in music history, there is so much more to the tale.

Nicknamed "Princess of R&B" and "Queen of Urban Pop", she was born in Brooklyn, raised in Detroit, and gained recognition when she appeared on Star Search at ten years old. At twelve years old, Aaliyah signed with a record company and was soon introduced to R. Kelly, who ended up producing her first album and writing many of the songs.

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When her first album Age Ain't Nothing But a Number came out in 1994, she was fifteen years old. It sold three million copies. Her second album, One in a Million was released in 1996 and sold another three million in the U.S. and a total of eight million worldwide.

In July 2001, her third album was released and went to #1. The next month, on August 25, 2001, she died when her plane crashed in the Bahamas. It was discovered that the pilot was in no condition to fly the plane: traces of booze and cocaine were found in his body during the autopsy.

Since her death, more previous unreleased music has been released, as well as a number of compilations. She was listed as the 27th most successful female R&B artist of all time by Billboard Magazine.

That was just a nutshell version of the life and times of Aaliyah...there is so much more that you can check out online. Meantime, the gallery below shows her childhood home on Warrington Drive where she grew up in Detroit, her elementary school, and the location where her high school used to stand.

Aaliyah is buried in Ferncliff Cemetery, New York.