Those who knew and lovedAaliyahare paying tribute to the late singer 18 years after she waskilled in a tragic plane crash.
“I always forget how young Aaliyah was. rip to a REAL legend,” Kehlani, 24, wrote.
MusicianElla Maitweeted on Sunday, writing, “rest in paradise aaliyah. thank you for all of your inspiration. we miss you 🌹.”
Singer and songwriter Victoria Monét also paid tribute, calling Aaliyah her favorite artist and remembering the day she died.
“18 yrs ago I lost my favorite artist. I had a weird feeling that morning before I knew & I remember where I was when I found out. Worst day,” Monét wrote. “I will forever hold her & her music with me as an influence in all of my goals, my voice, my movement, energy & souI. I love you Aaliyah.”
Aaliyah, a five-time Grammy nominee, was killed in a plane crash along with seven others on her way home from shooting the music video for “Rock the Boat.”
The plane, a small twin-engine Cessna bound for Miami, went down in a swamp shortly after taking off from the Bahamas on Aug. 25, 2001.
Despite her young age, the star had achieved immense popularity following the release of her first album,Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number, when she was 15.
Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Her second album,One in a Million, was certified double platinum in 1997, and her final record,Aaliyah, sold over 2.4 million copies worldwide and scored a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album in 2002.
Days before the 18th anniversary of her death, Aaliyah wasmemorialized with a wax figureat Madame Tussauds in Las Vegas with a figure from her iconic “Try Again” music video from 2000.
Gabe Ginsberg/Getty
To markwhat would have been her 40th birthdayin January, her brother Rashad Haughton released a special poem dedicated to his late sister.
“The many were once as one/ By way of mind and tongue/ Hands intertwined/ Reached out for heaven/ Atop a thing that was built/ When it fell upon itself/The words descended/Upon cold earth and became brittle, colorless and crumbled beneath our feet,” he wrote. “Now, a cypher of memories/ Unlock a chamber; Not of brick and mortar/But of glass and copper — Smooth and colt to touch/ Hallow voices ripple upstream/Yearning to rejoin the sea cry/ Universe, sacred womb/A truth revealed/Is a song set free/Gentle whisper of wind/Sow these seeds for me.”
Elliott alsopaid tribute on the 17th anniversaryof Aaliyah’s death last year.
source: people.com
