I don’t know if there’s a single album in pop-music history more fundamentally cursed than Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number. I haven’t the slightest idea what to do with this record. What do we do with this record? I’m asking. It’s called Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number. Kelly’s chapter in Aaliyah’s life would be denying Aaliyah another title she so greatly deserved: ‘survivor.’”Īaliyah’s first album, largely written and produced by R. Kelly with any credit for her career, despite him being one of the main reasons we learned about Aaliyah in the first place.” But the conclusion Kathy ultimately comes to is “disregarding R. Kathy writes, “I also didn’t want to dignify R. She didn’t want to disrespect Aaliyah’s legacy. Kathy’s book starts with a brief chapter in which she says that when she started writing her book she intended to more or less write R. That is according to a new biography called Baby Girl: Better Known As Aaliyah, written by Kathy Iandoli.
As Aaliyah would explain to Vibe a few years later, “I sang for him, and he liked my sound.” Kelly’s working on his first album, Barry brings his fame-hungry, superstar-in-the-making 12-year-old niece, Aaliyah, to the studio to meet R.
Kelly’s on his way to becoming a superstar. So Barry’s in Chicago producing a play, and he stumbles across a young, fame-hungry, high-school-dropout busker named Robert Sylvester Kelly. He’s an artist manager, he produces theater, he married-and divorced, quite acrimoniously-Motown icon Gladys Knight. So yeah, after Star Search, Aaliyah’s uncle, her maternal uncle Barry Hankerson, at this point is a somewhat enigmatic show-business big shot. Every major celebrity’s got their own “Michael Jordan got cut from his high school varsity team” moment. Also note that Aaliyah still remembers getting three and three-quarters stars on Star Search. It’s worth noting that Craig Kilborn, historically, is not often the voice of reason, or restraint. I just wanted you to hear her voice, unadorned. She acts embarrassed, she says, Yeah, I was on Star Search when I was 10, I sang “My Funny Valentine.” And Craig plays a little clip of Chet Baker’s version of “My Funny Valentine,” and then he asks Aaliyah a really excellent question.Īny question that gets her to sing is an excellent question. She tells Craig that her name means “The highest, most exalted one-the best.” Craig brings up Star Search. She’s on Craig Kilborn’s show in 2000 to promote Romeo Must Die. Here is Aaliyah, recounting her Star Search experience, to Late Night Host You Forgot About Craig Kilborn. Did Pitbull lose to Nas on Star Search? Or when you won did Ed McMahon lead you backstage and push you into an abyss? Billy Porter won, I guess. Alanis Morissette, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Usher, Pitbull. Beyoncé, Destiny’s Child, Girls Tyme quite infamously lost on Star Search. Has anyone of consequence ever won Star Search? Aaliyah lost on Star Search. At 10 years old she went on Star Search and lost. At 6 years old she had one line in a school production of Annie-the line was “You’re gonna get the paddle.” She starred in 42nd Street, she starred in Hello, Dolly!, she sang at weddings and parties, she sang a lot of Whitney Houston songs, et cetera. Her family moved to Detroit when she was 5.
Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born in Brooklyn, in Bed-Stuy, in 1979.