[Pure Aaliyah]

Aaliyah means, "highest, most exalted one"... she lived up to her name.Aaliyah had been building her career since the age of 6 when she appeared in a stage production of "Annie". She went on to perform in Las Vegas at the age of 11, release her first album, "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number", at the age of 14, have a double platinum single, "If Your Girl Only Knew", at 16, and earn a Grammy nomination for best R&B; singer when she was 21. She was a favorite of the legendary producer Quincy Jones, who is reported to be, "absolutely devastated", by her death. Aaliyah was part of a close family; her father Michael and her mother Diane were her managers, and her brother Rashad co-wrote many of her songs. As of press time, her family had not yet released a statement.Aaliyah has been a fixture on the R&B; charts since her first album debuted in 1994. She successfully branched out into film with the Juliette-like role of Trish O'Day in the Jet Li movie "Romeo Must Die". Aaliyah had just released a third self-titled album and was set to star in the next two installments of the mega-hit movie "The Matrix" with Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburn and Jada Pinkett-Smith. Fans who were looking forward to seeing more of the star in the months and years to come, are instead dealing with her sudden, tragic, death.