Aaliyah Haughton, better known to her legions of pop-music fans simply by her first name, got her big break on Star Search in 1988 with a rather stunning rendition of "My Funny Valentine." She went on to appear in concert with Gladys Knight at the tender age of 11 before working on her debut album Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number (with noted R&B singer/producer and alleged pedophile R. Kelly). The record was released in 1994 to critical acclaim. By her second album's release a few years later, Aaliyah was a bona fide star in her own right, lending her voice to the soundtracks of such films as A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994) and Anastasia (1997). In 1997, Aaliyah gave her acting chops a workout, albeit as "Herself" on an episode of New York Undercover. She then landed a supporting gig opposite Jet Li in the action hit Romeo Must Die (2000), and a career in cinema was born. Sadly, it was cut rather short--although not before she could appear at her sexiest and breast in Queen of the Damned (2002) in the title role--by an airplane crash in the Bahamas in August 2001. As her legions of fans would surely attest, this is one talented, beautiful young lady that will be sorely missed. Her name is Arabic for "Highest, most exalted one." Nuff said.