Aaliyah‘s story had barely begun before it was out of her hands.
But on what would have been her 47th birthday Jan. 16 if she hadn’t died in a plane crash at the age of 22, there’s still so much to unpack with regard to her influence on pop culture.
“Sometimes, when it’s just my mom and me kicking it, I say, ‘I’m 22, and I’ve accomplished so much,'” she told E! News just months before her death on Aug. 25, 2001. “I just know I have to appreciate every moment.”
Aaliyah’s debut studio album, 1994’s Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number, has sold more than 6 million copies worldwide and was certified double platinum, buoyed by top-10 singles “Back & Forth” and “At Your Best (You Are Love).”
The Brooklyn-born, Detroit-bred teen was a show business veteran already, singing at weddings at 8, performing on Star Search alongside Gladys Knight—who was briefly married to Aaliyah’s uncle, record producer Barry Hankerson, in the 1970s—at 10 and taking the stage in Las Vegas at 11.
“I’m still in high school,” Aaliyah noted in a New York morning show interview to promote her first-ever performance at the legendary Apollo Theater, while also beaming about her straight-A report card.