Aaliyah, the Queen of Urban Pop, returns to top the charts after 20 years
Aaliyah returns to the top of the charts, 20 years after her untimely death. Only to prove the timelessness of her music including commercial success.
Aaliyah hailed as the Queen of Urban Pop, started dominating the charts, 20 years after her untimely death. Her self-titled album returned to the top 10 of Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The album topped at 7th place on Thursday.
Self-titled album on top of charts.
The set had earned 26,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Sept. 16. According to Billboard.com, the majority of 15,000 units were from traditional album sales. Another 9,000 units were from the streaming. And the streaming meant 11.5 million on-demand plays of the album song. The rest of the 2,000 units came from individual track downloads.
The single ‘Rock the Boat’ is the album’s top performer with 4,400 downloads. The song dominated in streaming too with 2.2 million streams in the U.S. Four other songs from the album are also in the top 25 of the Billboard Chart.
The album Aaliyah topped the chart at No.2 for four consecutive weeks in August and September 2001. The first and second weeks were on Aug 4 and 11. The album went to top place for the two weeks in September after her death.
Untimely demise of Aaliyah
Aaliyah died on Aug. 25, 2001 in a fateful plane crash. The singer and the members of her recording company boarded a flight from the Bahamas to Florida. The small flight crashed shortly after the take-off. All nine aboard including Aaliyah died in the crash. Overloading of the small aircraft was said to be the reason behind the crash. The investigation also revealed traces of drugs in the pilot’s body. A case was filed by Aaliyah’s family against the aircraft operator.
Aaliyah’s legacy
Aaliyah, a multifaceted personality, died at the young age of 22. She is hailed as the Princess of R&B and Queen of Urban Pop for her efforts in redefining contemporary R&B, pop and Hip-Hop. The American singer first appeared in a television show when she was ten years old. A child prodigy in music, she signed her first contract with Jive Records at 12.
Aaliyah’s debut album ‘Age Ain’t Nothing but Number’ sold three million copies in the U.S. She worked with Timbaland and Missy Elliot for the second album ‘One in Million’. She had also acted in the movie ‘Romeo Must Die’ and contributed to the film’s soundtrack. The single ‘Try Again’ from the film topped Billboard Hot 100. She next acted in ‘Queen of the Damned’ and her self-titled album is her last work.
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She is one of the singers who dominate the charts even after death. Her music continues to live with significant commercial success. She has sold 24 to 32 million albums worldwide including her posthumous releases.