AIanis Morissette
View allAll Photos Tagged airplay
Not what Paul McCartney of The Beatles was thinking when he wrote the song in 1966. He likely didn't think it would still get airplay 54 years later either.
Shot for Smile on Saturday! : - ) , Song title
Day 12 of 20 of albums that influenced my musical tastes.
Definitely Maybe is the debut studio album by the English band Oasis, released on 29 August 1994.
This was the case of love at first hearing. I don't find any flaws in this brilliant debut. Live forever is one of those songs that will have a special place in my heart and maybe in the history of contemporary music. It can talk of brothers, friends and lovers bond and love.
Definitely Maybe was an immediate commercial and critical success in the United Kingdom, having followed on the heels of the singles "Supersonic", "Shakermaker", and the UK top-ten hit "Live Forever", which was also a success on US Rock Airplay. The album went on to sell over 8.5 million copies worldwide and brought widespread critical acclaim. It went straight to number one in the UK Albums Chart and became the fastest-selling debut album in the UK at the time. (from Wikipedia)
"Maybe I just wanna fly
Wanna live, I don't wanna die
Maybe I just wanna breathe
Maybe I just don't believe
Maybe you're the same as me
We see things they'll never see
You and I are gonna live forever..."
youtu.be/TDe1DqxwJoc?si=8iqGf-Z7xYonwkow
Live: youtu.be/FdiqEABaRI4?si=Jy_R3gq1B_XFMIqt
a beautiful live version: youtu.be/Ur1Q4ogZbRY?si=zfdaJZt0Su5qj2_b
One of the lamps in our lounge, I liked the antique brass effect twist.
I've recently discovered that there is such a thing as "Twist Lighting', a means of using AirPlay without the wiring, ie wifi download of music (?) - useful if you live in rented accommodation (not that I do nor that I know anything about AirPlay but some of you may understand) I feel some days like I jumped off but the world is still going around :-)
52 in 2017 # 26 Twist and 117 in 2017 # 105 Lamp
Day 12 of 20 of albums that influenced my musical tastes.
Definitely Maybe is the debut studio album by the English band Oasis, released by Creation Records on 29 August 1994.
It was an immediate commercial and critical success in the United Kingdom, having followed on the heels of the singles "Supersonic", "Shakermaker", and the UK top-ten hit "Live Forever", which was also a success on US Rock Airplay. The album went on to sell over 8.5 million copies worldwide and brought widespread critical acclaim. It went straight to number one in the UK Albums Chart and became the fastest-selling debut album in the UK at the time; it went on to be certified 8× platinum by the BPI for sales of over 2.4 million units.[5] It also was successful in the United States, being certified platinum.
The album helped to spur a revitalisation in British pop music in the 1990s, and was embraced by critics for its optimistic themes and rejection of the negative outlook of much of the grunge music of the time. The album is regarded as a seminal entry of the Britpop scene, and has appeared in many publications' lists of the greatest albums of all time.
Happy 29th anniversary, Definitely Maybe!
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∎ Created with Midjourney, further edited with Topaz Photo AI 2.2.2
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∎ The Cranberries - Zombie - Lyric
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"Zombie" is a protest song by Irish alternative rock band the Cranberries, written by the band's lead singer Dolores O'Riordan about The Troubles in Northern Ireland. It was released on 19 September 1994 by Island Records as the lead single from their second studio album, No Need to Argue (1994), two weeks ahead of the album's release. Music critics have long recognized "Zombie" as "a masterpiece of alternative rock", as well as a grunge number uncharacteristic of the band's other work.
"Zombie" reached No. 1 on the charts of Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, and Iceland, and although it did not chart on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, it did reach No. 1 on the US Billboard Alternative Airplay chart. In addition, the song was voted by Australian radio Triple J listeners as No. 1 on the 1994 Triple J Hottest 100 chart. It won the Best Song Award at the 1995 MTV Europe Music Awards. The accompanying music video was directed by Samuel Bayer.
In 2017, the song was released as an acoustic, stripped-down version on the band's Something Else album. In April 2020, it became the first song by an Irish group to surpass one billion views on YouTube.
Background
The Troubles were a conflict in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s to 1998. During the conflict more than 3,500 people died and thousands more were injured. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), an Irish republican paramilitary organisation, waged an armed campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland and unite the region with the Republic of Ireland. Republican and Unionist paramilitaries killed thousands of people. Over 10,000 bomb attacks were perpetrated by paramilitary groups in Ireland and England.
The song was written in response to the death of Johnathan Ball, aged 3, and Tim Parry, aged 12, both of whom had been killed in the 1993 Warrington bombings, when two IRA improvised explosive devices hidden in litter bins were detonated in a shopping street in Warrington, England. Ball died at the scene of the bombing as a result of his shrapnel-inflicted injuries, and five days later, Parry lost his life as a result of head injuries. 56 others were injured, some seriously. Parry died in his father's arms in a hospital in Walton, Liverpool. The two boys had gone shopping to buy Mother's Day cards on one of the town's busiest shopping streets.
There were a lot of bombs going off in London and I remember this one time a child was killed when a bomb was put in a rubbish bin – that's why there's that line in the song, 'A child is slowly taken'. [ ... ] We were on a tour bus and I was near the location where it happened, so it really struck me hard – I was quite young, but I remember being devastated about the innocent children being pulled into that kind of thing. So I suppose that's why I was saying, 'It's not me' – that even though I'm Irish it wasn't me, I didn't do it. Because being Irish, it was quite hard, especially in the UK when there was so much tension.
— Dolores O'Riordan in 2017, on writing "Zombie".
Source: Wikipedia
Wiz Khalifa performs at The Olympia Theatre in Dublin
Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by the stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper. He released his debut album, Show and Prove, in 2006, and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2007. His eurodance-influenced single, "Say Yeah", received urban radio airplay, charting on the Rhythmic Top 40 and Hot Rap Tracks charts in 2008. Khalifa parted with Warner Bros. and released his second album, Deal or No Deal, in November 2009. He released the mixtape Kush and Orange Juice as a free download in April 2010; he then signed with Atlantic Records. He is also well known for his debut single for Atlantic, "Black and Yellow", which peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. His debut album for the label, Rolling Papers, was released on March 29, 2011.
Source: Wikipedia
The 2025 9RX Series Is John Deere’s Biggest Tractor Yet
The new 9RX tractors increase productivity by 100 acres per day compared to previous models, according to John Deere.
With a maximum engine power of 830 hp, the Model Year 2025 John Deere 9RX four-track tractor is the company’s most powerful yet.
The 2025 9RX is a ground-up redesign of Deere’s 9RX series for its higher horsepower capabilities to achieve lower operating costs per acre, says Michael Porter, large tractors go-to market manager for John Deere.
With increased performance, the 9RX series enables farmers to eliminate passes, reducing soil compaction, and increasing productivity by 100 acres each day compared with previous models, Porter says. This is based on John Deere’s internal testing, comparing the 2023 9RX 640 tractor pulling a 2680H high-performance disk at 11.9 mph with the new 9RX top-of-the-line 830 tractor pulling the same tool at 13.4 mph, both at maximum power for eight hours a day at 4 inches deep in cornstalks.
Deere offers the 9RX series in three models: the 710, 770, and 830; each number correlates with the tractor’s rated horsepower. The tractors are built with in-line six, 6-cylinder JD18 engines, and 515-gallon fuel tanks. The JD18 is a single-fluid engine (strictly diesel fuel) requiring no diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). Deere estimates this can save a farmer up to 800 gallons of DEF per year.
The 9RX series uses the e21, 21-speed transmission with Efficiency Manager. Farmers select a traveling speed, and the transmission shifts and manages RPMs to maintain the speed. Porter says the transmission is quick to accelerate, for a smooth and responsive ride.
An optional triple pump gives the 9RX series a hydraulic flow up to 168 gallons per minute. For implements with high hydraulic needs, Deere can build the engine with optional Intelligent Power Management, adding a 40-hp bump. The 830 can achieve up to 3,123 pound-feet of torque at 1,400 RPM.
The 9RX series has a category 5 drawbar, with a maximum vertical load of 19,000 pounds.
The high power means the tractors can pull double the cart load of previous models, while going 1 mph faster on average, Porter says. This can help reduce refilling time, translating to more time in the field.
The new series has a base weight of 74,000 pounds, with a maximum ballast of 84,000 pounds. John Deere has forgone traditional suitcase-style weights, traded out for forklift-ready mono weights to expedite adding or removing the ballast.
New Hagie Sprayers Built With John Deere Tech
Handling
These new four-track 9RX tractors have a 15.2-foot wheelbase, and a 22.3-foot turning radius from the rear axle centerline. The series uses Camso Ag 3500 tracks at 30 inches wide, with 88 inches of tread spacing. Optional Camso Ag 6500 tracks are available at 36 inches wide, with 120 inches of tread spacing.
Cab experience
The 9RX series is built with the new CommandView IV Plus cab, with 15% more floor space compared with previous models, and 20% more visibility on the right side, thanks to the removal of the wheel well.
The new cab suspension system has three degrees of freedom, allowing the cab to pivot independent of the rest of the tractor; the passive air seat provides a smoother ride. The seat in the Select cab package swivels 8° to the left and 40° to the right, while Premium and Ultimate package seats swivel 25° to the left and 40° to the right. Other amenities include a new footrest peg, extra storage for tools, and a cooling box for food and drinks.
Buyers can select from three radio packages, with options including AM/FM radio, auxiliary input jack, USB audio and video inputs, SXM satellite radio, Apple Airplay and Android Auto compatibility, speaker system, Bluetooth microphone, and more. Additionally, farmers can choose from three lighting visibility packages to meet their operational needs.
John Deere’s New S7 Combine Built With Tech for the Future of Farming
Technology
The 2025 9RX series employs the same built-in technology as Deere’s model year 2024 tractors. This includes an in-cab G5 Plus display, integrated StarFire 7500 receiver, JDLink modem connectivity, and autonomy-ready features.
“The autonomous-ready package offers all the hardware, software, and safety features that we know today will be required for autonomous operation in the future,” Porter says. “This allows the machine to easily convert to a fully autonomous tractor.”
Availability
The Model Year 2025 John Deere 9RX series is available to order beginning late March. For more information, visit johndeere.com.
this should probably be a blog post, and i should probably have a blog . . . but since i don't, here will do.
so many digital photographers are finding or re-discovering film photography that anyone who reads this has heard it all before: the way that film holds light is magical; the cost of film and developing prompts a zen-like slowing and precision in shooting; all the best software in the world can't replicate the tangible, chemical process you get with film. i feel it myself, and believe it all to be true.
but there's a flip side, that doesn't get a lot of airplay. where film shooting has absolutely helped me bring more intention to my digital shooting, digital has pushed me to be a bit more reckless and experimental with my film shooting. trying something new is where the learning happens for me, and often the magic too. it won't always work, and that's ok. because every now and again it does.
but the truth is although i have had cameras for as long as i can remember, i never thought of myself as a photographer before digital, because i always felt compelled to get my shot. which meant i played it safe all of the time. i shot with simple cameras, and later fancier cameras always set to automatic. the freedom of images that cost only disc space was what i needed to take risks with my camera, and now i'm willing to take them with my film cameras too. and as much as i love film, i can't imagine being without digital.
vive la difference
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Paragon Dance Animations - Permission to Dance VLOG #023
Exclusively available at Collabor8 Mar 8 2022
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Product Description
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This is an Annie Joo's cover of BTS's "Permission to Dance" choreography.,
originally choreographed by BTS's artistic director/choreographer Son Sung Deuk.
The song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States,
on the issue dated July 24, 2021, earning 15.9 million streams, 1.1 million radio airplay impressions,
and selling 140,000 copies in its first week of release. In the music video,
set in a post COVID-19 pandemic world, the band members are seen dancing in multiple settings including,
a sunny locale, a laundromat, and a patio. The video garnered 72.3 million views on its first day,
becoming the sixth-most viewed YouTube video in the first 24 hours at the time of its release.
Originally dance performance captured to "Permission to Dance" by BTS. Tempo = 125.0 BPM
Dance 01 - 29.35 sec
Dance 02 - 23.20 sec
Dance 03 - 28.50 sec
Dance 04 - 24.55 sec
Dance 05 - 26.95 sec
Dance 06 - 27.95 sec
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Dance Pack Contents
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Annie - Permission to Dance 01_PARAGON
Annie - Permission to Dance 01_PARAGON (Mirrored)
Annie - Permission to Dance 02_PARAGON
Annie - Permission to Dance 02_PARAGON (Mirrored)
Annie - Permission to Dance 03_PARAGON
Annie - Permission to Dance 03_PARAGON (Mirrored)
Annie - Permission to Dance 04_PARAGON
Annie - Permission to Dance 04_PARAGON (Mirrored)
Annie - Permission to Dance 05_PARAGON
Annie - Permission to Dance 05_PARAGON (Mirrored)
Annie - Permission to Dance 06_PARAGON
Annie - Permission to Dance 06_PARAGON (Mirrored)
☒ This product only contains animations (.anim files) with no audio supplied or dance hud.
Music used in our videos are for demonstration purposes only. For a dance hud,
we recommend the Smooth Dancer by Spot On Tools.
Their choreography tools are the gold standard in the SL dance performance community.
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Product Features
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◘ Bento hands/fingers (detailed finger articulation)
◘ Motion-captured on a 38-camera Optitrack Prime 41 & Prime 16 optical mocap system for the smoothest and natural flowing animations.
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Additional Credits:
SPIRIT - Lilis top & shorts
N-core LEILA Shoes
Legacy Body, EvoX Heads, TheSkinnery Skins
The early morning moon over Big Lagoon, 2016...
Back in July, 1969 as NASA prepared to send Apollo 11 to the moon, I was 17 with a summer job of my own of a sort...my Dad offered to pay me $400. if I spent a good portion of the summer clearing out the thick brush around the seven natural springs at the bottom of a slope on our 40 acres...it was basically machete and hand saw work, and I worked diligently, with my three collies and a radio by my side...and Oliver's 'Good Morning Starshine' from 'Hair' got frequent airplay at # 3 on the American charts that July of the moon landing...
Hearing this song instantly sends me back to that summer by the seven springs... youtu.be/whmzEXywq40
A portrait of Natasja!
Natasja, was a Danish singer and rapper. While already relatively successful in her native Denmark, her vocals on a popular reggae fusion remix of "Calabria" gained her worldwide fame and a number one spot on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay chart six months after her death in a car accident in Jamaica in 2007. She was 32 years old!
22nd September 2019 - One to watch... Gizmo Varillas was the support act for 'Rodrigo y Gabriela' but is getting airplay of his own on UK radio.
From his Website:
Following sizeable radio and playlist support for his ‘Out Of The Darkness’ single (released in May 2019), Gizmo Varillas returns with a new single ‘Danza Da Sombras’ on August 16th.
‘Out Of The Darkness’ received plays on BBC Radio Two (Jo Wiley), BBC 6 Music (Chris Hawkins;Tom Robinson), BBC Radio Wales (Janice Long; Adam Walton), BBC London (Gary Crowley) and Amazing Radio (Shell Zenner), and was also added to Spotify’s ‘A Perfect Day’, ‘Discover With Friends’, ‘Feel Good Dinner’ and ‘FIFA 19’ playlists, as well as to the Apple Music ‘A List’ and ‘Breaking Singer Songwriter’ playlists.
And now, hot on the heels of ‘Out Of The Darkness’, comes ‘Danza Da Sombras’. The second single to be taken from his forthcoming third album, Gizmo explains “Danza de sombras means dancing shadows in Spanish. It’s a metaphor for the constant dance between light and dark, good and evil”.
“They say the eyes are the window to the soul... In Danza de Sombras I take a closer look, it's a love song to the world and our humanity. There will always be shadows that walk beside us, but the important thing is to not forget the beauty that surrounds us”.
Take a listen to the sun-drenched, dreamlike harmonies, flamenco flourishes, and soaring chorus of ‘Danza Da Sombras’.
Previous albums ‘Dreaming Of Better Days’ (2018) and ‘El Dorado’ (2017) have seen Gizmo amass huge acclaim. Featured on a number of Netflix shows, fans have streamed his music more than 13 million times on Spotify (with 275,000 monthly listeners; 700,000 monthly streams), his music has received similar big love from radio stations, with plays on BBC 6 Music (Lauren Laverne, Chris Hawkins, Tom Robinson, Radcliffe; Maconie), Amazing Radio (A List; No. 11 Radio Chart), BBC London (Jo Good, Gary Crawley ; Robert Elms), and BBC Radio Wales (Janice Long; Adam Walton).
Gizmo will play his first London headline show of 2019 at Camden Assembly on November 26th.
There's nothing quite like doing a first show at a radio station! You're actually simultaneously learning how to use all the hardware AND focusing on keeping up a seamless program with no on-air errors.
The show simulated the format, pacing and energy of vintage Top-40 radio, specifically the Bill Drake formatted stations like KHJ in Los Angeles and CKLW in Windsor, Ontario. I used 1960s and 70s digitally remastered jingles, promos and contests from my collection and copied them to tape carts for airplay. The show also featured real vintage commercials for products which no longer existed.
As a weekend show, I had complete control over the contents. The show was a mix of well known tunes along with copious amounts of B-sides, as well as many album tracks which should have become hits in their time, but never did.
At 10,000 watts, we were getting calls and requests from most of Connecticut, Long Island and even parts of upstate New York.
Often long-distance listeners on the internet would also call in to make requests and comment on the show.
I had a key to the transmitter room and would crank the Aphex Compellor audio compressor settings WAY up to give our broadcast output that old-time sound of loudness and punchiness.
Every show was recorded on VHS-HiFi tapes and I've since remastered them to CDs for my aircheck collection at home. In fact, I'm listening to one right now as I write this!
Haight-Ashbury is a district of San Francisco, California, named for the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets. It is also called The Haight and The Upper Haight. The neighborhood is known as one of the main centers of the hippie and counterculture of the 1960s.
The district generally encompasses the neighborhood surrounding Haight Street, bounded by Stanyan Street and Golden Gate Park on the west, Oak Street and the Golden Gate Park Panhandle on the north, Baker Street and Buena Vista Park to the east and Frederick Street and Ashbury Heights and Cole Valley neighborhoods to the south.
The street names commemorate two early San Francisco leaders: pioneer and exchange banker Henry Haight,[8] and Munroe Ashbury, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 1864-70.
Both Haight and his nephew, as well as Ashbury, had a hand in the planning of the neighborhood and nearby Golden Gate Park at its inception. The name "Upper Haight" is also used by locals in contrast to the Haight-Fillmore or Lower Haight.
The Beats had congregated around San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood from the late 1950s. Many who could not find accommodation there turned to the quaint, relatively cheap and underpopulated Haight-Ashbury.
Later, the Haight-Ashbury district is noted for its role as one of the main center of the hippie movement.
The Summer of Love (1967) and much of the counterculture of the 1960s have been synonymous with San Francisco and the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood ever since.
Before the completion of the Haight Street Cable Railroad in 1883, what is now the Haight-Ashbury was a collection of isolated farms and acres of sand dunes. The Haight cable car line, completed in 1883, connected the east end of Golden Gate Park with the geographically central Market Street line and the rest of downtown San Francisco. As the primary gateway to Golden Gate Park, and with an amusement park known as the Chutes on Haight Street between Cole and Clayton Streets between 1895 and 1902 and the California League Baseball Grounds stadium opening in 1887, the area became a popular entertainment destination, especially on weekends. The cable car, land grading and building techniques of the 1890s and early 20th century later reinvented the Haight-Ashbury as a residential upper middle class homeowners' district. It was one of the few neighborhoods spared from the fires that followed the catastrophic San Francisco earthquake of 1906.
The Haight was hit hard by the Depression, as was much of the city. Residents with enough money to spare left the declining and crowded neighborhood for greener pastures within the growing city limits, or newer, smaller suburban homes in the Bay Area. During World War II, the Edwardian and Victorian houses were divided into apartments to house workers. Others were converted into boarding homes for profit. By the 1950s, the Haight was a neighborhood in decline. Many buildings were left vacant after the war. Deferred maintenance also took its toll, and the exodus of middle class residents to newer suburbs continued to leave many units for rent.
In the 1950s, a freeway was proposed that would have run through the Panhandle, but due to a citizen freeway revolt, it was cancelled in a series of battles that lasted until 1966. The Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council (HANC) was formed at the time of the 1959 revolt.
The Haight-Ashbury's elaborately detailed, 19th century, multi-story, wooden houses became a haven for hippies during the 1960s, due to the availability of cheap rooms and vacant properties for rent or sale in the district; property values had dropped in part because of the proposed freeway. The alternative culture that subsequently flourished there took root, and to a great extent, has remained to this day.
The mainstream media's coverage of hippie life in the Haight-Ashbury drew the attention of youth from all over America. Hunter S. Thompson labeled the district "Hashbury" in The New York Times Magazine, and the activities in the area were reported almost daily. The Haight-Ashbury district was sought out by hippies to constitute a community based upon counterculture ideals, drugs, and music. This neighborhood offered a concentrated gathering spot for hippies to create a social experiment that would soon spread throughout the nation.
The first head shop, Ron and Jay Thelin's Psychedelic Shop, opened on Haight Street on January 3, 1966, offering hippies a spot to purchase marijuana and LSD, which was essential to hippie life in Haight-Ashbury. Along with businesses like the coffee shop The Blue Unicorn, the Psychedelic Shop quickly became one of the unofficial community centers for the growing numbers of hippies migrating to the neighborhood in 1966-67. The entire hippie community had easy access to drugs, which was perceived as a community unifier.
Another well-known neighborhood presence was the Diggers, a local "community anarchist" group known for its street theater, formed in the mid to late 1960s. One well known member of the group was Peter Coyote. The Diggers believed in a free society and the good in human nature. To express their belief, they established a free store, gave out free meals daily, and built a free medical clinic, which was the first of its kind, all of which relied on volunteers and donations. The Diggers were strongly opposed to a capitalistic society; they felt that by eliminating the need for money, people would be free to examine their own personal values, which would provoke people to change the way they lived to better suit their character, and thus lead a happier life.
During the 1967 Summer of Love, psychedelic rock music was entering the mainstream, receiving more and more commercial radio airplay. The Scott McKenzie song "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)," became a hit that year. The Monterey Pop Festival in June further cemented the status of psychedelic music as a part of mainstream culture and elevated local Haight bands such as the Grateful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Jefferson Airplane to national stardom. A July 7, 1967, Time magazine cover story on "The Hippies: Philosophy of a Subculture," an August CBS News television report on "The Hippie Temptation" and other major media interest in the hippie subculture exposed the Haight-Ashbury district to enormous national attention and popularized the counterculture movement across the country and around the world.
The neighborhood's fame reached its peak as it became the haven for a number of psychedelic rock performers and groups of the time. The members of many bands lived close to the intersection. They not only immortalized the scene in song, but also knew many within the community.
The Summer of Love attracted a wide range of people of various ages: teenagers and college students drawn by their peers and the allure of joining a cultural utopia; middle-class vacationers; and even partying military personnel from bases within driving distance. The Haight-Ashbury could not accommodate this rapid influx of people, and the neighborhood scene quickly deteriorated. Overcrowding, homelessness, hunger, drug problems, and crime afflicted the neighborhood. Many people left in the autumn to resume their college studies. On October 6, 1967, those remaining in the Haight staged a mock funeral, Digger happening, "The Death of the Hippie" ceremony. Mary Kasper explained the message of the mock funeral as:
We wanted to signal that this was the end of it, don't come out. Stay where you are! Bring the revolution to where you live. Don't come here because it's over and done with.
After 1968, the area went into decline due to hard drug use, and a lack of policing, but was improved and renewed in the late 1970s.
In the 1980s, the Haight became an epicenter for the San Francisco comedy scene when a small coffee house off Haight Street called The Other Café at 100 Carl Street[35] (currently the restaurant Crepes on Cole) became a full-time comedy club that helped launch the careers of Robin Williams, Dana Carvey, and Whoopi Goldberg.
Rex, a self-taught guitar player, grew up in a household listening to music: everything from Hank Snow to Elvis to Classical. His father collected albums and build his own speakers. Early influences or music Rex listened to were: Iggy Pop and The Stooges, Bowie and particular opening chord of Elton John’s “Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding”, the New York Dolls that convinced Rex he wanted to be involved in music. Other guitar influences include: Django Reinhardt, George Harrison, Bo Diddley, Dave Davies and Don Peris.
There were junior high and senior high throw-together bands with names Rex doesn’t wish to speak out loud. The first band he freely admits to, “Last Knight”, a heavy metal cover band he both formed then got kicked out of when he wanted to play other music. That band did provide an early creative outlet-- singing lots of KISS songs, making fire by setting aerosol spray alight, dry ice, making platform shoes by tracing and cutting out wood blocks, painting them black and gluing them to their everyday shoes. Because platform shoes were expensive? Uh, no... because it was hard to find platform shoes in kid’s sizes...
The next band Rex formed and joined in 1985, “The Real Gone”, started off playing “garage” covers playing after hour clubs like 40-ET8 in the Eden section of Lancaster. Then came the band “Jack Lord’s Hair”, (named after the actor who played character, Steve McGarrett, whose hair was “always perfect” in Hawaii Five-O the popular tv show . “Jack Lord’s Hair” stayed together for an impressive eleven years playing original punk with a few covers thrown in for good measure.
Their title track from the album, “War of the Monster Truck”, is followed by the line-up of songs in no particular order: I Wanna Marry Martha Quinn; Waiting for Pizza ( I & II ) a somewhat monotonous but catchy tune- Listen and you’ll never wait for pizza quite the same way- waiting for pizza: just bring it here... i want it NOW...; Old Crow; Beatrice Will Rule the World; Alleyway; Stayin’ Alive- (yep a fast driving variation on the BeeGees); Black in My Brain; So Little Time. The band devolved into playing punk covers then disbanded. Next came The Boiler Makers, an instrumental Surf Band.
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The Oogies came next, their song, “Cement”, a contest winner which led to a cover story in New Root magazine (when? and more about the contest?) (samwitched - do u fucking believe i spelled it like that? geez)- sandwiched in between the bands articles touting the Nirvana and Soundgarden... “Cement” also charted in CMJ, the college frequency airplay chart. Other tracks on the album “Feedback Is An Act of God” include: City of Light; New York's Alright; Cold & Calculated. Brainhammer; Red, White, and Blue; Pillhead With a Gun; God; Social Outcast and Into the Fire.
According to the Urban Dictionary, the word “Oogie” has 14 definitions ranging from a foul smell from a particular area of the body, to the receiver in a homosexual relationship- to a perfect specimen of a man- to something you don’t know a name for as in, “pass me that oogie” and so on...
The New Regency 5 was instrumental surf, spaghetti western type tunes.
The current band, The Chelsea Squares plays all original music.
Since 2004, Rex has also been involved in the production of a zombie film titled "Flesh Crawl" with long-time friends. The self-funded film required everyone to hold down multiple roles including acting. One of the directors had worked at a Country Buffet restaurant and observed on at least two occasions: A patron in line for dinner who fell (either from stroke, heart attack or other unknown malady)- only to be ignored and "stepped over" by other diners still in line to make sure they could fill their supper plate from the buffet line. Rex wrote the score to the film that's now being edited and moving toward a final cut.
The score is suspenseful and edgy. The scariest noise Rex ever heard: the screech before impact... the lock up of breaks before the crash. Rex has always supplemented his music with jobs in local niche areas where creative types hang: zap, dmz, bbc, web of sound. He’s very easy to talk to, enthusiastic and will be spending more time doing what he excels in and enjoys best: writing music, producing, seeking a lyricist for some of his music.
To learn more about Music Makers of Lancaster, please go to: www.flickr.com/groups/musicmakerprofiles/
TYGERMYLK is a Brighton based indie band made up of singer and guitarist Hayley Harland and drummer Aurora Bennett. Harland grew up just outside Portsmouth and the name derives from the nickname of her childhood park ‘Milky Tigers’. She started off as a busker on London’s South Bank and spent many a cold day under the London Eye. It was at uni that she met drummer, Aurora Bennett and they began their collaborative journey. Last summer, TYGERMYLK launched their debut single 'What God Would Keep Us Apart’ at Brighton Pride and were featured on BBC News as well as receiving airplay from BBC Introducing in the South. Harland was awarded the PRSF Lynsey De Paul Prize for female songwriters and their debut self-produced EP 'I Killed The Bees' will be released later this year.
||| Imany - You Will Never Know | Facebook | 5oo | 1x.com | Video |||
Informazioni sul commento musicale:
Nadia Mladjao è una cantante soul africana, meglio conosciuta come IMANY. Nata in Francia nel 1979 da genitori nativi delle isole Comore, il suo nome d’arte significa fede nella lingua Swahili.
Tre anni fa, una donna di cui mai nessuno aveva sentito parlare è arrivata a Parigi. Nel suo bagaglio, portava solo alcuni vestiti, un portafoglio, e un CD demo autoprodotto con sei delle sue canzoni. Aveva trascorso gli ultimi sette anni a New York a lavorare come modella. Stanca di essere considerata solo un "appendiabiti", ha deciso di intraprendere la sua carriera nel mondo della musica. IMANY è stata scoperta da Malick N'Diaye, lo stesso produttore senegalese che ha scoperto Ayo qualche anno fa. La voce di IMANY è roca, un po’ malinconica ed il suo sound strizza l’occhio alla musica folk, ricordando Tracy Chapman, all'inizio della sua carriera. Il suo primo album si intitola “Shape of a Broken Heart” e contiene 12 canzoni tutte in lingua inglese come “You Will Never Know” (gia in top 5 su iTunes Italy) “Please and Change”, “Take Care” e molte altre. L’album che sarà pubblicato in Italia su etichetta Time Records il prossimo 2 Luglio 2013.
Il primo singolo estratto da “Shape of a Broken Heart” è “You Will Never Know” (già in top 5 su iTunes Italy ed in classifica airplay da alcune settimane) che ci fa scoprire una vera artista con la A maiuscola, un’artista con una voce sensuale, in cui lo zenzero piccante si mescola con la dolcezza del miele. Questo è il ritratto di una donna libera, un’artista emancipata, che offre ogni emozione come un dono ed è garanzia di sincerità senza compromessi. Ora è tempo di scoprire tutta la bellezza interiore di questa nuova artista dal sapore soul-folk che arriva dalla madre terra.
IMANY presto sarà anche in Italia durante il suo tour Europeo che la porterà il prossimo 23 Agosto all'Umbria Folk Festival ad Orvieto.
The White Stripes, American rock duo from Detroit, known for combining punk, folk, country, and Mississippi Delta blues. Original band members were guitarist-vocalist Jack White (original name John Anthony Gillis; b. July 9, 1975, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.) and drummer Meg White (original name Megan Martha White; b. December 10, 1974, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan).
In 2001 the White Stripes released their breakthrough album, White Blood Cells. Michel Gondry’s eye-catching video for the single “Fell in Love with a Girl” received regular airplay on MTV, and the group became media darlings. The duo followed with Elephant (2003), a percussion-driven collection of songs that featured Meg’s debut as a vocalist. Elephant earned a Grammy Award for best alternative music album, and it sold over a million copies on the strength of singles such as “Seven Nation Army” and “The Hardest Button to Button.” Jack appeared in the film Cold Mountain (2003), and he contributed five songs to its Grammy-nominated soundtrack. He also produced country legend Loretta Lynn’s Van Lear Rose (2004), a collection of honky-tonk anthems that earned a pair of Grammy awards and introduced Lynn to a new generation of fans. The White Stripes earned another Grammy for their album Get Behind Me Satan (2005), and the song “Icky Thump,” from their album of the same name (2007), became the band’s first Top 40 hit on the Billboard singles chart. In addition, Icky Thump was the White Stripes’ third recording to earn the Grammy for best alternative music album, and the title song was also awarded a Grammy.
The White Stripes went on hiatus in 2007 after Meg was afflicted with performance-related anxiety. They returned to the stage for a single performance in February 2009 for the final episode of Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Continuing to expand his body of work, Jack experimented with straightforward power pop as a member of the Raconteurs. The quartet produced a pair of well-received albums (2006 and 2008) and quickly became a fixture on the summer concert circuit. Meg married guitarist Jackson Smith (son of rock legend Patti Smith) in May 2009, and Jack undertook yet another side project. Enlisting members of the Kills and Queens of the Stone Age, Jack formed the Dead Weather, a bluesy psychedelic rock combo whose debut album, Horehound, was released in July 2009.
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About
'Measure These Things by Your Eyes'
From the golden vault. Live has to be one of my all time favorite bands. Also this tree makes me want to travel to a place I've always wanted to go, replace the water with the wide open countryside and see if you can work out where I'm talking about.
Enjoy.
- Canon 50D.
- ISO 100, f9, 1/30, 10mm.
- Sigma 10-20mm.
- Tripod.
- Cokin p121 Medium Grad.
Processing
- Saturation and Contrast in Photoshop 6.0 and Lightroom 2.2.
Artist: Live
Song: I Alone
"I Alone" is the second single from Live's album, Throwing Copper. The single was released to radio stations in the United States, but was only released commercially overseas. It reached #38 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart and #5 on the Hot 100 Recurrent Airplay chart.
The song's meaning has been theorized upon by many fans, yet little regarding it has been commented upon by the band. Ed Kowalczyk explained that "People think 'I Alone' is a love song but it really wasn't. The lyrics were more abstract, encompassing a much larger message."
Commenting on the line "the greatest of teachers won't hesitate," Ed Kowalczyk replaced 'you' with 'me': "to leave us or me there by myself chained to fate." He continued by saying that a profound lesson he derived from studying Christian teachings was that religion and truth must be found for oneself and practiced, instead of just taking others' word for it or the learner remains separate from the teacher, "then you really are left [alone] by yourself."
Live performed "I Alone" at the Woodstock '99 festival on July 23, 1999 in Rome, New York.
The song was also featured on an episode of Beavis and Butthead entitled "Oil Change," where the drummer was determined to be a "butt-munch" because he did not bring his drums to the video shoot.
My son did a road trip to Washington on the weekend with his buddies.....and my camera. I was flipping through his shots and found this one. Not bad for someone who doesn't even own a camera. I told him I would give it some airplay on flickr.
20 years ago, #Aaliyah hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with #TryAgain. The Grammy nominated song was the first ever to reach #1 based solely on the strength of radio airplay. Plus, that Iconic video look with the crystal bra, matching choker & leather pants is unmatched!! 😍
Arpley - Ditton Foundry move to collect the train for Dollands Moor. Shame the concrete fence posts weren't spaced a little further apart! I think the waterway is the Sankey Canal, that runs from St Helens to the River Mersey at Spike Island. The River Mersey is just a few yards behind me, I think the Yacht Club has boats on the river and not especially on the (disused) canal.
This was an absolute blast. The show simulated the format, pacing and energy of vintage Top-40 radio, specifically the Bill Drake formatted stations like KHJ in Los Angeles and CKLW in Windsor, Ontario. I used 1960s and 70s digitally remastered jingles, promos and contests from my collection and copied them to tape carts for airplay. The show also featured real vintage commercials for products which no longer existed.
As a weekend show, I had complete control over the contents. The show was a mix of well known tunes along with copious amounts of B-sides, as well as many album tracks which should have become hits in their time, but never did.
At 10,000 watts, we were getting calls and requests from most of Connecticut, Long Island and even parts of upstate New York.
Often long-distance listeners on the internet would also call in to make requests and comment on the show.
I had a key to the transmitter room and would crank the Aphex Compellor audio compressor settings WAY up to give our broadcast output that old-time sound of loudness and punchiness.
Every show was recorded on DAT or VHS-HiFi tapes and I've since remastered them to CDs for my aircheck collection at home. In fact, I'm listening to one right now as I write this!
The Arpley - Stoke Marcroft wagon move for repairs keeps eluding me, I was on platform 1 waiting for it, a TPE test train came in, I nipped over to 12 for the Colas 56, then back to 1 but a Pacer turned up, then back to 12 for the intermodal which was held at the peg (you can see the rear of the train). By this time fatigue was setting in, not only for me but in the signal box because they sent the freight along the fast line and I got a glimpse of it disappearing!
Pretty exciting ‼️
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke for the first time on Thursday about the airstrike overnight on Houthi targets in Yemen.
According to Netanyahu, "We did this in response to the Houthis' repetitive attacks on civilian targets in Israel. Last night, they attacked a school in Ramat Gan.
"They don't attack just us, they attack the entire world. They attack the international shipping and trade routes. So when Israel operates against the Houthis, it works for the entire international community. The Americans understand this well, and so do many others."
He further stated: "After Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis are almost the only arm that the Iranian axis of evil has left. They are learning and they will learn that those who hurt Israel - pay a very heavy price."
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נתניהו על התקיפה בתימן
עומר מירון/ לע״מ, סאונד: יחזקאל קנדיל/ לע״מ
Related articles:
Footage shows pilots taking off for Yemen strike
Warhead from Houthi missile falls in Ramat Gan school
Smotrich: 'Very good things were done last night in Yemen'
New details on the bombings in Yemen
The main objective of the IDF airstrikes was to shut down all three ports controlled by the Houthis.
The Air Force attacked targets in the port of Hodeidah and the capital Sana'a, approximately 2,000 km from Israel. The Houthis have launched about 200 ballistic missiles and 170 drones towards Israel since the war began. Most were intercepted, but some managed to penetrate Israeli airspace. In July, a drone from Yemen caused the death of Evgeny Freder in Tel Aviv.
The first wave of the attack began at 3:15 AM in the coastal area of Yemen, with the second following at 4:30 AM in Sana'a. Fourteen fighter jets, covering more than 1,700 km, participated, targeting the ports of Ras Issa, Hodeidah, and the Al-Salif port. In total, eight tugboats were attacked. In Sana'a, fuel tanks, oil, and a power station were targeted.
youtu.be/xreRMaKcKCU Piano music, perfect listen too after a long day of work and school. This peaceful music is also great to listen to while reading or reviewing for an exam. This music will help you to concentrate better. Laura Sullivan – Love’s River - Grammy Winning Album Purchase: ift.tt/2d47jr5 or iTunes: ift.tt/2dpo5w6 1. Secrets from the Deep 2. Wishing on a Dandelion 3. Awakening to Love 4. Blessed 5. Holding Heaven 6. Moonlight Passage 7. Love's River 8. Calligraphy 9. River to the Sea 10. Story of the Rain 11. Snowfall on Water Bio: Laura Sullivan is a Grammy® Winning Composer and a Billboard Top 10 Recording Artist. Laura enjoys great popularity around the world, not only for her award-winning New Age, Classical, and Ambient music, but also for her warm and loving spirit. In addition to being a Grammy® winning and Billboard Top 10 Artist in New Age, her original Classical and Ambient music has been included in the score of two Emmy winning documentaries, as well as in many popular television programs and advertisements for Fortune 500 companies. Her recordings consistently receive more than 4 million spins a month on Pandora alone, among many other stations around the world, resulting in broad international airplay. ift.tt/1NQecka Find All of Laura's Music On: iTunes Amazon Pandora Spotify Piano Music - Find classical Piano Music from composers such as Mozart, Bach, Mendelssohn and many others on this channel. All our classical piano music is of high quality and has Alpha Waves embedded for concentration, memory, focus, relaxation, stress relief, yoga. We also produce Instrumental Piano Music which is often more relaxing, soft and calming than Classical Piano. Piano Music on Healing4Happiness is high quality and often available to download. Subscribe for more Piano Music today. #PianoMusic #ClassicalPiano #InstrumentalPiano Relaxing Music - All the relaxing music at Healing4Happiness has soothing tones and calm melodies, it's the perfect tool to wash away a stressful day, experiencing total stress relief. Relaxing Music including sleep music, relaxation music, relax music, zen music, yoga music, meditation music are perfect for soothing, calm, stress relief, relaxation, peace & tranquility. Relaxing music is like healing music with peaceful sounds, nature sounds, birds, rain, water, ocean or waves. Sit back and listen to Relaxing Music for stress relief, anxiety, healing, and yoga. Subscribe for more Relaxing Music #RealxingMusic #StressRelief Stress Relief - Knowing when you are stressed is the first thing in dealing with it and getting rid of stress entirely. Identifying situations that are stressful and reducing or avoiding them is helpful. Once you have been able to identify stressful situations or times in the day you can then learn to use stress relief music as a stress relief tool. Being tense is not pleasant at the greater end of the scale, but many people justify it at the lesser end, as a form of motivation and enthusiasm. The reality is, when are relaxed listening to stress relief music you will think more clearly, make better decisions and have overall better performance. Thats where listening to some of the music on Healing4Happiness, naturally designed for Stress Relief, is perfect. By listening while you work, study or when you need to wind down and take a few deep breaths, you can stay relaxed, calm and clear minded for all the tough work you have ahead. Stress relief music can be relaxing music, meditation music or study music. Stress relief can be had with a good laugh. Stress relief can be had with hard exercise. Stress relief can be achieved with sex. But the most simple is our music for stress relief. Subscribe and get your daily dose of stress relief. #StressRelief #StressReliefMusic Thanks for supporting our channel! We love creating music to help people in their lives, in stressful situations, in need of rest or focus and concentration. Thanks for watching our videos, you can also follow us on other social media site below. Join Us On Facebook: ift.tt/2a2y0VN Join Us On Twitter: twitter.com/heal4happiness/ Join Us On Google+: ift.tt/2a4mgFg Our Site: ift.tt/2aeW4rS Purchase from iTunes: ift.tt/2a3nsW9 For more information about where to purchase or listen to our music such as Spotify, Google Play, Amazon etc. checkout the “About” section of our YouTube channel. Artist or Producer Submit Music: ift.tt/2a4lN68
Aaliyah Dana Haughton - January 16, 1979 – August 25,
2001)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6MEBi4ejTs
Aaliyah Dana Haughton was a multi-platinum recording artist, fashion icon, philanthropist,
and burgeoning actress. She left behind a body of work that made an undeniable impact on R&B
music and remains a testament to her many talents. Her debut album in 1994, “Age Ain’t
Nothing But a Number,” was a hit due to her debut single “Back and Forth.” However, it was
her collaboration with a then unknown Missy Elliott and Timbaland for the album “One in a A
Million” that blew her career up.
Before her death, she also had an up-and-coming acting career in films like “Romeo Must Die”
and a role in the “Matrix” sequel. Aaliyah once told VIBE, “Of course, I would love to get
into acting and I am talking to a few producers now. That would be really exciting to be a
jack of all trades and do music, movies and TV. I love drama and I think I could be a good
dramatic actress. I have to ‘act out’ emotions in my videos a lot and I try to seem as
realistic as possible.”
She continued, “I also would like to make bigger impact on the world by giving back, and
using my celebrity to raise money for people who need it the most. What good is having money
and being famous if you can’t share it with others less fortunate than yourself? I always
felt that you should treat others how you yourself want to be treated.”
Sadly, we lost the singer in a plane crash on August 25, 2001 in the Bahamas. She was only
22 years old.
Biography
Aaliyah Dana Haughton - January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer, actress,
and model. Born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Detroit, Michigan, she first gained
recognition at the age of 10, when she appeared on the television show Star Search and
performed in concert alongside Gladys Knight. At the age of 12, Aaliyah signed with Jive
Records and her uncle Barry Hankerson's Blackground Records. Hankerson introduced her to R.
Kelly, who became her mentor, as well as lead songwriter and producer of her debut album,
Age Ain't Nothing but a Number. The album sold 3 million copies in the United States and was
certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). After
facing allegations of an illegal marriage with Kelly, Aaliyah ended her contract with Jive
and signed with Atlantic Records.
Aaliyah worked with record producers Timbaland and Missy Elliott for her second album, One
in a Million, which sold 3 million copies in the United States and more than 8 million
copies worldwide. In 2000, Aaliyah appeared in her first film, Romeo Must Die. She
contributed to the film's soundtrack, which spawned the single "Try Again". The song topped
the Billboard Hot 100 solely on airplay, making Aaliyah the first artist in Billboard
history to achieve this goal. "Try Again" also earned Aaliyah a Grammy Award nomination for
Best Female R&B Vocalist. After completing Romeo Must Die, Aaliyah filmed her role in Queen
of the Damned, and released her self-titled third and final studio album in 2001.
On August 25, 2001, Aaliyah and eight others were killed in a plane crash in the Bahamas
after filming the music video for the single "Rock the Boat". The pilot, Luis Morales III,
was unlicensed at the time of the accident and toxicology tests revealed that he had traces
of cocaine and alcohol in his system. Aaliyah's family later filed a wrongful death lawsuit
against Blackhawk International Airways, which was settled out of court. Aaliyah's music
continued to achieve commercial success with several posthumous releases, and has sold an
estimated 24 to 32 million albums worldwide. She has been credited for helping redefine
contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop,[1] earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and
"Queen of Urban Pop". Billboard lists her as the tenth most successful female R&B artist of
the past 25 years, and the 27th most successful in history.
Early life
Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born on January 16, 1979, in Brooklyn, New York,[2] and was the
younger child of Diane and Michael "Miguel" Haughton (1951–2012).[3] She was of African-
American descent, and had Native American (Oneida) heritage from a grandmother.[3][4][5] Her
name has been described as a female version of the Arabic "Ali", but the original Jewish
name "Aliya (Hebrew: אליה)" is derived from the Hebrew word "aliyah (Hebrew: עלייה)", meaning
"highest, most exalted one, the best."[6][7] The singer was highly fond of her Semitic name,
calling it "beautiful" and asserting she was "very proud of it" and strove to live up to her
name every day.[6] Aaliyah's mother enrolled Aaliyah in voice lessons at an early age.[2]
She started performing at weddings, church choir and charity events.[8] When Aaliyah was
five years old, her family moved to Detroit, Michigan, where she was reared along with her
older brother, Rashad.[9][10] She attended a Catholic school, Gesu Elementary, where in
first grade she was cast in the stage play Annie, which inspired her to become an
entertainer.[11] In Detroit, her father began working in the warehouse business, one of his
brother-in-law Barry Hankerson's widening interests. Her mother stayed home and raised
Aaliyah and her brother.[12]
Throughout Aaliyah's life, she had a good relationship with Rashad, who recalled Aaliyah
having a beautiful voice as a child.[11] Aaliyah's family was very close due to the
struggles of her grandparents and when they moved to Detroit, the Hankersons were ready to
take them in if necessary. These same bonds led to ties in the music industry, under the
Blackground Records label.[6]
Aaliyah's mother was a vocalist, and her uncle, Barry Hankerson, was an entertainment lawyer
who had been married to Gladys Knight.[10] As a child, Aaliyah traveled with Knight and
worked with an agent in New York to audition for commercials and television programs,
including Family Matters; she went on to appear on Star Search at the age of ten.[2] Aaliyah
chose to begin auditioning. Her mother made the decision to drop her surname.[12][13] She
auditioned for several record labels and at age 11 appeared in concerts alongside Knight.
[10][14] She had several pet animals during her childhood, including ducks, snakes and
iguanas. Her cousin Jomo had a pet alligator, which Aaliyah felt was too much, remarking,
"that was something I wasn't going to stroke."[6]
Her grandmother died in 1991. Years after her death, Aaliyah said her grandmother supported
everyone in the family and always wanted to hear her sing, as well as admitting that she
"spoiled" her and her brother Rashad. She also enjoyed Aaliyah's singing and would have
Aaliyah to sing for her. Aaliyah said she thought of her grandmother whenever she fell into
depression.[15] Aaliyah's hands reminded her of her aunt, who died when she was very young
and whom Aaliyah remembered as an "amazingly beautiful woman".[16]
Education
When she was growing up, Aaliyah attended Detroit schools and believed she was well-liked,
but got teased for her short stature. She recalled coming into her own prior to age 15 and
grew to love her height. Her mother would tell her to be happy that she was small and
compliment her. Other children disliked Aaliyah, but she did not stay focused on them. "You
always have to deal with people who are jealous, but there were so few it didn't even
matter. The majority of kids supported me, which was wonderful. When it comes to dealing
with negative people, I just let it in one ear and out the other. Those people were
invisible to me." Even in her adult life, she considered herself small. She had "learned to
accept and love" herself and added: "... the most important thing is to think highly of
yourself because if you don't, no one else will".[6]
During her audition for acceptance to the Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing
Arts, Aaliyah sung the song "Ave Maria" in its entirety in the Italian language.[17]
Aaliyah, who maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average when graduating from high school,
felt education was important. She saw fit to keep her grades up despite the pressures and
time constraints brought on her during the early parts of her career. She labeled herself as
a perfectionist and recalled always being a good student. Aaliyah reflected: "I always
wanted to maintain that, even in high school when I first started to travel. I wanted to
keep that 4.0. Being in the industry, you know, I don't want kids to think, 'I can just sing
and forget about school.' I think it's very important to have an education, and even more
important to have something to fall back on." She did this in her own life, as she planned
to "fall back on" another part of the entertainment industry. She believed that she could
teach music history or open her own school to teach that or drama if she did not make a
living as a recording artist because, as she reasoned, "when you pick a career it has to be
something you love".[6]
Career
1991–1995: Age Ain't Nothing but a Number
R. Kelly was introduced to Aaliyah and became her mentor, as well as lead songwriter and
producer on her debut album.
After Hankerson signed a distribution deal with Jive Records, he signed Aaliyah to his
Blackground Records label at the age of 12.[18][19] Hankerson later introduced her to
recording artist and producer R. Kelly,[14] who became Aaliyah's mentor, as well as lead
songwriter and producer of her first album, which was recorded when she was 14.[2][19][20]
Aaliyah's debut album, Age Ain't Nothing but a Number, was released under her mononym
"Aaliyah", by Jive and Blackground Records on May 24, 1994; the album debut at number 24 on
the Billboard 200 chart, selling 74,000 copies in its first week.[21][22] It ultimately
peaked at number 18 on the Billboard 200 and sold over three million copies in the United
States, where it was certified two times Platinum by the RIAA.[22][23][24] In Canada, the
album sold over 50,000 copies and was certified gold by the CRIA.[25] Aaliyah's debut
single, "Back & Forth", topped the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for three weeks and
was certified Gold by the RIAA.[24][26] The second single, a cover of The Isley Brothers'
"At Your Best (You Are Love)", peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and was also
certified Gold by the RIAA.[24][26] The title track, "Age Ain't Nothing but a Number",
peaked at number 75 on the Hot 100.[26] Additionally, she released "The Thing I Like" as
part of the soundtrack to the 1994 film A Low Down Dirty Shame.[27]
Age Ain't Nothing But a Number received generally favorable reviews from music critics. Some
writers noted that Aaliyah's "silky vocals" and "sultry voice" blended with Kelly's new jack
swing helped define R&B in the 1990s.[28][29] Her sound was also compared to that of female
quartet En Vogue.[28][30] Christopher John Farley of Time magazine described the album as a
"beautifully restrained work", noting that Aaliyah's "girlish, breathy vocals rode calmly on
R. Kelly's rough beats".[31] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic felt that the album had its
"share of filler", but described the singles as "slyly seductive".[2] He also claimed that
the songs on the album were "frequently better" than that of Kelly's second studio album, 12
Play.[2] The single "At Your Best (You Are Love)" was criticized by Billboard for being out
of place on the album and for its length.[32]
1996–1999: One in a Million
"If Your Girl Only Knew" (1996)
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The first single released from her second studio album, "If Your Girl Only Knew" was
described as a sassy, organ-infused song.[33] Aaliyah was noted for having "smoother, more
seductive, and stronger" singing.[34]
Problems playing this file? See media help.
In 1996, Aaliyah left Jive Records and signed with Atlantic Records.[14] She worked with
record producers Timbaland and Missy Elliott, who contributed to her second studio album,
One in a Million.[10] Missy Elliott recalled Timbaland and herself being nervous to work
with Aaliyah, since Aaliyah had already released her successful début album while Missy
Elliott and Timbaland were just starting out. Missy Elliott also feared she would be a diva,
but reflected that Aaliyah "came in and was so warming; she made us immediately feel like
family."[35] The album yielded the single "If Your Girl Only Knew", which topped the
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for two weeks.[26] It also generated the singles "Hot Like
Fire" and "4 Page Letter". The following year, Aaliyah was featured on Timbaland & Magoo's
debut single, "Up Jumps da Boogie".[36] One in a Million peaked at number 18 on the
Billboard 200,[23] selling 3 million copies in the United States and over eight million
copies worldwide.[37][38] The album was certified double platinum by the RIAA on June 16,
1997, denoting shipments of two million copies.[24] The month prior to One in a Millions
release, on May 5, 1997, music publisher Windswept Pacific filed a lawsuit in U.S. District
Court against Aaliyah claiming she had illegally copied Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do
for Love" for the single "Age Ain't Nothing but a Number".[39]
Aaliyah attended the Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts, where she majored
in drama and graduated in 1997 with a 4.0 GPA.[14][40][41] Aaliyah began her acting career
that same year; she played herself in the police drama television series New York
Undercover.[42] During this time, Aaliyah participated in the Children's Benefit Concert, a
charity concert that took place at the Beacon Theatre in New York.[43] Aaliyah also became
the spokesperson for Tommy Hilfiger Corporation.[44] During Aaliyah's campaign for Tommy
Hilfiger the company had sold all 2,400 of the red, white and blue baggy jeans emblazoned
with the Hilfiger name that Aaliyah wore in their 1997 advertisements and they were
constantly restocking those jeans.[45] In 1997 Aaliyah performed the Christmas carol What
Child Is This at the annual holiday special Christmas in Washington.[46] She contributed on
the soundtrack album for the Fox Animation Studios animated feature Anastasia, performing a
cover version of "Journey to the Past" which earned songwriters Lynn Ahrens and Stephen
Flaherty a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.[27][38][47] Aaliyah
performed the song at the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony and became the youngest singer to
perform at the event.[48][49] The song "Are You That Somebody?" was featured on the Dr.
Dolittle soundtrack, which earned Aaliyah her first Grammy Award nomination.[50] The song
peaked at number 21 on the Hot 100.[51]
2000: Romeo Must Die
In 1999, Aaliyah landed her first film role in Romeo Must Die, released March 22, 2000.
Aaliyah starred opposite martial artist Jet Li, playing a couple who fall in love amid their
warring families. It grossed US$18.6 million in its first weekend, ranking number two at the
box office.[52] Aaliyah purposely stayed away from reviews of the film to "make it easier
on" herself, but she heard "that people were able to get into me, which is what I
wanted."[53] In contrast, some critics felt there was no chemistry between her and Jet Li,
as well as viewing the film was too simplistic.[54] This was echoed by Elvis Mitchell of The
New York Times, who wrote that while Aaliyah was "a natural" and the film was conceived as a
spotlight for both her and Li, "they have so little chemistry together you'd think they're
putting out a fire instead of shooting off sparks.[55] Her role was well received by Glen
Oliver by IGN who liked that she did not portray her character "as a victimized female" but
instead "as a strong female who does not come across as an over-the-top Women's Right
Advocate."[56]
Aaliyah in 2000
In addition to acting, Aaliyah served as an executive producer of the film's soundtrack,
where she contributed four songs.[57] "Try Again" was released as a single from the
soundtrack; the song topped the Billboard Hot 100, making Aaliyah the first artist to top
the chart based solely on airplay; this led the song to be released in a 12" vinyl and 7"
single.[26][58] The music video won the Best Female Video and Best Video from a Film awards
at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards.[59] It also earned her a Grammy Award nomination for
Best Female R&B Vocalist.[60] The soundtrack went on to sell 1.5 million copies in the
United States.[61]
2001: Aaliyah
After completing Romeo Must Die, Aaliyah began to work on her second film, Queen of the
Damned. She played the role of an ancient vampire, Queen Akasha, which she described as a
"manipulative, crazy, sexual being".[19] Filming both Romeo Must Die and Queen of the Damned
delayed the release of the album. Aaliyah had not intended for her albums to have such a gap
between them. "I wanted to take a break after One in a Million to just relax, think about
how I wanted to approach the next album. Then, when I was ready to start back up, "Romeo"
happened, and so I had to take another break and do that film and then do the soundtrack,
then promote it. The break turned into a longer break than I anticipated."[62] Aaliyah
enjoyed balancing her singing and acting careers. Though she called music a "first" for her,
she also had been acting since she was young and had wanted to begin acting "at some point
in my career," but "wanted it to be the right time and the right vehicle" and felt Romeo
Must Die "was it".[61] Connie Johnson of the Los Angeles Times argued that Aaliyah having to
focus on her film career may have caused her to not give the album "the attention it
merited."[63] Collaborator Timbaland concurred, stating that he was briefly in Australia to
work on the album while Aaliyah was filming and did not feel the same production had gone
into Aaliyah as One in a Million had. He also said Virgin Records had rushed the album and
Aaliyah had specifically requested Missy Elliott and Timbaland work on Aaliyah with her.[64]
During the recording stages for the album, Aaliyah's publicist disclosed that the album's
release date was most likely in October 2000.[65] Ultimately she finished recording the
album in March 2001; after a year of recording tracks that began in March of the previous
year.[66] Aaliyah was released five years after One in a Million on July 17, 2001,[2] and it
debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 187,000 copies in its first week.[67]
The first single from the album, "We Need a Resolution", peaked at number 59 on the
Billboard Hot 100.[26] The week after Aaliyah's death, her third and self-titled studio
album, rose from number 19 to number one on the Billboard 200.[68] "Rock the Boat" was
released as a posthumous single. The music video premiered on BET's Access Granted; it
became the most viewed and highest rated episode in the history of the show.[69] The song
peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop
Songs chart.[70] It was also included on the Now That's What I Call Music! 8 compilation
series; a portion of the album's profits was donated to the Aaliyah Memorial Fund.[71]
Promotional posters for Aaliyah that had been put up in major cities such as New York and
Los Angeles became makeshift memorials for grieving fans.[72]
"More than a Woman" and "I Care 4 U" were released as posthumous singles and peaked within
the top 25 of the Billboard Hot 100.[70] The album was certified double Platinum by the RIAA
and sold 2.6 million copies in the United States.[24][73] "More than a Woman" reached number
one on the UK singles chart making Aaliyah the first female deceased artist to reach number
one on the UK singles chart.[74][75] "More than a Woman" was replaced by George Harrison's
"My Sweet Lord" which is the only time in the UK singles chart's history where a dead artist
has replaced another dead artist at number one.[76] In July 2001, she allowed MTV's show
Diary behind-the-scenes access to her life and stated "I am truly blessed to wake up every
morning to do something that I love; there is nothing better than that." She continued,
"Everything is worth it – the hard work, the times when you're tired, the times when you are
a bit sad. In the end, it's all worth it because it really makes me happy. I wouldn't trade
it for anything else in the world. I've got good friends, a beautiful family and I've got a
career. I thank God for his blessings every single chance I get."[77]
Aaliyah was signed to appear in several future films, including Honey,[78] a romantic film
titled Some Kind of Blue,[79] and a Whitney Houston-produced remake of the 1976 film
Sparkle.[4] Whitney Houston recalled Aaliyah being "so enthusiastic" about the film and
wanting to appear in the film "so badly". Houston also voiced her belief that Aaliyah was
more than qualified for the role and the film was shelved after she died, since Aaliyah had
"gone to a better place".[80] Studio officials of Warner Brothers stated that Aaliyah and
her mother had both read the script for Sparkle. According to them, Aaliyah was passionate
about playing the lead role of a young singer in a girl group.[81] The film was released in
2012, eleven years after Aaliyah's death. Before her death Aaliyah was cast in the sequels
of The Matrix as the character Zee.[14][82] She had filmed part of her role in The Matrix
Reloaded and was scheduled to film and reprise her role in The Matrix Revolutions as Zee.
[36] Aaliyah told Access Hollywood that she was "beyond happy" to have landed the role.[83]
The role was subsequently recast to Nona Gaye.[82] Aaliyah's scenes were included in the
tribute section of the Matrix Ultimate Collection series.[84]
In November 2001, Ronald Isley stated that Aaliyah and the Isley Brothers had discussed a
collaboration prior to her death. She had previously covered the Isley Brothers' single "At
Your Best (You Are Love)".[85] Prior to her death, she expressed the possibility of
recording songs for the Queen of The Damned soundtrack and welcomed the possibility of
collaborating with Jonathan Davis.[66] By 2001, Aaliyah had enjoyed her now seven-year
career and felt a sense of accomplishment. "This is what I always wanted," she said of her
career in Vibe magazine. "I breathe to perform, to entertain, I can't imagine myself doing
anything else. I'm just a really happy girl right now. I honestly love every aspect of this
business. I really do. I feel very fulfilled and complete."[54]
Artistry
Voice and style
"Are You That Somebody?" (1998)
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0:00
Timbaland's stuttering, idiosyncratic productions challenged Aaliyah to reveal her artistic
personality more than she had on R. Kelly's smoother musical settings.[30]
Problems playing this file? See media help.
Aaliyah had the vocal range of a soprano.[14] With the release of her debut album "Age Ain't
Nothing But a Number", writer Dimitri Ehrlich of Entertainment Weekly compared her style and
sound to R&B group En Vogue.[86] Ehrlich also expressed that Aaliyah's "silky vocals are
more agile than those of self-proclaimed queen of hip-hop soul Mary J. Blige."[86] In her
review for Aaliyah's second studio album One in a Million Vibe magazine, music critic Dream
Hampton said that Aaliyah's "deliciously feline" voice has the same "pop appeal" as Janet
Jackson's.[87] Aaliyah described her sound as "street but sweet", which featured her
"gentle" vocals over a "hard" beat.[88] Though Aaliyah did not write any of her own
material,[14] her lyrics were described as in-depth.[89][90] She incorporated R&B, pop and
hip hop into her music.[10][91][92][93][94][95][96] Her songs were often uptempo and at the
same time often dark, revolving around "matters of the heart".[97] After her R. Kelly-
produced debut album, Aaliyah worked with Timbaland and Missy Elliott, whose productions
were more electronic.[98] Sasha Frere-Jones of The Wire finds Aaliyah's "Are You That
Somebody?" to be Timbaland's "masterpiece" and exemplary of his production's start-stop
rhythms, with "big half-second pauses between beats and voices".[99] Keith Harris of Rolling
Stone cites "Are You That Somebody?" as "one of '90s R&B's most astounding moments".[30]
Aaliyah's songs have been said to have "crisp production" and "staccato arrangements" that
"extend genre boundaries" while containing "old-school" soul music.[100] Kelefah Sanneh of
The New York Times called Aaliyah "a digital diva who wove a spell with ones and zeroes",
and writes that her songs comprised "simple vocal riffs, repeated and refracted to echo the
manipulated loops that create digital rhythm", as Timbaland's "computer-programmed beats
fitted perfectly with her cool, breathy voice to create a new kind of electronic
music."[101] When she experimented with other genres on Aaliyah, such as Latin pop and heavy
metal, Entertainment Weekly's Craig Seymour panned the attempt.[97] While Analyzing her
eponymous album British publication NME (New Musical Express) felt that Aaliyah's radical
third album was intended to consolidate her position as U.S.R&B's most experimental artist.
[102] As her albums progressed, writers felt that Aaliyah matured, calling her progress a
"declaration of strength and independence".[90][103] ABC News noted that Aaliyah's music was
evolving from the punchy pop influenced Hip hop and R&B to a more mature, introspective
sound on her third album.[104] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described her eponymous
album, Aaliyah, as "a statement of maturity and a stunning artistic leap forward" and called
it one of the strongest urban soul records of its time.[90] She portrayed "unfamiliar
sounds, styles and emotions", but managed to please critics with the contemporary sound it
contained.[90] Ernest Hardy of Rolling Stone felt that Aaliyah reflected a stronger
technique, where she gave her best vocal performance.[100] Prior to her death, Aaliyah
expressed a desire to learn about the burgeoning UK garage scene she had heard about at the
time.[98]
Influences
As an artist, Aaliyah often voiced that she was inspired by a number of performers. These
include Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Sade, En Vogue, Nine Inch Nails, Korn, Prince,
Naughty by Nature, Johnny Mathis, Janet Jackson[105] and Barbra Streisand.[106] Aaliyah
expressed that Michael Jackson's Thriller was her "favorite album" and that "nothing will
ever top Thriller."[105] She stated that she admired Sade because "she stays true to her
style no matter what ... she's an amazing artist, an amazing performer ... and I absolutely
love her."[105] Aaliyah expressed she had always desired to work with Janet Jackson, whom
she had drawn frequent comparison to over the course of her career, stating "I admire her a
great deal. She's a total performer ... I'd love to do a duet with Janet Jackson."[105]
[107][108][109] Jackson reciprocated Aaliyah's affections, commenting "I've loved her from
the beginning because she always comes out and does something different, musically." Jackson
also stated she would have enjoyed collaborating with Aaliyah.[105]
Image
Aaliyah focused on her public image throughout her career. She often wore baggy clothes and
sunglasses, stating that she wanted to be herself.[110] She described her image as being
"important ... to differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack".[111] She often wore
black clothing, starting a trend for similar fashion among women in United States and
Japan.[14][112] Aaliyah's fashionable style has been credited for being an influence on new
fashion trends called "Health Goth"[113][114] and "Ghetto Goth" also known as GHE20 GOTH1K
[115][116] Aaliyah participated in fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger's All America Tour and
was featured in Tommy Jean ads, which depicted her in boxer shorts, baggy jeans and a tube
top. Hilfiger's brother, Andy, called it "a whole new look" that was "classy but sexy".[112]
Carson Daly A former VJ on MTV's Total Request Live commented on Aaliyah's style by saying
that she was "cutting edge" ,"always one step ahead of the curve" and that "the TRL audience
looks to her to figure out what's hot and what's new".[117]
When she changed her hairstyle, Aaliyah took her mother's advice and covered her left eye,
much like Veronica Lake.[118] The look has become known as her signature and been referred
to as fusion of "unnerving emotional honesty" and "a sense of mystique".[119] In 1998, she
hired a personal trainer to keep in shape, and exercised five days a week and ate diet
foods.[120] Aaliyah was praised for her "clean-cut image" and "moral values".[121] Robert
Christgau of The Village Voice wrote of Aaliyah's artistry and image, "she was lithe and
dulcet in a way that signified neither jailbait nor hottie—an ingenue whose selling point
was sincerity, not innocence and the obverse it implies."[122]
Aaliyah was viewed by others as a role model. Emil Wilbekin, described by CNN as "a friend
of Aaliyah's" and follower of her career, explained: "Aaliyah is an excellent role model,
because she started her career in the public eye at age 15 with a gold album entitled Age
Ain't Nothing but a Number. And then her second album, One in a Million went double
platinum. She had the leading role in Romeo Must Die, which was a box office success. She's
won numerous awards, several MTV music video awards, and aside from her professional
successes, many of her lyrics are very inspirational and uplifting. She also carried herself
in a very professional manner. She was well spoken. She was beautiful, but she didn't use
her beauty to sell her music. She used her talent. Many young hip-hop fans greatly admire
her."[123]
She also was seen by others as a sex symbol. Aaliyah did not have a problem with being
considered one. "I know that people think I'm sexy and I am looked at as that, and it is
cool with me," she stated. "It's wonderful to have sex appeal. If you embrace it, it can be
a very beautiful thing. I am totally cool with that. Definitely. I see myself as sexy. If
you are comfortable with it, it can be very classy and it can be very appealing."[124] The
single "We Need a Resolution" was argued to have transformed "the once tomboy into a sexy
grown woman".[125] Aaliyah mentioned that her mother, during her childhood, would take
pictures of her and notice a sex appeal. She reinforced her mother's belief by saying that
she did feel "sexy for sure" and that she embraced it and was comfortable with this view of
her.[54]
Personal life
In her spare time, she was mostly a homebody, which dated back to her younger years, but on
occasion went out and played laser tag. She reasoned this was due to her liking "the simple
things in life".[54] Despite having a prosperous career that allowed her to purchase the
vehicle she wanted, Aaliyah revealed during her final interview on August 21, 2001 on 106 &
Park that she had never owned a car because she lived in New York City and could hire a car
or driver on a regular basis.[126]
Family
Aaliyah's family played a major role in the course of her career.[54] Aaliyah's father
Michael Haughton served as her personal manager. Her mother assisted her in her career while
brother Rashad Haughton and cousin Jomo Hankerson worked with her consistently.[127] Her
father's illness ended his co-management of Aaliyah with her mother Diane Haughton. She ran
all of her decisions by Rashad.[54]
Aaliyah was known to have usually been accompanied by members of her family and the "Rock
the Boat" filming was credited by Rashad Haughton as being the first and only time her
family was not present. In October 2001, Rashad stated: "It really boggles everyone [that]
from Day One, every single video she ever shot there's always been myself or my mother or my
father there. The circumstances surrounding this last video were really strange because my
mother had eye surgery and couldn't fly. That really bothered her because she always
traveled. My dad had to take care of my mom at that time. And I went to Australia to visit
some friends. We really couldn't understand why we weren't there. You ask yourself maybe we
could have stopped it. But you can't really answer the question. There's always gonna be
that question of why."[128] Her friend Kidada Jones said in the last year of her life her
parents had given her more freedom and she had talked about wanting a family. "She wanted to
have a family, and we talked about how we couldn't wait to kick back with our babies."[129]
Gladys Knight, who had been married to Aaliyah's uncle Barry Hankerson, was essential to the
start of Aaliyah's career as she gave her many of her earlier performances. One of their
last conversations concerned Aaliyah having difficulty with "another young artist" that she
was trying to work with. Knight felt the argument was "petty" and insisted that she remain
being who she was in spite of the conflict.[130]
Illegal marriage
With the release of Age Ain't Nothing but a Number, rumors circulated of a relationship
between Aaliyah and R. Kelly,[14][131] including the allegation that they had secretly
married without her parents' knowledge,[132][133][134][135] Vibe later revealed a marriage
certificate that listed the couple married on August 31, 1994, in Sheraton Gateway Suites in
Rosemont, Illinois.[14][133] Aaliyah, who was 15 at the time, was listed as 18 on the
certificate; the illegal marriage was annulled in February 1995 by her parents.[20][133]
[136] The pair continued to deny marriage allegations, stating that neither was married.
[131]
Aaliyah reportedly developed a friendship with Kelly during the recording of her debut
album. As she recalled to Vibe magazine in 1994, she and Kelly would "go watch a movie" and
"go eat" when she got tired and would then "come back and work". She described the
relationship between her and Kelly as being "rather close."[137] In 2016, Kelly said that he
was as in love with Aaliyah as he was with "anybody else."[138] In December 1994, Aaliyah
told the Sun-Times that whenever she was asked about being married to Kelly, she urged them
not to believe "all that mess" and that she and Kelly were "close" and "people took it the
wrong way."[139] In his 2011 book The Man Behind the Man: Looking From the Inside Out,
Demetrius Smith Sr., a former member of Kelly's entourage, wrote that Kelly told him "in a
voice that sounded as if he wanted to burst into tears" that he thought Aaliyah was
pregnant.[140]
Jamie Foster Brown in the 1994 issue of Sister 2 Sister wrote that "R. Kelly told me that he
and Aaliyah got together and it was just magic." Brown also reported hearing about a
relationship between them. "I've been hearing about Robert and Aaliyah for a while—that she
was pregnant. Or that she was coming and going in and out of his house. People would see her
walking his dog, 12 Play, with her basketball cap and sunglasses on. Every time I asked the
label, they said it was platonic. But I kept hearing complaints from people about her being
in the studio with all those men." Brown later added "at 15, you have all those hormones and
no brains attached to them."[141]
The 2019 documentary Surviving R. Kelly revealed new details about their relationship and
marriage. Jovante Cunningham, a former backup dancer, claimed to have witnessed Kelly having
sex with Aaliyah on his tour bus[142][143] while Demetrius Smith again recounted the time
Kelly feared that he had impregnated her.[142] Smith also described how he helped Aaliyah
forge the necessary documents to show she was 18 and that the wedding was short and
unceremonious, as neither was dressed up and Aaliyah looked "worried and scared" the whole
time.[142] Smith states that he is "not proud" of his role in facilitating their illegal
marriage.[142]
Aaliyah admitted in court documents that she had lied about her age. In May 1997, she filed
suit in Cook County seeking to have all records of the marriage expunged because she was not
old enough under state law to get married without her parents' consent. It was reported that
she cut off all professional and personal ties with Kelly after the marriage was annulled
and ceased having contact with him.[144] In 2014, Jomo Hankerson stated that Aaliyah "got
villainized" over her relationship with Kelly and the scandal over the marriage made it
difficult to find producers for her second album. "We were coming off of a multi-platinum
debut album and except for a couple of relationships with Jermaine Dupri and Puffy, it was
hard for us to get producers on the album." Hankerson also expressed confusion over why
"they were upset" with Aaliyah given her age at the time.[145]
Aaliyah was known to avoid answering questions regarding Kelly following the professional
split. During an interview with Christopher John Farley, she was asked if she was still in
contact with him and if she would ever work with him again. Farley said Aaliyah responded
with a "firm, frosty 'no'" to both of the questions.[146] Vibe magazine said Aaliyah changed
the subject anytime "you bring up the marriage with her".[147] A spokeswoman for Aaliyah
said in 2000 that when "R. Kelly comes up, she doesn't even speak his name, and nobody's
allowed to ask about it at all".[148] Kelly later commented that Aaliyah had opportunities
to address the pair's relationship after they separated professionally but chose not to.
[149] In 2019, Damon Dash revealed to Hip Hop Motivation that Aaliyah didn't even speak of
her relationship with Kelly in private; she tried multiple times to discuss it with him, but
was only able to find the courage to say that Kelly was a "bad man".[143] She told him that
she could only possibly discuss the relationship with a professional counselor.[143] Dash
said he was unable to watch Surviving R. Kelly because its interviews with visibly
traumatized girls struggling to discuss their encounters with Kelly reminded him of how
Aaliyah behaved when trying to recount her relationship with Kelly.[143]
R. Kelly would have other allegations made about him regarding underage girls in the years
following her death and his marriage to Aaliyah was used to evidence his involvement with
them. He has refused to discuss his relationship with her, citing her death. "Out of respect
for her, and her mom and her dad, I will not discuss Aaliyah. That was a whole other
situation, a whole other time, it was a whole other thing, and I'm sure that people also
know that."[150] Aaliyah's mother, Diane Haughton, reflected that everything "that went
wrong in her life" began with her relationship with Kelly.[139] Damon Dash also noted that
lasting trauma from her relationship with Kelly negatively affected their relationship.[143]
However, the allegations have been said to have done "little to taint Aaliyah's image or
prevent her from becoming a reliable '90s hitmaker with viable sidelines in movies and
modeling."[32]
Engagement
Aaliyah was dating co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records Damon Dash at the time of her death
and, though they were not formally engaged, in interviews given after Aaliyah's death, Dash
claimed the couple had planned to marry.[151] Aaliyah and Dash met in 2000[152] through his
accountant and formed a friendship.[153] Dash has said he is unsure of how he and Aaliyah
started dating and that the two just understood each other. "I don't know [how we got
involved], just spending time, you know, we just saw things the same and it was new, you
know what I mean? Meeting someone that is trying to do the same thing you are doing in the
urban market, in the same urban market place but not really being so urban. It was just; her
mind was where my mind was. She understood me and she got my jokes. She thought my jokes
were funny."[154]
Dash expressed his belief that Aaliyah was the "one" and claimed the pair were not
officially engaged, but had spoken about getting married prior to her death.[155] Aaliyah
publicly never addressed the relationship between her and Dash as being anything but
platonic. In May 2001, she hosted a party for Dash's 30th birthday at a New York City club,
where they were spotted together and Dash was seen escorting her to a bathroom. Addressing
this, Aaliyah stated that she and Dash were just "very good friends" and chose to "keep it
at that" for the time being.[147] Just two weeks before her death, Aaliyah traveled from New
Jersey to East Hampton, New York to visit Dash at the summer house he shared with Jay Z.
[129]
The couple were separated for long periods at a time, as Dash recalled that Aaliyah
continuously shot films and would be gone for months often to come back shortly and continue
her schedule. Dash was also committed to "his own thing", which did not make matters any
better. Despite this, they were understanding that the time they had together was special.
Dash remembered they would "be in a room full of people talking to each other and it felt
like everyone was listening but it would be just us. It would be like we were the only ones
in the room". Dash always felt their time together was essential and Aaliyah was the person
he was interested in being with, which is why, as he claimed, they had begun speaking about
engagement.[153] The relationship was mentioned in the lyrics of Jay-Z's remix to her song
"Miss You", released after her death.
Death
Main article: Death of Aaliyah
On August 25, 2001, at 6:50 p.m. (EDT), Aaliyah and the members of the record company
boarded a twin-engine Cessna 402B (registration N8097W) at the Marsh Harbour Airport in
Abaco Islands, the Bahamas, to travel to the Opa-locka Airport in Florida, after they
completed filming the music video for "Rock the Boat".[156] They had a flight scheduled the
following day, but with filming finishing early, Aaliyah and her entourage were eager to
return to the U.S. and made the decision to leave immediately. The designated airplane was
smaller than the Cessna 404 on which they had originally arrived, but the whole party and
all of the equipment were accommodated on board.[157] The plane crashed shortly after
takeoff, about 200 feet (60 m) from the end of the runway and exploded.[156]
Aaliyah and the eight others on board—pilot Luis Morales III, hair stylist Eric Forman,
Anthony Dodd, security guard Scott Gallin, family friend Keith Wallace, make-up stylist
Christopher Maldonado, and Blackground Records employees Douglas Kratz and Gina Smith—were
all killed.[158] Gallin survived the initial impact and spent his last moments worrying
about Aaliyah's condition, according to ambulance drivers.[159] The plane was identified as
being owned by Florida-based company Skystream by the US Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) in Atlanta. Initial reports of the crash identified Luis Morales as "L Marael".[160]
According to findings from an inquest conducted by the coroner's office in the Bahamas,
Aaliyah suffered from "severe burns and a blow to the head", in addition to severe shock and
a weak heart.[161] The coroner theorized that she went into such a state of shock that even
if she had survived the crash, her recovery would have been nearly impossible given the
severity of her injuries.[162] The bodies were taken to the morgue at Princess Margaret
Hospital in Nassau, where they were kept for relatives to help identify them. Some of the
bodies were badly burned in the crash.[163]
As the subsequent investigation determined, when the aircraft attempted to depart, it was
over its maximum take-off weight by 700 pounds (320 kg) and was carrying one excess
passenger, according to its certification.[164] An informational report issued by the
National Transportation Safety Board stated, "The airplane was seen lifting off the runway,
and then nose down, impacting in a marsh on the south side of the departure end of runway
27."[165] It indicated that the pilot was not approved to fly the plane. Morales falsely
obtained his FAA license by showing hundreds of hours never flown, and he may also have
falsified how many hours he had flown in order to get a job with his employer, Blackhawk
International Airways.[166] Additionally, toxicology tests performed on Morales revealed
traces of cocaine and alcohol in his system.[167]
Aaliyah's funeral services were held on August 31, 2001, at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral
Chapel and St. Ignatius Loyola Church in Manhattan. Her body was set in a silver-plated
copper-deposit casket, which was carried in a glass horse-drawn hearse.[168] An estimated
800 mourners were in attendance at the procession.[20][169] Among those in attendance at the
private ceremony were Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Gladys Knight, Lil' Kim and Sean Combs.
[168][170][171] After the service, 22 white doves were released to symbolize each year of
Aaliyah's life.[172] Aaliyah was initially entombed in a crypt at the Ferncliff Mausoleum in
Hartsdale, New York; she was later moved to a private room at the left end of a corridor in
the Rosewood Mausoleum.[173] The inscription at the bottom of Aaliyah's portrait at the
funeral read: "We Were Given a Queen, We Were Given an Angel."[174]
After Aaliyah's death, the German newspaper Die Zeit published excerpts from an interview
done shortly before her death, in which she described a recurring dream: "It is dark in my
favorite dream. Someone is following me. I don't know why. I'm scared. Then suddenly I lift
off. Far away. How do I feel? As if I am swimming in the air. Free. Weightless. Nobody can
reach me. Nobody can touch me. It's a wonderful feeling."[175]
Posthumous career
Immediately after Aaliyah's death, there was uncertainty over whether the music video for
"Rock the Boat" would ever air.[176] It made its world premiere on BET's Access Granted on
October 9, 2001. She won two posthumous awards at the American Music Awards of 2002;
Favorite Female R&B Artist and Favorite R&B/Soul Album for Aaliyah.[177] Her second and
final film, Queen of the Damned, was released in February 2002. Before its release,
Aaliyah's brother, Rashad, re-dubbed some of her lines during post-production.[178][179] It
grossed US$15.2 million in its first weekend, ranking number one at the box office.[180] On
the first anniversary of Aaliyah's death, a candlelight vigil was held in Times Square;
millions of fans observed a moment of silence; and throughout the United States, radio
stations played her music in remembrance.[181] In December 2002, a collection of previously
unreleased material was released as Aaliyah's first posthumous album, I Care 4 U. A portion
of the proceeds was donated to the Aaliyah Memorial Fund, a program that benefits the Revlon
UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program and Harlem's Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.[182] It
debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, selling 280,000 copies in its first week.[183]
The album's lead single, "Miss You", peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and
topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[70] In August of the following year, clothing
retailer Christian Dior donated profits from sales in honor of Aaliyah.[184]
In 2005, Aaliyah's second compilation album, Ultimate Aaliyah was released in the UK by
Blackground Records.[185] Ultimate Aaliyah is a three disc set, which included a greatest
hits audio CD and a DVD.[185] Andy Kellman of AllMusic remarked "Ultimate Aaliyah adequately
represents the shortened career of a tremendous talent who benefited from some of the best
songwriting and production work by Timbaland, Missy Elliott, and R. Kelly."[185] A
documentary movie Aaliyah Live in Amsterdam was released in 2011, shortly before the tenth
anniversary of Aaliyah's death. The documentary, by Pogus Caesar, contained previously
unseen footage shot of her career beginnings in 1995 when she was appearing in the
Netherlands.[186]
In March 2012, music producer Jeffrey "J-Dub" Walker announced on his Twitter account that a
song "Steady Ground", which he produced for Aaliyah's third album, would be included in the
forthcoming posthumous Aaliyah album. This second proposed posthumous album would feature
this song using demo vocals, as Walker claims the originals were somehow lost by his sound
engineer. Aaliyah's brother Rashad later refuted Walker's claim, claiming that "no official
album [is] being released and supported by the Haughton family."[187] On August 5, 2012, a
song entitled "Enough Said" was released online. The song was produced by Noah "40" Shebib
and features Canadian rapper Drake.[188] Four days later, Jomo Hankerson confirmed a
posthumous album is being produced and that it was scheduled to be released by the end of
2012 by Blackground Records.[189] The album was reported to include 16 unreleased songs and
have contributions from Aaliyah's longtime collaborators Timbaland and Missy Elliott, among
others.[189] On August 13, Timbaland and Missy Elliott dismissed rumors about being
contacted or participating for the project.[190] Elliott's manager Mona Scott-Young said in
a statement to XXL, "Although Missy and Timbaland always strive to keep the memory of their
close friend alive, we have not been contacted about the project nor are there any plans at
this time to participate. We've seen the reports surfacing that they have been confirmed to
participate but that is not the case. Both Missy and Timbaland are very sensitive to the
loss still being felt by the family so we wanted to clear up any misinformation being
circulated."[190] Elliott herself said, "Tim and I carry Aaliyah with us everyday, like so
many of the people who love her. She will always live in our hearts. We have nothing but
love and respect for her memory and for her loved ones left behind still grieving her loss.
They are always in our prayers."[190]
In June 2013, Aaliyah was featured on a new track by Chris Brown, titled "Don't Think They
Know"; with Aaliyah singing the song's hook. The video features dancing holographic versions
of Aaliyah. The song appears on Brown's sixth studio album, X.[191] Timbaland voiced his
disapproval for "Enough Said" and "Don't Think They Know" in July 2013. He exclaimed,
"Aaliyah music only work with its soulmate, which is me".[192] Soon after, Timbaland
apologized to Chris Brown over his remarks, which he explained were made due to Aaliyah and
her death being a "very sensitive subject".[193] In January 2014, producer Noah "40" Shebib
confirmed that the posthumous album was shelved due to the negative reception surrounding
Drake's involvement. Shebib added, "Aaliyah's mother saying, 'I don't want this out' was
enough for me ... I walked away very quickly."[194][195]
Aaliyah's vocals were reported to be featured on the T-Pain mixtape, The Iron Way, on the
track "Girlfriend", but were pulled after being met with criticism by fans and many in
attendance at a New York listening session that he hosted for the project. In response to
the criticism, T-Pain questioned if Aaliyah's legacy was driven by her death and claimed
that were she still alive, she would be seen as trying to emulate Beyoncé.[196] According to
T-Pain, he was given her vocals from a session she had done prior to her death after being
approached to work on a track for a posthumous Aaliyah album and completing the song,
calling the exchange "just like a swap."[197]
She was featured on the Tink track "Million", which was released in May 2015 and contained
samples from her song "One in a Million".[198] Collaborator Timbaland was involved in the
song's creation, having previously claimed that Aaliyah appeared to him in a dream and
stressed that Tink was "the one".[199]
In August 2015, Timbaland confirmed that he had unreleased vocals from Aaliyah and stated a
"sneak peek" would be coming soon.[200][201]
In September 2015, Aaliyah by Xyrena, an official tribute fragrance was announced.[202]
On December 19, 2015, Timbaland uploaded a snippet of a new Aaliyah song title "He Keeps Me
Shakin" on his Instagram account and said it would be released December 25, 2015, on the
Timbaland mixtape King Stays King.[203] On August 24, 2017 MAC Cosmetics announced that an
Aaliyah collection will be made available in the summer of 2018.[204] The Aaliyah for Mac
collection was released on June 20 online and June 21 in stores, along with the MAC
collection, MAC and i-D Magazine partnered up to release a short film titled "A-Z of
Aaliyah" which coincided with the launch.[205] The short film highlighted and celebrated the
legacy of Aaliyah with the help of select fans who were selected to be a part of the film
through a casting call competition held by Mac and i-d magazine.[206] The Aaliyah for Mac
collectors box was sold at $250 and it sold out within minutes during the first day of its
initial release.[207]
Legacy and influence
Aaliyah has been credited for helping redefine R&B, pop and hip hop in the 1990s, "leaving
an indelible imprint on the music industry as a whole."[1][89][208] According to Billboard,
Aaliyah revolutionized R&B with her sultry mix of pop, soul and hip hop.[209] In a 2001
review of her eponymous album, Rolling Stone professed that Aaliyah's impact on R&B and pop
has been enormous.[210] Steve Huey of AllMusic wrote Aaliyah ranks among the "elite" artists
of the R&B genre, as she "played a major role in popularizing the stuttering, futuristic
production style that consumed hip-hop and urban soul in the late 1990s."[211] Bruce Britt
of "music world" on Broadcast Music, Inc's. website stated that by combining "schoolgirl
charm with urban grit", Aaliyah helped define the teen-oriented sound that has resulted in
contemporary pop phenom's like Brandy, Christina Aguilera and Destiny's Child.[212]
Described as one of "R&B's most important artists" during the 1990s,[213] her second studio
album, One in a Million, became one of the most influential R&B albums of the decade.[33]
Music critic Simon Reynolds cited "Are You That Somebody?" as "the most radical pop single"
of 1998. Kelefah Sanneh of The New York Times wrote that rather than being the song's focal
point, Aaliyah "knew how to disappear into the music, how to match her voice to the bass
line", and consequently "helped change the way popular music sounds; the twitchy, beat-
driven songs of Destiny's Child owe a clear debt to 'Are You That Somebody'." Sanneh
asserted that by the time of her death in 2001, Aaliyah "had recorded some of the most
innovative and influential pop songs of the last five years."[101] Music publication Popdust
called Aaliyah an unlikely queen of the underground due mainly to her influence on the
underground alternative music scene, which consists of heavy sampling and references to her
music by underground artists. Popdust also mentioned that the forward-thinking music Aaliyah
did with Timbaland and the experimental music being made by many underground alternative
artists are somewhat cut from the same cloth.[214] While compiling a list of artists that
take cues from Aaliyah, MTV Hive mentioned that it's easy to spot her influence on
underground movements like dubstep, strains of indie pop, and lo-fi R&B movements.[215] With
sales of 8.1 million albums in the United States and an estimated 24 to 32 million albums
worldwide,[216][217][218][219][220] Aaliyah earned the nicknames "Princess of R&B" and
"Queen of Urban Pop",[221][222] as she "proved she was a muse in her own right".[223] Ernest
Hardy of Rolling Stone dubbed her as the "undisputed queen of the midtempo come-on".[19]
Aaliyah has been referred to as a pop icon and a R&B icon for her impact and contributions
to those respective genres.[224][225] Japanese pop singer Hikaru Utada has said several
times that "It was when I heard Aaliyah's Age Ain't Nothing but a Number that I got hooked
on R&B.", after which Utada released her debut album First Love with heavy R&B influences.
[226][227] Another Japanese pop singer Crystal Kay has expressed how she admired Aaliyah
when she was growing up and how she would practice dancing while watching her music videos.
[228]
Aaliyah was honored at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards by Janet Jackson, Missy Elliott,
Timbaland, Ginuwine and her brother, Rashad, who all paid tribute to her.[229] In the same
year, the United States Social Security Administration ranked the name Aaliyah one of the
100 most popular names for newborn girls.[230] Aaliyah was ranked as one of "The Top 40
Women of the Video Era" in VH1's 2003 The Greatest series.[231][232] She was also ranked at
number 18 on BET's "Top 25 Dancers of All Time".[233] Aaliyah appeared on both 2000 and 2001
list of Maxim Hot 100 in position 41 and the latter at 14.[234][235] In 2002 VH1 created the
100 sexiest artist list and Aaliyah was ranked at number 36.[236] In memory of Aaliyah, the
Entertainment Industry Foundation created the Aaliyah Memorial Fund to donate money raised
to charities she supported.[237][238] In December 2009, Billboard magazine ranked Aaliyah at
number 70 on its Top Artists of the Decade,[239] while her eponymous album was ranked at
number 181 on the magazine's Top 200 Albums of the Decade.[240] She is listed by Billboard
as the tenth most successful female R&B artist of the past 25 years, and 27th most
successful R&B artist overall.[241] In 2012, VH1 ranked her number 48 in "VH1's Greatest
Women in Music".[242] Also in 2012, Aaliyah was ranked at number 10 on Complex magazine's
100 hottest female singers of all-time list[243] and number 22 on their 90 hottest women of
the 90's list.[244] In 2014, NME ranked Aaliyah at number 18 on NME's 100 most influential
artist list.[245] Aaliyah's dress that she wore at the 2000 MTV Video Music Award's was
featured in the most memorable fashion moments at the VMA's list by the fashion publication
Harper's Bazaar.[246] In October 2015 Aaliyah was featured in the 10 women who became Denim
Style icons list created by the fashion publication Vogue.[247] In August 2018 Billboard
ranked Aaliyah at number 47 on their Top 60 Female Artists of All-Time list.[248]
Aaliyah's music has influenced numerous artists including Adele,[249] The Weeknd,[250]
Ciara,[251] Beyoncé,[252] Monica,[253] Chris Brown,[191] Rihanna,[254] Azealia Banks,[255]
Sevyn Streeter,[256] Keyshia Cole,[257] J. Cole,[258] Ryan Destiny[259] Kelly Rowland,[260]
Zendaya,[261] Rita Ora,[262] The xx,[263][264][265] Arctic Monkeys,[266] Speedy Ortiz,[267]
Chelsea Wolfe,[268] Haim,[269] Angel Haze,[270] Kiesza,[271] Naya Rivera,[272] Normani[273]
Cassie,[274][275] Hayley Williams,[276] Jessie Ware,[277] Yeasayer,[278] Bebe Rexha,[279]
Omarion,[280] and Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander.[281] Canadian R&B singer Keshia
Chanté who was said to play as her in her pending biopic back in 2008, complimented the
singer's futuristic style in music and fashion.[282] Chanté backed out of the biopic after
speaking to Diane Haughton, but has expressed a willingness to do the project if "the right
production comes along and the family's behind it". Chanté also mentioned that Aaliyah had
been part of her life "since I was 6."[283] R&B singer and friend Brandy said about the late
singer "She came out before Monica and I did, she was our inspiration. At the time, record
companies did not believe in kid acts and it was just inspiring to see someone that was
winning and winning being themselves. When I met her I embraced her, I was so happy to meet
her."[284] Rapper Drake said that the singer has had the biggest influence on his career. He
also has a tattoo of the singer on his back.[285] Solange Knowles remarked on the tenth
anniversary of her death that she idolized Aaliyah and proclaimed that she would never be
forgotten.[286] Adam Levine, the lead vocalist of the pop rock group Maroon 5, remembers
that listening to "Are You That Somebody?" convinced him to pursue a more soulful sound than
that of his then-band Kara's Flowers.[287] Erika Ramirez, an associate editor of Billboard,
said at the time of Aaliyah's career "there weren't many artists using the kind of soft
vocals the ways she was using it, and now you see a lot of artists doing that and finding
success," her reasoning for Aaliyah's continued influence on current artists. She argued
that Aaliyah's second album One in a Million was "very much ahead of its time, with the bass
and electro kind of R&B sounds that they produced", referring to collaborators Timbaland and
Missy Elliott and that the sound, which "really stood out" at its time, was being
replicated.[288]
In 2012, British singer-songwriter Katy B released the song Aaliyah as a tribute to
Aaliyah's legacy and lasting impression on R&B music.[289] The song first appeared on Katy
B's Danger EP and featured Jessie Ware on guest vocals. In 2016, Swedish singer-songwriter
Erik Hassle released a song titled "If Your Man Only Knew" which serves as a tribute to
Aaliyah's 1996 single "If Your Girl Only Knew".[290]
There has been continuing belief that Aaliyah would have achieved greater career success had
it not been for her death. Emil Wilbekin mentioned the deaths of The Notorious B.I.G. and
Tupac Shakur in conjunction with hers and added: "Her just-released third album and
scheduled role in a sequel to The Matrix could have made her another Janet Jackson or
Whitney Houston".[291] Director of Queen of the Damned Michael Rymer said of Aaliyah, "God,
that girl could have gone so far" and spoke of her having "such a clarity about what she
wanted. Nothing was gonna step in her way. No ego, no nervousness, no manipulation. There
was nothing to stop her."[292]
On July 18, 2014, it was announced that Alexandra Shipp replaced Zendaya for the role of
Aaliyah for the Lifetime TV biopic movie Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B,
The Thames Barrier, London.
I popped out for a local wander this morning to give my new toy an airing from the un-opened box…my new 10 stop ND.
Slightly fiddly to use setting wise but I'm sure it'll be getting plenty of airplay. This is one of 6 of my first shots using the stopper.
Musicien guitariste belge de jazz de renommée mondiale à la musicalité et l'inventivité extraordinaires à quoi s'ajoute un sens de l'improvisation exceptionnel. J'ai vu un nombre considérable de concert de Philip Catherine, je n'ai jamais été déçu mais toujours enthousiasmé et porté par sa musique!
World famous Belgian jazz guitarist musician with extraordinary musicality and inventiveness, to which is added an exceptional sense of improvisation. I saw a considerable number of Philip Catherine's concerts, I was never disappointed but always enthusiastic and carried by his music!
Depuis les années '60 Philip Catherine est une figure importante de la scène du jazz européen. Sa collaboration avec des grands artistes comme Charles Mingus, Chet Baker, Stéphane Grappelli, Dexter Gordon, Larry Coryell, Tom Harrell, NHOP, pour n'en nommer que quelques-uns, son style et sonorité uniques, son engagement musical, ont été importants et d'une influence incontestable sur le jazz contemporain européen. Philip Catherine a joué dans les salles de concerts les plus prestigieuses : de la Philharmonique de Berlin au Carnegie Hall de New York, du Concertgebouw d'Amsterdam à l'Olympia et la Salle Pleyel à Paris. Né à Londres en 1942 d'une mère anglaise et d’un père belge dans une famille de musiciens, il a développé son oreille musicale très tôt. Déjà a 18 ans il tourne en Europe avec le trio de Lou Bennett. Avec des disques comme «September Man» et «Guitars» des années ‘70, les amateurs de jazz à travers le monde découvrent non seulement un guitariste virtuose mais aussi un compositeur talentueux. Citons par exemple des thèmes devenus célèbres comme «Homecomings» ou «Nairam». Depuis, Philip Catherine a enregistré plus de 20 albums sous son nom et collaboré avec de grands artistes de tous horizons. Ces dernières années, son album «Guitars Two» (2008) est décrit par JazzMagazine comme « Une pure merveille ». «Concert in CapBreton» (2010), avec Enrico Pieranunzi, Hein Van de Geyn et Joe La Barbera, est salué par la presse internationale comme incontournable. L’album «Philip Catherine plays Cole Porter» (2011) reçut le ‘CHOC’ de JazzMan. En automne 2012 Philip Catherine fête son 70e anniversaire avec un magnifique concert au Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles, mémorable soirée ovationnée debout par une salle comble, ainsi qu’avec la sortie d'un nouvel album : «Coté Jardin» sort en nov 2012 sur Challenge Records. Philip Catherine a l’art de découvrir du jeune talent : en quartet avec des jeunes musiciens exceptionnels - le pianiste italien Nicola Andrioli, le jeune batteur Antoine Pierre, et le compagnon de route Philippe Aerts à la contrebasse. Sur quelques titresPhilippe Decock au claviers, et sa fille Isabelle Catherine chante un très beau texte de Jacques Duvall sur une composition de Philip, la plage titre de l’album. En Janvier 2014 « New Folks - Duo Art » parait chez ACT Music, en duo avec le grand bassiste allemand Martin Wind. L’album a été très bien reçu par la presse. Le Soir: «Sublime», JazzPodium: «Un duo de rêve», et suivi de tournées en Europe et aux Etats Unis. La première d'un nouveau répertoire, une sélection de ses compositions en arrangements avec orchestre à cordes, a lieu en Janvier 2015 à Flagey, Bruxelles. Le Quintet de Philip avec l’OrchestreRoyal de Chambre de Wallonie sous la direction de Frank Braley donnent un concert mémorable. Le concert est filmé par la VRT-Canvas pour une émission TV, et l’enregistrement audio s’avère d’une telle qualité qu’une sélection sort sur CD : « The String Project – Live in Brussels » (ACT Music, sept 2015). L'album est très bien acceuilli par la presse nationale et internationale. Rafał Garszczyński écrit dans JazzPress : « C’est l'un des meilleurs albums avec cordes de tous les temps.»Lors des prestigieux ECHO JAZZ AWARDS 2016 à Hamburg, Philip Catherine reçoit le prix du 'Best International Guitarist' pour cet album, et durant 2015-2016 "The String Project" se produit dans quelques salles importantes et des festivals.
En automne 2017 Philip Catherine a fêté son 75e anniversaire à Flagey, Bruxelles. Le concert, sold-out, était également diffusé en 'live' streaming simultanément. Un line-up exceptionnel en Octet, avecentre autres 2 pianistes et 2 batteurs (une réunion après 37 ans avec le magnifique batteur Gerry Brown), dans un répertoire très varié, tantôt lyrique tantôt jazz-rock enlevé. Pour l'occasion Warner Music France sort un coffret spécial de 5 CDs "Philip Catherine – Selected Works 1974-1982" en novembre 2017 : la réédition de ses vinyls 'September Man' et 'Guitars', ainsi que les albums 'Babel' et 'End of August', completé avec des enregistrements solo inédits de 1979 et 1982 par Radio Bremen. 'September Man' et 'Guitars' sont également réédités en vinyl. Aussi, le tout premier album 'Stream' est reédité sur CD par Union Disk Japan en Octobre 2017. Durant 2018 Philip Catherine fut invité par des grands festivals d'été comme le North Sea Jazz avec son sextet avec deux pianistes; au Middelheim Jazz avec le line-up de ‘September Man’ : un 'Reunion Band' avec Palle Mikkelborg, Jasper van ‘t Hof, John Lee et Gerry Brown; au Dinant Jazz avec son quartet et Joshua Redman, décrit dans la presse comme 'concert magique'. Ainsi que des concerts en Allemagne, Argentine, Autriche, France, Hollande, Portugal, Sénégal, Suisse .. Duo, Trio, Quartet ou avec cordes, Philip Catherine choisit avec intuition des formules qui lui donnent la possibilité de déployer toutes les facettes de sa musique, allant d'un groove irrésistible et une sonorité parfois rock, à ces envolées lyriques et intenses dont il est un maître. Il envoûte l’auditeur par ses compositions d’un lyrisme naturel, où le swing reste un ingrédient essentiel. Pour utiliser les mots de Francis Marmande dans ‘Le Monde’ : « Philip Catherine est un des derniers “romantiques” du jazz. Philip Catherine ne joue pas de la musique : il est la musique. Un lyrisme à fendre l’inconscient. Musique, musique, parfois avec ces airs de simplicité qui vous font croire que rien n’est plus facile que d’observer un photon dans sa course.Le grand art. »
Philip Catherine has been on the forefront of the European jazz scene since the sixties. His work great artists like Chet Baker, NHOP, Stéphane Grappelli, Charles Mingus, Dexter Gordon, Larry Coryell, Tom Harrell, his unique approach and sound, his dedication to music have been important and influential. He recorded over 20 albums under his name and numerous collaborations with renowned artists worldwide. Philip Catherine was born in London in 1942. Being from a musical family (his grandfather was first violin with the London Symphony Orchestra), he developed a musical ear from an early age. He took up the guitar after having discovered Brassens and Django Reinhardt, and started listening to all the great jazzmen of the period. Very soon he had the opportunity to meet some of them, and often accompanied them when they played in Belgium where his family had moved to by then. At the age of 18 he toured with Lou Bennett, and in 1971 Jean-Luc Ponty asked him to join his quintet. In 1971 he made his first record under his name, “Stream”, followed in 1974-75 by "September Man" and "Guitars". Jazz amateurs all over the world discovered not only a brilliant guitarist, but also a talented composer : themes like "Homecomings" and "Nairam" have become famous. Philip Catherine has played in the most prestigious concert halls, from the Berlin Philharmonic to theCarnegie Hall, from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam to the Olympia and Salle Pleyel in Paris and the Palais des Beaux-Arts of Brussels, but he still loves to play in jazz clubs occasionally because of the proximity with the audience. Philip Catherine has received many awards, among others the "BIRD" Prize (1990), together with Stan Getz, at the North Sea Festival, the “Django D’Or” (1998) in Paris for ‘Best European Jazz Artist’, the ZAMU ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ (2001) and ‘Best Musician’ (2002). In 2002 he received the title “Maestro Honoris Causa” from the Antwerp Conservatory (title which has been given previous years to reputed artists like Jos van Immerseel, Sigiswald Kuijken and Toots Thielemans). In May 2016 he received the award 'Best International Guitarist' at the 'ECHO JAZZ AWARDS 2016' in Hamburg/Germany. In 1997 Philip Catherine signed with Dreyfus Records. His first album on this label - simply called “Live”(being the very first live recording of his career) has been highly acclaimed by the international press (4½-star in DownBeat, “best album of the year” in Jazz Nu). It was followed in ‘98 by “Guitar Groove” (with Jim Beard on piano and keyboards, Alphonso Johnson on bass and Rodney Holmes on drums), which features twelve superb compositions by Philip and a beautiful rendering of ‘Stardust’. The album got impressive radio airplay in the US and - very exceptional for a European jazz cd - it broke the top 20 of the Gavin Jazz Chart where it stayed for several months. The Cd “Blue Prince” (nov 2000) received very enthusiastic acclaim from the press: “Record of the Year”, in ‘JazzMan’ and was selected among best album of the year in many magazines and newspapers. “Summer Night” (Dreyfus, 2002) - with Philippe Aerts on bass, Joost van Schaik on drums, and Bert Joris on trumpet - contains six new compositions, a beautiful re-take of ‘Janet’ and six standards.Le Monde writes “It’s jazz, real, solid, an exceptional taste, velvet touch, a great personality which we sense through each chord, each note.”. The success of his appearances with some leading European big bands, and more frequently with chamber orchestra’s, have revealed that his lyrical compositions are particularly appropriate for arrangements for larger ensembles. This lead to the collaboration with the Brussels Jazz Orchestra (BJO, , who were the first european big band to be elected in the 2004 Downbeat Critics Poll), and in april 2005 the album “Meeting Colours” (Dreyfus) was released, with superb arrangements of his music for guitar and big band by trumpetplayer/arranger Bert Joris. . “Guitars Two” (2008, Dreyfus Jazz), the first solo album of his career, was hailed in the international press as one of his best albums. The beauty of his compositions really stands out in these arrangements. Philip, surrounded by his guitars and his pedal-rack, fascinates his audience.
The album “Live at Cap Breton” (Dreyfus, 4/2010) with an all-star line-up: Enrico Pieranunzi (p), Hein Van de Geyn (b), Joe LaBarbera (dr) received great reviews and the quartet played some amazing concerts at summer festivals in 2010. In 2011 The album “Philip Catherine plays Cole Porter” was released on Challenge Records, in quartet with pianist Karel Boehlee, Martijn Vink on drums and Philippe Aerts on double bass. In the words of Hein Van de Geyn : “Philip's unique sound is always recognizable, deeply expressive and so very personal. By surrendering to the tune, by simply trying to give the honest rendition of these timeless songs, Philip proved himself to be a great singer.” It received among others the CHOC of the magazine JazzMan. For his 70th birthday Philip Catherine gave a memorable concert at the Brussels Palais des Beaux-Arts,and presented his album "Coté Jardin" (11/2012) with his new quartet : great italian pianist Nicola Andrioli, young drum phenomenon Antoine Pierre and longstanding companion Philippe Aerts on bass, plus additional keyboards by Philippe Decock, and daughter Isabelle Catherine on vocals in a version of Philip’s composition ‘Coté Jardin’ with lyrics by Jacques Duvall. Newspaper 'De Standaard' : “On ‘Misty Cliffs’ his guitar sings, murmurs, but also bites and searches extasy ... Catherine is lyrical, virutoso and by whiles exuberant on this sublime album.” In January 2014 the album ‘New Folks – Duo Art’ was released on ACT Music, a duo recording with US based German bassplayer Martin Wind. Complicity, mutual respect and great playing have seduced the audiences during the succesful tours throughout Europe and the US. Being asked by the legendary Brussels Flagey concert hall to set up a special project for their festival, Philip Catherine decided it was the right time to present a selection of his compositions in arrangements with string orchestra. The première was performed on in January 2015 at Flagey in Brussels. Philip’s quintet together with the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie conducted by Frank Braley, gave a sublime concert, which was filmed by national TV 'VRT-Canvas'. The album ‘The String Project – live in Brussels’ was released on ACT Music in September 2015, and has been highly acclaimed in the international press. Rafał Garszczyński wrote in JazzPress: "This is one of the best jazz recordings with strings of all times." In May 2016 in Hamburg (Germany), Philip received the prestigious ''ECHO JAZZ AWARD 2016' in the category 'best international guitarist' with this album. Autumn 2017 Philip Catherine celebrated his 75th Anniversary with a sold out concert at Flagey Brussels, in a special line-up with two pianos and two drums which resulted to be magic. Warner Music released for the occasion a 5-CDBox: "Seleced Works 1974-1982" the long awaited re-releaseof his early vinyl records 'September Man' and 'Guitars', the albums 'Babel'and 'End of August', completed with an unedited solo recording by Radio Bremen of 1979 & 1982. Also Philip's first album 'Stream' was re-released on CD by the japanese label Union Disk. During 2018 Philip Catherine performed at festivals like North Sea Jazz (sextet with 2 pianos), Middelheim Jazz (with his 'Reunion Band'), Dinant Jazz (his Quartet & Joshua Redman), as well as concerts in Argentina (with the great Dino Saluzzi), Austria, Belgium, France, Holland, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Senegal, Switserland... 2019 will see the release of an album with the legendary trio Bex-Catherine-Romano :"La Belle Vie" in February, as well as an album with Paulo Morello & Sven Faller, "Manoir de mes Rêves" around the music of Django Reinhardt. Philip Catherine continues relentlessly and open-minded his search for renewal and perfection. The formulas with which he performs give him the rhythmic support and freedom to unfold his wide palette of musical styles, from that irresistible groovy rock sound to the broad lyrical phrases of which he is a master. - Downbeat : « He is one of the most accomplished and rewarding guitarists now playing jazz. »- Le Monde : « Philip Catherine is one of the last romantics in jazz. Philip Catherine doesn’t play music: he is music. A lyricism that hits the unconscience. Music, music, sometimes with an air of simplicity that makes you believe nothing is easier than observe a photon in it’s course. Great art.»