--Eve speaks:

"Two weeks before Aaliyah died I was in a private jet, and there was a rumor that something had happened [to me]. So when I got offstage and my security guard said, "somebody told me that Aaliyah's plane went down, I was like 'whatever, I'm not believe that.' So I got on the TRL tour bus on my way to Chicago - that's when I found out it was true. I just started crying immediately. The next day, the show was so sad. I saw Destiny's Child, and they said they had been crying all night. I was proud of Aaliyah for living her dream. "She was a singer, her voice was incredible. 'Age Ain't Nothin'...'--that was my theme song, 'cause we were the same age. I was a hip-hop chick and she was R&B, but I just really liked her songs. I wanted to do something with her on my third album. I'll remember her as a beautiful, intelligent, talented woman who was doing her thing and was about to become a megastar.

--Beyonce Knowles from Destiny's Child speaks:

"The first time I met Aaliyah, she was so sweeet and nice. I was at a rehearsal for one of our videos, and we were working with her friend Fatima, the chrographer. We were so excited to meet her, because we were big fans. And she just sat over to the side - actually sat ont he floor - and rewound our tape for us. She had the warmest, most humble aura; you would never even think that she was a celebrity, yet here she was, this huge star. Aaliyah was the first young artist to come out, and she influenced all of us. Her new album is tremdous. I loved that it's different fromt he others, more mature. And I totally respect taht she stated acting; to do an album and a movie takess so much dedication ad love for your craft. To be honest, I was septical about doing Carmen: A Hip Hopera but when I saw that she could do it, I was like, ;all right.' She gave me the strength and the cofidence to do it. Just from seeing Romeo Must Die you could tell she was an extraordinary actress. She would have done more movies and beome a legend. And that is what she is now."

--Alicia Keys speaks:

"I was in the car and got this call from my manager, and I was like, "Huh? That ca't be true!' I was praying to God that it was a terrible rumor. Aaliyah's death had such an impact on me because even though I never met her, I believe you can get an idea of the essence of a person's spirit through her music and image - and I felt that her spirit was so good. She was strong - she had her own ideas on what she wanted to wear and how she wanted to be reprsented. She always did things a little differently. And she was so inspiring. I aspred to be an artist around hte same time she had already released an album, so she made it a reality, a realistic and attanable goal for me. Aaliyah inspried me not only to continue being an artist but to be an individial - o matter who you are or what you do, be your own person, love who you are and be proud of that. I feel she departed in a good space, in the sense of where her mind was and where she was in life. She was happy and free, her spirit was flying."

--Brandy Norwood speaks:

"Aaliyah and I were the same age, but she started before me. When she made her first album I thought she was so pretty and so different. I loved the sound of her voice, the way she delivered her message. I had a lot of her pictures on my wall when I was making my first record. She just always seemed like she had it together, and everything she presented to the public seemed like the truth of who she was; it never seemed like a front. I was just talking with a friend who told me 'I feel so dumb for crying because I never knew Aaliyah,' and I said, 'You do know her because everthing you saw was who she was. 'I know she was very close to her family, and that's all I can think about when I think of Aaliyah because I'm so close to Ray J and my mother and my father. I got that from her, just the love she had for her family and for God, and for herself - to me, that represents spirituality. You know, people tried to put us against each other and make it competitve when I first came out, but she always really was one of my favorite artist. She just had a different sound, like a R&B Sade. Her vioce is kinda healing. You want to sit back and relax - her music does that to me. I couldn't wait to see what she was going to do next."

--Damon Dash, Aaliyah's boyfriend & Roc-A-Fella CEO speaks:

Every day that we were together was a special event. I loved her with all my heart. As soon as she had time, we were getting married, like after the Matrix sequels. And, you know, we were together for over a year, and I never raised my voice at her. We never argued about anything, because there was nothing to argue about. I would do anything for her. Anything to protect her from pain. My heart is broken.

--Jomo Hankerson, Aaliyahs manager/cousin & label pres. speaks:

She's been the princess of this family since she was born. She was the prettiest litttle baby. She was so funny and full of life. She had her own independent spirit. The most fun we had lately was in Australia. She was filming Queen of the Damned and finishing her currrent album, which we'd been working on for a few years. Nobody wanted to go halfway around the world! I had to bribe the producers into goig. but when we got there, we had such a beautiful time. Melbourne was unspoiled, and we were making hot music. Abhout a week ago, we had a marketing meeting with her and her mom, Diane. After that meeting, me and my dad [Blackground founder and CEO Barry Hankerson] said, "Wow, our baby girl is grown." And she was a full blossom. All you saw was unlimited potential. She was about to soar. She was perfect, and I'm gonna miss her.

--rapper Q-Tip speaks:

We always used to hang out with Kidada Jones and bug out. We made up little characters ad stuff. I was called Apple Picking Nigga, Aaliyah was Anabel, and Kidada was Patula, and it was all done in a Southern 1840's drawl. We calledD'Angelo Jerome the Wood Burning Nigga, because he was always smoking weed. I would call and say my name, and she'd say [going in to Aaliyah's character, "Oh, it's you, igga. How are you? Have you been picking peaches and apples today out there in the field? You know Mrs. is missing ya." W used to carry on.

-- Natane Adcock, close friend and model speaks:

From the day we met, we clicked. It was like I knew her from a past life. Aaliyah had it all - talent, beauty, fame, a loving family, great friends. Yet she appreciated what she had, and gave humbly and selflessly to others. I'll never forget how we laughed our way through the summers. We'd make up silly names for the food Damon and Jay-Z's cook made like "cereal pie," "candy salad," and the "bizarre purple potatoes that came from Mars." When we planned our "very important" outfits, we were like little girls. One night, me, Aaliyah, Damon, Jay, and [model] May Anderson were sitting up talking, and we realized were like those kids from The Breakfast Club. Like at the end of the movie, when they all let their guard down; it was like that from the start with us. We all saw in each other what we had in ourselves. Damon is my best guy friend, and I set him up with Aaliyah last Fourth of July. I never saw a relationship like theirs. Like tha first day when you meet someone, that was every day for them - no expectation, no jeealousy, no judgment, just unconditional love.

--Jimmy Jam speaks:

I talked with her after last yer's MTV Video Music Awards. I told her I was a big fan and that I had spolken to Janet and we were trying to pull together a duet. She was really excited about that. She and Janet shared a lot of artistic similarites. Theey were both innovative and they pushed the envelope. The day of the crash, Janet two-wayed me and asked, "Did you hear something about Aaliyah dying?" She said that Method Man had two-wayed her . I went to the AP Web site and found out it was true. We were devastated. We were obviously done with work at that point, so we talked the rest of the night and listened to Aaliyah's new album.

--Paul Hunter, friend and video director speaks:

Aaliyah gave me my first break. My first major video was for "Got to Give It Up." Then she called me again to do her single "One in a Million." She stuck by her word. She was like, "I'm gonna help you. I'm gonna give you a shot." She was like a sister. We loved working together. Every time she called, I made time for her, because she was so special and sweet. One night, she ad four girlfriends did a spoof of a Spice Girls' video that I shot with a regular video camera. We all went up to her girlfriend's house, and they did their hair and makeup. We always laughed at jokes, like, "Okay, you got Paul Hunter, this big director, to make this home video." We actually liked that video better than all the other videos we had done. It was just more fun and innocent. We called our home video "The Spicier Girls."

--Bilil Muhammad speaks:

I knew Aaliyah since hse was 9 years old. Her daddy and me were est friends and we ran a h omeless shelter together. When she was, like, 13, she would come to the shelter and sing for the homeless people. She always had that magic about her, and she knew that she was going to be a successful. I high school, she'd sing in talent shows and stuff like that. She always wanted to participate in what other kids were doing. Sometimes it was a little hard, because there were a few jealous kids who would pick on her a little bit, but that's what I was there for. My condolences go out to Diane and Micheal Haughton. We were best friends, and later had our difficulties over money, but death brings people together. All I can think about is that sweet little girl.

--Jermaine Dupri speaks:

I met Aaliyah when I did "I gotcha 'Back" for One In A Million. It was Kidada who got me knowing Aaliyah as a friend. Me, Kidada, and Aaliyah used to sit on the phone three-way calling. When I was working on Usher's new album four years ago, they would call the studio, and we would play on the phone, just having conversations like young people do.

--Micheal Rymer, QOTD director speaks:

She was a 22-year old woman playing the all-powerful, most dangerous creature in the universe. She had to endure three horus of make up, be suspended from lines, train to get her accent right, and work with a movement coach. We shot mostly at night in the freezing cold. She never complained, never lost her temper or became impatient. You would give her a direction, and she would execute it like a machine. I used to come home to my wife and say, That girl is amazing. She was truly remarkable. I was watching the film today. It was so weird to me that the last image of Aaliyah will be this shadow of the real person. As dark and evil as this character was, the real person was full of light.

--Joanne Baron, Aaliyah's acting coach speaks:

About a year ago, before QOTD was shot, Aaliyah was going through an audition process. She came to the house, and she immediately blew my mind, because she had prepared a piece that Micheal Rymer had asked her to do from a play called Salome. She came in on her knees like a cat, growling, "I'm the woman that you left." And she did this with such brilliant physicality and vocality. She crawled around on the floor for two hours, moving about the room in unbelievable fluidity, acting this thing to perfection. We worked rigorously to get her this part. She put her heart, her time, her love, and her life into it. She just ripped it out. The part she played was more than the genious of Anne Rice; it also became something very prsonal and elevating to Aaliyah's spirituality.

--Isaiah Washington, Romeo Must Die costar speaks:

She was extremely humble and grateful, and very excited about her careeer. The craziest thing she did on set was putting a prosthesis in her mouth that mnade her gums look big and her teeth bucked. That's the imae that keeps popping in my head. She walked up to me, and I didn't kow who she was, I thought that she was some extraordinaryily unattractive individual who needed to make a seiours trip to the orthodontist. People die everyday, but I'm confused with God on this one. Obviously, He has a higher plan for her, and I'm sure she will fulfill it.

--DMX speaks:

Dearest Aaliyah We didn't konw eacho ther long, or see eaeach other much, but we became instant and sincere friends. I ahve trouble accepting the fact that you are gone - so I won't. It'll be like we went without seeing each other for a while. I thank you for the movie opportunities and for the chance to work with you. But I can see why God wanted you closer to him, because you truly were an angel on earth. See you soon, ad in my own special way - I Love You! You'll always be with us!! Blessed Journey!

-- Albert Watson, photographer speaks:

When I photographed Aaliyah in July 2000, what impressed me most was how professional she was. The first time I worked with ehr, she was due to arrive at hte studio at 10 a.m., ad she was there at 9:45. She had a very clear idea of what she wanted her image to be, but she wasn't dictatorial about it. She was raised well. She was polite, which is unusual among young stars. But she had hte poise of someone much older, a Jack ocholson, someone who had learned it over a long career. When she came into work, she was totally prepared. And when we loked at the Polaroids, she didn't neeed retouching. She was flawless. And she was a good fun as well.

--Skillz (AKA Mad Skillz), friend, rapped on "AYTS? (Remix) speaks:

You expect R&B stars to behave with a real attitude, but she wasn't like that at all when Timbaland and Magoo first introduced us. At that time, she was already famous, but she was still down-to-earth. If someone introduced you to her, you were family. That's just how she was.

-- Diane Warren, songwriter, wrote TOIGMHT off OIAM speaks:

I first met Aaliyah about five years ago in the studio, and I was really imprssed with her singing. She could go where the Whitneys went. She wailed on that single I wrote for her. I write songs that challenge singers, and she rose to the occasion. She worked her ass on that vocal. She wouldn't leave until she got it right. She was a great interpreter of songs, one of the best, and I'm sad that I won't be able to work with her again.

--Fatima, choreographer and friend speaks:

I was supposed to be at my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary, but I could't make it because of the video shoot in the Bahamas. Aaliyah was like, "Fatima, you do't have to do it." And I was like, No, Aaliyah, I want to do it, but cold you say hapy anniversary to my grandparents and put it on a tape? So we videotaped her singing happy anniversary to my grandparents, and she said, "I'm sorry I had to steal your granddaughter away from you on this special day, but I needed her, and I hope you have more great years together." And that was the kind of individual she was - a sweet person who believed in family first.

--Gladys Knight ex-wife of Aaliyah's Uncle Barry speaks:

Her family thought it would be a good idea for her to work with me and see if she really wanted to do this. When she was 11, she performed with me for a week in Las Vegas, ad she did a wonderful job. The crowd loved her. She wasn't precocioius. In fact, she was pretty shy then. But when she got on the stage, she just opened up. It's going to be a long time before I can think about her without being sad, but because of my faith, I know that she is fine where she is right now.

--Tank, labelmat, background and songwriter for Aaliyah speaks:

She was one of the sweetest people in the industry, and I guess she just never saw a reason to change. Some people try hard to be stars, or they try to be where the media is, or they try to do something outlandish. Aaliyah didn't have to do that. When me and my boys heard hta tshe was oing Queen of the Damned and The Matrix sequels, we said, "Aaliyah is out of here. Ther's no stopping her. She's on a big jet plane shooting past the stars." I guess that's where she is now...

-- Missy Elliott speaks:

I have always said working iwth Aaliyah is like working with the top. She's so fast. I'd leave the studio for a minute and come back, and she would have completed a whole song. She worked really hard that way. We had a bet as to who was going to wear a dress first, 'cause neither one of us used to wear dresses. One day, I saw her in a dress, and I was like, Wait a minute, this girl owes me some money. She was one of the warmest people. She was definitely one in a million.

--speaks:

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