While the influential R&B singer Aaliyah passed away nearly two decades ago, the mark she left on music during her time as an artist is indelible. Author Kathy Iandoli’s years-in-the-making Baby Girl: Better Known As Aaliyah book will be released on August 21, 2021, which is four days before the 20th anniversary of her tragic plane crash in the Bahamas.
The Simon & Schuster/Atria Books work will examine the life and transcendent career of Aaliyah, and take a deep-dive into her endeavors outside music in Hollywood and as a fashion icon. A press release explains the book will also explore Aaliyah’s “volatile entanglement with R. Kelly and an intense investigation on the crash that ended her life.”
“I wrote this book as an Aaliyah fan,” Iandoli said. “This is for all of us who for the last twenty years can spot her influence everywhere, while wishing she was still here. I left no stone unturned, and I hope I’ve added to her legacy properly.”
All three of her studio albums are multi-platinum certified by the RIAA. After ending her tumultuous relationship with R. Kelly, who wrote and produced Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number, Aaliyah linked up with Missy Elliott and Timbaland to engineer her sophomore One In a Million LP. Her eponymous third and final album would top the Billboard 200 in 2001.
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Aaliyah fans can expect exclusive interviews, never before told stories and so much more from Baby Girl, which the press release claims is “the book Aaliyah fans have been waiting for, for nearly 20 years.”
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On Friday (October 23), Iandoli revealed the official cover to Baby Girl: Better Known As Aaliyahwith the pre-order link to Amazon now live.
“Like so many of you, I remember exactly where I was when I learned that Aaliyah was killed,” she wrote to Instagram. “It’s one of those moments that has stuck with me forever, and through my writing career I have written about Baby Girl a lot—I guess to fill the void of never getting to interview her.”
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Aaliyah’s music remains absent from streaming services, even though her estate told fans in August they were in talks to bring her catalog to the masses. Her 1994 debut Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number is the only project widely available on major streaming services.
