Aaliyah was a 22-year-old R&B singer and actress who died in a plane crash on August 25, 2001, in the Bahamas along with eight other people on board. The overloaded aircraft, which she was traveling in, crashed shortly after takeoff. The pilot was later found to have traces of cocaine and alcohol in his body and was not qualified to fly the aircraft designated for the flight. According to findings from an inquest conducted by the coroners office in the Bahamas, Aaliyah had "severe burns and a blow to the head" in addition to severe shock and a weak heart. The coroner theorized that she went into such a state of shock that even if she had survived the crash, her injuries would have been fatal. Her body was found still strapped into her seat, about 20 feet away from the wreckage.

Recently, a new book claimed that Aaliyah was "drugged and carried" unconsciously onto the plane that killed her. The book alleges that Aaliyah didnt want to get on the doomed plane but was carried on board unconscious after being given a sedative. However, the cause of the crash was officially attributed to the pilots negligence and the aircraft being overloaded.