Aaliyah was an American singer and actress who had a promising career and made good fortune before she died. Who owns Aaliyah’s estate?
Although it’s been decades since singer Aaliyah passed in August 2001, fans continue to love her music, and for some, even the sound of her voice can slingshot them back to the vibe of the ’90s. Over the years, fans have wanted to listen to her music on different platforms, but for whatever reason, it seemed like her estate wasn’t on board with the idea.
However, fans were excited in 2021 when Aaliyah’s music was released on various streaming platforms for the 20th anniversary of her death. And now, we’ve got even more to look forward to as a posthumous album titled “Unstoppable” is being released. But this has people curious. Who’s actually releasing this album and who owns her estate?
Profile Summary
| Celebrated Name: | Aaliyah |
| Net Worth: | $8 million |
| Salary: | $1.5 million to $5 million from acting |
| Profession: | Singer, model, actor, dancer |
| Full Real Name: | Aaliyah Dana Haughton |
| Birthday: | Jan 16, 1979 |
| Age: | Died age 22 and would be 44 years old today |
| Death date: | Aug 25, 2001 |
| Birthplace: | Brooklyn |
| Nationality: | American |
| Gender: | Female |
| Height: | 5 ft 7 in (1.71 m) |
Who owns Aaliyah’s estate?
According to The L.A. Times, Aaliyah’s estate is owned and run by Aaliyah LLC which is operated by her mother, Diane, and her brother Rashad Haughton. But this doesn’t mean they own her catalog. It turns out that a majority of Aaliyah’s music is owned by Barry Hankerson. He’s the singer’s uncle, former manager, and co-owner of Blackground Records, the label she released music through for years during her lifetime.
This division of who owns what in terms of Aaliyah’s career has caused tension over the years, and this is part of the reason why there has been such a back-and-forth with the singer’s music being available on streaming platforms. Around the 20th anniversary of Aaliyah’s death, Barry spoke to Billboard stating that her music would soon be streamable.
But her estate has been against the plan for years.
“For 20 years we have battled behind the scenes, enduring shadowy tactics of deception with unauthorized projects targeted to tarnish,” the estate wrote in a statement that was posted to Aaliyah’s official Instagram in August 2021. The statement also says that “there is such a tenacity in causing more pain” since the music was being released without the estate’s approval. However, it’s not clear why the estate doesn’t want Aaliyah’s music available to the public.
Even though Aaliyah’s estate may not have wanted this to happen, because Barry owns most of the singer’s catalog, he can essentially do what he wants with the music. That includes putting it on streaming platforms and releasing new music like her upcoming album.
What was Aaliyah’s net worth?
Before she died in 2001, she had a promising career and even made a fortune less than 6 years into her stardom. The List pegs her fortune after death at $8 million. She made this money from doing music, acting, modeling, and other endeavors.
Her success as both a recording artist and actress actually makes the name of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Aaliyah made her dreams come true. At 22, she not only had a very successful recording career but also established herself as a motion picture actress and an accomplished businesswoman.
She release her final album, “Aaliyah” in July 2001. Posthumously, she has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.
She reportedly lived in a two-bedroom house in Manhattan, Condominium at 25 central park west in unit 2i located in lincoln square in the Upper West.
She had an impressive acting career and made good money from some movie roles.
Aaliyah graduated from the Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts in 1997. That same year she landed a role on the television series police drama, “New York Undercover”.
Her first feature film role come in the 1999 movie “Romeo Must Die”, which co-starred Jet Li. The film eventually grossed $91 million on a budget of $25 million.
Aaliyah contributed four songs to the film’s soundtrack and was an executive producer of the soundtrack. The song “Try Again” ended up topping the Billboard Hot 100. The music video for the single won Best Video from a Film and Best Female Video awards at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. It also earned her a Grammy Award nomination in the category for Best Female R&B Vocalist.
Her next movie “Queen of the Damned” grossed $45 million.
Aaliyah earned $1.5 million for her work on “Romeo Must Die”. She then earned $5 million for “Queen of the Damned”, per Celebrity Net Worth.