New York Times Singer Is Mourned and Celebrated in Detroit
By STEPHEN KINZER DETROIT, Aug. 28 As people here began recovering from the shock of the singer Aaliyah's death, they started to realize today how much she meant to their own self- image and their hopes for their city. Detroit has gone through years of hard times, and its once-vibrant music industry has been part of the decline. To many people here, Aaliyah, who was born in Brooklyn but grew up in Detroit, reflected the city's climb back toward prominence and prosperity. The news of her death on Saturday at the age of 22 in the crash of a small plane in the Bahamas, where she had been recording a music video, has deeply shaken the city. "People are really devastated," said K. J. Holiday, a program director at WJLB-FM, which has been playing Aaliyah's music since she was 15. "People are calling in and just crying on the air." Aaliyah's parents groomed her for stardom, and shielded her from the toughest aspects of the inner city. But many people in Detroit, not a place where dreams often come true, viscerally identified with her. As a multimillion-selling rhythm and blues singer who was featured last year in the movie "Romeo Must Die," she was proof to some that glory can break even over the meanest of streets. "Everyone here knows about our great music history," said the program director at radio station WJLB, who uses the name Janet G., "but Motown moved away and nothing came in to replace it. But then came Aaliyah. She put the pride of Detroit back on a national level." At the Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts, where she was an honor student known as Aaliyah Dani Haughton, more than 1,000 people turned out for a candlelight vigil on Monday night. They brought flowers, pictures, stuffed animals and hand-written poems. Radio stations broadcast live from the vigil, and Aaliyah's songs echoed down Rosa Parks Boulevard, where the high school is located. One disk jockey called for silence and slowly read the names of the eight people who died with her. When he finished, Aaliyah's recorded voice resumed, this time with her version of "At Your Best (You Are Loved)." At the school's entrance today, a veritable altar, complete with votive candles bearing the image of the Virgin Mary, awaited mourners. "She was an inspiration big-time," said Glenn Lattiere, a 15-year-old sophomore. "I felt very close to her, being from Detroit and from this school. She gave me a lot of hope that I could be like her." Two teenage girls taped a card and three pink roses on the school door, and then a balloon with the words "I Love You." One of them, Claudia Brundidge, 16, said Aaliyah's success made her "one of a kind" in the eyes of young people here. "She had a lot of goals and she actually achieved them," Ms. Brundidge said. "Everyone looked up to her. There's a lot of talent in Detroit, but not that many stars." A life-sized cardboard image of Aaliyah stood near the counter at Justin's Music, a popular record store where a sign on the door says "Black Owned and Operated." When the store opened on Sunday, people were already lined up outside. Within half an hour they had bought every copy of Aaliyah's CD's. One young woman dressed like the star, with low-cut jeans, tight leather top and long hair falling over her right eye, came in, stood near the cut-out for a while and then left without saying a word. "Everybody felt that they had a part of her," said a salesclerk, Monica Davis. "She was one of the most positive people we had from Detroit. She's the one that we wanted the world to know was from here. People saw her and thought `You don't have to be in California to make it.' " >From the moment news of Aaliyah's death reached Detroit early Sunday, she has dominated the airwaves. Less than 24 hours after the crash, a group of Detroit rap singers released a tribute song that was being played on radio stations today. It is called "Baby Girl," one of Aaliyah's nicknames. "Baby Girl, I loved you so," the lyrics say. "Baby Girl, why'd you have to go? Aaliyah, we can't believe that you're gone." --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
