We’re brining in the new year with great news! More visuals from America’s BabyGirl, also known as Aaliyah, will finally be made available to us.
On Christmas Day (Dec. 25), a post from Aaliyah’s verified Instagram account confirmed that the estate has gained the rights to her official YouTube channel. Now that it controls the visual hub for all things Aaliyah, her estate is planning to formally launch her channel in 2021.
“Thank you for all of your love and support,” the IG caption reads. “We are proud to announce that the Estate is now in control of the ‘Aaliyah’ YouTube account. 2021 will the year of Aaliyah! See you all in the new year!”
The story of Aaliyah is truly one of a shining star gone far too soon. Before her unfortunate passing in 2001, she released an plethora of iconic music videos from “4 Page Letter” to her final visual for “Rock The Boat,” — all which set the standard for R&B music, and visuals forever. The previous owner of the YouTube channel has spent the last decade compiling the “One in a Million” singer’s best music videos in one place, however, no other content has been featured there. According to the recent announcement, that will change in 2021.
The surprising update about Aaliyah’s YouTube channel comes not long after her estate revealed that the late singer’s music could hit streaming services in the near future. On the 19th anniversary of her passing (Aug. 25), the estate announced that it had begun reaching out to various record labels to discuss the status of her music on digital streaming platforms.
Though we’ve been deprived of the vast catalogue of Aaliyah’s music for years, we are so excited to finally have access to all her genius creations. Aaliyah’s music has been caught in the middle of an ongoing legal battle for quite some time. After releasing all three of her studio albums, her uncle Barry Hankerson, co-founder of the now-defunct label Blackground Records, is reportedly the one responsible for blocking the distribution of her on streaming services.
This is a great time to be an Aaliyah fan! Stay tuned for more on this story. For now, you can enjoy the familiar sounds of the falsetto queen.
