A public memorial service honoring the life of the twenty-two-year-old R&B singer and actress Aaliyah will be held on Friday, August 31st in New York City. The service will be held from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. at Cipriani's (110 East 42nd Street) in Time's Square, and will feature a continuous loop of Aaliyah's videos and music.

A private funeral for Aaliyah, attended by family and friends, will also be held tomorrow in Manhattan. Funeral arrangements are being worked out by the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home in New York as well as her label, Virgin Records.

Aaliyah (born Aaliyah Dana Haughton) was killed on Saturday when her privately chartered plane crashed in the Bahamas, where she had just finished filming a video for her song "Rock the Boat."

The eight other people on the plane -- Douglas Kratz, twenty-eight, director of video production for Virgin; Eric Foreman, twenty-nine, makeup artist; Anthony Dodd, thirty-four, hairstylist; Keith Wallace, forty-nine, road manager; Gina Smith, twenty-nine, product manager; Scott Gallin, forty-one, bodyguard; Christopher Maldonado, thirty-two, video producer; and the pilot, Luis Antonio Morales Blanes, thirty -- were also killed, and their bodies will be returned to their various hometowns over the next two days.

Investigators are trying to determine if engine problems, pilot error or excess baggage weight caused the crash.

LINDSAY GOLDENBERG
(August 30, 2001)