Lifetime Movie 'Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B' Premieres Tonight, Stars Alexandra Shipp

Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B premieres November 15 on Lifetime. Photo Credit: Christos Kalohoridis

Lifetime's Original Movie, Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B premieres Saturday, November 15, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The film stars Alexandra Shipp, who recently completed her run as Marybeth on Days of our Lives, as the beloved actress and music sensation.

Rachael Crawford (The Man) and Sterling Jarvis (The Sentinel) play Aaliyah's parents Diane and Mike Haughton; A.J. Saudin (Degrassi: The Next Generation) is Aaliyah's brother Rashad Haughton; and Lyriq Bent (Saw IV) stars as her uncle and music manager Barry Hankerson. The cast includes Anthony Grant as Damon Dash, Izaak Smith (Mirror, Mirror) as Timbaland, Elise Neal (The Soul Man) as Gladys Knight and Chattrisse Dolabaille (Home Away) as Missy Elliot.

Before Beyoncé and before Rihanna, self-proclaimed "street but sweet" Aaliyah was poised to become a global icon with top-selling albums, a hot movie career and an adoring fan base. The film follows the beautiful and talented performer’s inspirational journey, from her debut on Star Search at the age of ten to the challenges she faced during her rise to become the Princess of R&B. On August 25, 2001, at the height of her popularity, her life was tragically cut short when a plane carrying the singer and some of her video crew crashed after takeoff from a Bahamian runway. Although just 22-years-old at the time of her death, Aaliyah continues to lead a legacy as Billboard’s tenth most famous R&B artist of the past 25 years and one of the recording industry's most successful artists in history.

Watch a sneak peek of Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B below:



Multi-talented actress and singer/songwriter Alexandra Shipp starred as KT Rush in the Nickelodeon series House of Anubis. Additional credits include Drumline 2: A New Beat, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Ray Donovan, Victorious, Switched At Birth, Days of our Lives and Awkward. Shipp recently filmed Universal Pictures' Straight Outta Compton.

Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B is produced by Aaliyah Productions, Inc. Howard Braunstein (The Informant!) Debra Martin Chase (The Princess Diaries, Sparkle) and Wendy Williams (Wendy Williams Show) serve as executive producers. Steve Solomos serves as producer. Bradley Walsh (Turn the Beat Around) directs from a script written by Michael Elliot (Brown Sugar).