Miss Red (Born Aaliyah Diana Perez, March 1, 1983 - Age 24) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. Born in the Town of Hempstead, Miss Red debuted at the age of 17 on July 7, 2001 with her album "Miss?" with Epic Records and Virgin as her labels, after starring in The Parkers (1999-2003) and Moesha (1996-2001) as Kim Parker. Her debut album debuted at number two on the Robloxian 200. She followed it up with Miss? Roman Reloaded in early 2002.
She left Epic & Virgin in 2003 after finishing work on The Parkers, and signed to Tamla Records instead. She released her comeback to music AFTER LIFE in March 2006, following it up with BLIX in 2007, and she released her album RENACIMIENTO on her birthday.
Origins & career[]
Early life & career beginnings: 1983-1997[]
Aaliyah Diana Pérez was born on March 1, 1983 at the Nassau University Medical Center in the Town of Hempstead, to parents José and Armani Pérez, with José being of Salvadoran and Colombian descent, and Armani being of African descent. The oldest child, she often had to raise her younger sister, Solana (b. 1991) while her parents worked. Her earliest memory was her third birthday, when her parents hired a "sketchy" Mickey Mouse for her birthday party. Due to how "sketchy" it was, she stated it was her "worst birthday party ever".
As a young child in the 1980s, Miss Red, known then as Aaliyah, sang in her church choir, and stood out. Her voice was rich, and she sounded angelic according to her mother.
In 1994, when her father, Jose began to notice her talent, he began to enter his daughter in talent shows around the state, and most of the time, she won them, and after she appeared on the “Star Search” show in 1995 and won, she began to sell out small crowds in clubs during her first tour around the East Coast of the United States as her birth name Aaliyah Perez, and began to star in Moesha as Kim Parker. She began using the stage name 'Miss Red' soon after, starting in late 1996.
One day in 1996, after Hurricane Bertha had calmed down, which had previously produced some large gusts of surprisingly cold wind and heavy rain (which caused flooding), Perez went to walk her dog. When she opened the door, she saw a classmate, Sebastian (her future husband), whom she had once said was "cute but egotistical" on the porch. He was ice cold and shivering, hypothermic and looking nearly unconscious. She walked up to him, and carried him inside. He later fell asleep on her bed, covered in her blankets, and he cuddled with her after she came to sleep. She was able to keep him hidden until that Monday. He later explained to her that his parents kicked him out after a heated argument that ensued between them. Sebastian and Aaliyah befriended each other after this, and he began to produce music, which he found to be his passion.
In 1997, she met and befriended Timbaland at an afterparty for Moesha. They began to produce music together and made many instrumental tracks, most ended up on her debut studio album. She as well met a producer in one of her elective classes in high school, a senior called Static Major (known as Static) in November 1998 and he wrote music for her.
During one of her tour performances in late 1998, she was discovered by an executive from the major label “Epic Records”. They signed her to the label, and she almost immediately began work on her debut.
The Miss? Duology: 1999-2002[]
Starting in early 1999, Miss Red began writing and composing songs with producers for her debut album, although she did not have much say in the songs she could choose. She released her first song and single from her debut album in 1999, called “Try Again”. It debuted at number 5 on the Ro-board 100 chart, and peaked at #2. After, she released her second single that contained the song ”Waiting For Tonight". It debuted atop international charts, and she was sent to tour the US, though the shows only averaged about less than an hour, and people did not think they got their money’s worth. Therefore, her label lowered the ticket prices to $5, but Miss Red had to perform more shows. During the time she did not perform, she continued to work on the album, and because of her touring schedule, the estimated 20 track album went down to 13, and 7- 15 instrumentals and demos were left unused.
Later in 1999, she left Moesha and starred in The Parkers reprising the role of Kim, with Mo’Nique as her mother Nikki Parker. Around this time she met Ariana Fenty who played Stevie Van Lowe, and they remained friends.
When her tour ended in late 2000, she decided to take a small 2 month break due to her previous overwhelming working schedule. In February of 2001, she came off of hiatus, and announced her 13-track debut album “Miss?”, which introduced her character Roman to the world as well. It released in early July, and debuted at #1 on the Roboard 200, and at #1 in several other countries.
After the release, around August, she was seen by paparazzi with "Reba" actor Steve Howey.
In Dcember 2001, she began to date Leonardo Price, who was the son of Taylor Price. Her record label did not like this, but they allowed her to continue to date him. This would be the beginning of the issues she had with the label.
After, she began to record the sequel to the album, recording some new tracks and some demos left unused from her debut, and it was released only months later in March 2002, titled “Miss? Roman Reloaded”, or just simply “Roman Reloaded”. That album debuted at #15, and peaked at #5 on the charts, and after she went on a residency in 2002, starting in December.
Donde Estan Los Ladrones?, marriage, pregnancy, and label dispute: 2002-2003[]
In November 2002, Leonardo Price and Miss Red wed in a private ceremony, and almost directly after, she announced her pregnancy to her first child, and at the same time, announced her first EP. She had already recorded material for her next EP, and released the first single, “Ojos Asi”, a month prior to her announcement. Her label was not happy with her pregnancy announcement, and tried to have her abort the baby, but Miss Red refused, and she sued the label. She used her first album’s sexual lyrics as evidence against the label, and explained to the court that she did not write any song on the album. During the 7 month dispute, Epic released the EP. In the end, Miss Red left the label and won the case, Epic being forced to pay her $1 Million in unpaid royalties, legal fees, and damages, and she donated the entire amount to charities. She signed to her father-in-law’s label, the infamous Tamla Records in 2003 and all of her music began to be distributed through them. After, she gave birth to her son, Luis (named after Mexican singer Luis Miguel), and went on a three year-long hiatus after the Parkers ended.
Hiatus, AFTER LIFE, Smile EP, BLIX, and RENACIMIENTO: 2004-2007[]
During her hiatus, Miss Red began production for her next studio album, and began to relax more than she did in previous years. She recorded 40 full demos, with only 13 making the cut. She spent time with her family more often, and read past-life regression therapy books which inspired her, due to being practically dead in the music industry, the last album she released being in 2002.
Her husband took roles in successful box office films, such as Richard in “The Beach'' (June 2005, recorded April-May), and after the album's release, Romeo in "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet" (September 2006, filmed July-September) with co-star Natalie Calvert as Juliet.
In February, Miss Red announced the death of Roman, otherwise known as Cry Baby, or Roman The Cry Baby to most. On Twitter and MySpace, she posted a visual with a tree in the fog. As the fog clears, the words "RIP CRY BABY" are engraved in a heart. She had archived all of her previous posts as well. This would be the first fans would know regarding the album.
Red released her third studio album, AFTER LIFE on March 31, 2006. The album's release was accompanied by a series of events and promotions, including snippets, egg hatching promotions and live performances of unreleased tracks. The lead single, "DEATH", released on March 17, 2006, followed by the second single, "VOID," on March 29, 2006, and the promotional single, "EVIL" on November 21, 2006. Melanie promptly released the album's deluxe edition, which featured the much-anticipated track "PURGATORY". Melanie soon embarked on the AFTER LIFE Tour on August 3, 2006.
On October 8, she released her second EP "Smile", and the single "Harley's In Hawaii", her first EP since 2002. The EP was announced with pictures of the creature as a clown. Soon, pictures were released of Miss Red without her creature makeup on, and it showed she cut her hair into a hime bob, to a lot of people's surprise. She had cut it the month before, and dyed it red soon later. In January, she released her album BLIX, her last with Tamla, after putting out the lead double A single ENERGY/BREAK MY SOUL which was released in November 2006, and promoted the album with a tour, which lasted until March 2007 and went through the US and Europe, her first time performing on the continent. In March, she released her album RENACIMIENTO, which was her first spanish album. The album gained large commercial success, and was supported by the European dates of the BLIX Tour.
Divorce, second marriage, helpless against venus, The Trilogy Tour & Enchanted: 2007-08[]
During her press tour promoting the Renacimiento album in March 2007, Red found out that her husband, Leonardo had been cheating on her with multiple different women during a rough patch they had in their marriage, while on set for the film Titanic. According to her sister Armani, she ran into her room and began to throw things, break things, and ripped her husband's clothes, and threw them out of the window. She broke pictures they had together, and called him on the phone to tell him that he was never allowed to return to her home. She filed for divorce the next day, and he was served on set. Red began recording new material for a next record, and booked the studio for a month straight locking herself in, writing music, and had about 15 songs recorded in that month. She mixed them in the next week, and released the single "the boy is mine" with Ariana Fenty on April 20, 2007.
On May 1, her purse, which had her passport, ID, and many valuables of hers, was stolen from a small meet and greet she held. After she realized it was stolen, she tweeted:
Whoever stole my purse tonight I’m still at the venue, you have time to be a good person and give it back. I will drive to you and get it.
However, no one helped her and the person who stole it never responded or gave her the purse back. Instead, obsessed fans began asking her to follow them, asking her to like their tweets, calling her ‘queen', etc. Due to this issue, she was unable to enter Japan until she got a new passport, which wasn’t until May 16. This also meant she was unable to attend the rehearsal on the 17, only arriving the night of.
She performed for the first time since the divorce was finalized on May 18, for the Sunbow Revue. She performed her set after a technical delay (which was a wardrobe issue after the first half of the set, her earpiece that played the backing track's volume wouldn't go higher, and she was extremely late). However, drama began when before Ariana Fenty's set (Red had performed before her), Fenty punched her in the face due to an argument. They performed "the boy is mine" during her set, and she put Fenty in headlock after the performance was finished, and they were both arrested and soon bailed out together by an angry Taylor Price, due to assaulting each other after and before the set. This issue caused her to nearly take Red off of Blackout Entertainment. However, after being convinced by Price, Red was allowed to continue selling music through Blackout. They reconciled soon after, as they were mad at other things, not at each other, no charges were pressed, either.
However charges were pressed by someone else in October of 2007, as during a meeting with Fenty, Tito Lopez and her now boyfriend Sebastian discussing new collaborators and producers, Fenty's father, drunk and slurred speech walked in, called her a "slut" and almost slapped Fenty, however Red caught the hit and attacked him, almost leaving him unconscious. Surprisingly, no one called the police on her, and he had to walk to the police station to file charges. She was arrested and was only forced to pay a fine of $12,000 for "disturbing the peace".
She released her next studio album "helpless against venus" on July 25, 2007 with the deluxe released in September, and had plans to embark on a new tour. This tour, Tour Of The Viper was canceled, and she began promotions for the long awaited Trilogy Tour instead, which begins in December. She described the tour in an interview as "all of your favorite songs in one concert".
On October 20, 2007, "Enchanted" a film she starred in, premiered in London. She played Giselle, an animated princess who found herself in the middle of Manhattan. The film was a huge success.
Artistry[]
Musical style[]
Her music has been described as latin-pop, r&b, hip-hop, art-pop, and hyper-pop. Miss? and Roman Reloaded both had hip-hop and R&B, with rock undertones. After Life saw her going into rock and pop, as well as art-pop and alternative undertones. Blix has music in Spanish, with R&B, soul, and art-pop undertones. Her music was described by the UV Times as "A jack-of-all-trades, with obvious rock undertones." She has been compared to the likes of Selena and her co-star, Brandy.
Influences[]
Miss Red listened to Selena, The Beatles, Brandy, Michael Jackson, Ricky Vandella, Biggie Smalls, Marvin Gaye, Regina, Jeremiah Easton, Jackson 5 and The Uplifters growing up, and aspired to be a singer at a young age. She has cited Neutral Milk Hotel, Selena and Nirvana as inspirations for her albums.
The visuals in her albums have been inspired by Mark Ryden and Tim Burton.
Discography[]
Studio Albums[]
- Miss? (2001)
- Miss?... Roman Reloaded (2002)
- AFTER LIFE (2006)
- BLIX (2007)
- RENACIMIENTO (2007)
- helpless against venus (2007)
- AALIYAH. (2009)
Extended Plays[]
- Donde Estan Los Ladrones? (2002)
- Smile EP (2006)
Singles[]
- Try Again (1999)
- Waiting for Tonight (2000)
- Roman Holiday (2002)
- Ojos Asi (2002)
- DEATH (2006)
- VOID (2006)
- energy/break my soul (2006)
- i wish you roses (2007)
- kill bill (2007)
- Que Me Entierren Con La Banda (2007)
- the boy is mine (2007)
- stronger than me (2007)
Filmography[]
Film[]
- AFTER LIFE: The Film - 2007 (The Creature, Roman (DEATH, VOID))
Shows[]
- Star Search - 1995 (Herself)
- Moesha - 1996-1999 (Kim Parker)
- The Parkers - 1999-2003 (Kim Parker)
Tours[]
- Miss? Tour (2001)
- Roman Reloaded Residency (2002)
- AFTER Life Tour (2006)
- BLIX Tour (2007)
- The Trilogy Tour (2007-08)