Madame Tussauds Unveils Lifelike Aaliyah Wax Figure And Fans Are Floored
The music industry has never fully moved passed the sudden loss of R&B’s princess Aaliyah, who was tragically taken too soon in a plane crash. In honor of her enduring mark on music, Madame Tussauds immortalized the R&B icon’s legacy with a special nod to one of Aaliyah’s greatest and most enduring hits.
On Wednesday night (Aug. 21), the museum unveiled a highly detailed waxwork of the late songstress in Las Vegas. For many Aaliyah’s fans, the homage to the ‘90s icon feels like momentous occasion as the wax figure comes 18 years after she passed away. The special moment is piercing the hearts of Aaliyah fans all over the globe. Her older brother, Rashad Houghton, was there to debut the figure to the world.
In an exclusive interview with VIBE, Adam Morey, the studio manager at Madame Tussauds’ Las Vegas location, said the museum spent nearly two years coming up with designs and crafting the wax figure to make sure every aspect of the waxwork was as accurate as possible. Right off the bat, Morey knew that he wanted to use Aaliyah’s legendary outfit from her everlasting classic, “Try Again.”
The wax figure depicts Aaliyah as if she was pulled straight from her 2000 music video in her signature leather pants with a matching metallic bra and choker.
“The look has the sexy, edgy, timeless vibe we try to imbue in the Las Vegas attraction within all our creative choices,” Morey explained, citing the recent trend of celebrities paying homage to the ‘90s icon as of late.
Rashad helped guide the creative process every step of the way, from start to finish, to make sure Madame Tussauds did his sister’s image justice. They made sure every detail, down to the smallest one, was right.
“One thing we made sure to include was all of my sister's tattoos,” Haughton shared. “They are all quite hidden because my sister chose strategic places for them due to her on-camera film work.”
Morey also made sure to include one little detail for fans to take away from the whole exhibit.
“This set, rather than being a recreation of any one particular Aaliyah moment, was instead designed with a message to her fans in mind,” Morey said. It’s a message that hopefully reflects her everlasting legacy.”
Aaliyah’s fans are floored by how lifelike the new wax figure and amazed by the level of detail in the statue. They were nearly moved to tears by the amount of care and reverence that’s evident in the whole exhibit.
“To whoever made that Aaliyah wax figure, you really did that,” one fan penned on Twitter. See the rest of the internet's reactions to Aaliyah’s wax figure below.
