“He was really crying because she had passed”: Enrique Iglesias Was Battling Personal Trauma After Tragic Death of Aaliyah While Shooting Hero

Fans couldn’t help but feel sorry for Enrique Iglesias after actress Jennifer Love Hewitt shared a memory from her time acting in the singer’s video Hero. Hewitt shared that the Tonight singer was mourning the death of his close friend and singer Aaliyah while they shot the music video. The R&B star was killed in an airplane accident in the Bahamas on August 25, 2001.

Hero was released as part of Iglesias’s English language album, Escape. The song received critical and commercial success, selling over 8 million copies worldwide. It was also one of the songs that was popularized by New York City DJs during the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

Enrique Iglesias Was Mourning Aaliyah’s Death While Shooting Hero
During a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, 9-1-1 star Jennifer Love Hewitt opened up about her acting roles in Hollywood. She shared about her time as an actress in Enrique Iglesias’s music video Hero. Hewitt played the Heartbeat singer’s romantic interest in the video, which also featured an appearance from Iron Man actor Mickey Rourke.

Hewitt shared a devastating story from the behind-the-scenes of the video that will move any fans of Iglesias to tears. The Ghost Whisperer actress shared that Iglesias was actually crying in the video over the news of the passing of singer Aaliyah. The Ring My Bells singer and the late Princess of R&B were close friends and her fatal accident happened on the same day of the video shoot.

The Criminal Minds actress also shared that they all did a prayer for Aaliyah at the end of the video and dedicated the song to her. She remembered that the whole ordeal with the Hero music video shoot was intense. Hewitt told Entertainment Tonight:

The craziest thing about that video shoot that I don’t think people know is that Enrique and Aaliyah were close friends and the night that we filmed that video was the night that she passed. Enrique had to film that, all of his crying stuff, was filmed and he was really crying because she had passed.

So we all did a big prayer for her at the end of the video and he kind of dedicated it to her. I just remember that being really intense.

Back in 2001, Aaliyah was making herself a name in the film industry as well. Her last album, Aaliyah, topped the Billboard 200. Billboard lists her as the 27th most successful R&B female artist in history (via Empire). During the interview, Hewitt also talked about her current series 9-1-1, which has been renewed for an eighth season.

Enrique Iglesias Is Set To Perform In Dubai Later This Year After His Trilogy Tour
Enrique Iglesias will be performing his nostalgic songs for a much-anticipated concert in Dubai, which is expected to take place in September. The Dubai 2024 show will be presented by Blu Blood in association with Dubai Calendar. Coca-Cola Arena, the venue of the show, shared the exciting news on their Instagram page.

The singer is currently touring across North America after joining forces with Ricky Martin and Pitbull for The Trilogy Tour in October 2023. The tour added 18 new shows in 2024 after its immense popularity. The trio covered cities including Toronto, Miami, New York, and Los Angeles and performed at venues including the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Madison Square Garden in New York, and the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles (via Vogue).

The presale of the tickets for the Dubai concert ended on Friday.