Though R&B singer Aaliyah died 13 years ago at the peak of her fame, her presence can still be felt.

She can be traced to R&B-pop divas like Beyonce, Rihanna and Ciara, and heard in recent genre outliers such as Tinashe, Jessie Ware, Banks and Jhene Aiko. Even rap heavyweight Drake can cite her as an influence.

“Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B,” an original movie airing on Lifetime on Saturday, traces the rise of the music and film ingenue, whose breakout year ended with her tragic death at age 22 in a plane crash.

“A movie had never been done, which frankly to me was surprising,” said producer Howard Braunstein (“The Informant!”). “In only 22 years she has this amazing story.”

Though the singer-actress affectionately known as “Baby Girl” remains beloved, there was an immediate backlash when the network revealed plans for the biopic in June. Fans protested the casting of the film, going as far as drafting online petitions to admonish the initial choice of Disney star Zendaya Coleman to portray Aaliyah.

The singer’s family also disapproved of the project, publicly criticizing Lifetime and withholding the use of her music from producers. Amid the controversy, Coleman exited due to “production issues,” and Alexandra Shipp from Nickelodeon’s “House of Anubis” stepped into Coleman’s role, and producers forged ahead.

“Aaliyah was so ahead of the time,” said Shipp. “You can hear it in the music, even in the production. She was an innovator, but she didn’t even realize it.”

Braunstein and executive producer Debra Martin Chase (“Sparkle”) based the film on Christopher Farley’s biography “Aaliyah: More Than a Woman,” released three months after her 2001 death.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Detroit, Aaliyah Dana Haughton grew up with ambitions of stardom. She appeared on “Star Search” at 10 (like Beyonce, she lost) and sang in Las Vegas with her aunt, soul singer Gladys Knight. Record producer and Knight’s ex-husband Barry Hankerson signed the then-12-year-old to his fledgling Blackground Records and linked her with R&B singer R. Kelly, who produced Aaliyah’s 1994 debut, “Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number.”

Her “street but sweet” brand of R&B, which was eventually bolstered by collaborations with Missy Elliott and Timbaland, helped define ‘90s urban music with slinky dance moves, a breathy falsetto and innovative beats that flirted with numerous genres. Her striking, tomboyish profile and increasing fame also led to a number of high-profile movie roles, including “Romeo Must Die” and “Queen of the Damned” (her role in “The Matrix” sequels was recast after her death).

But in August 2001, a month after releasing her lauded third album, she perished in a plane crash after filming a music video in the Bahamas.

Shipp, just 10 when Aaliyah died, said the opportunity to pay tribute to her idol helped her look past the film’s stormy beginnings.

“This movie is to show how huge she was, how genuine she was, how talented she was, how driven she was,” Shipp added. “The movie celebrates this woman’s life.”