Beyoncé

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter (bee-YON-say) (born September 4, 1981), known mononymously as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, businesswoman, dancer and model. She is known as a lead singer of female pop and R&B group Destiny's Child. She released her first solo album, Dangerously in Love, in 2003, when Destiny's Child was on a break.

Beyoncé
Beyoncé at the Renaissance World Tour in 2023.
Born	Beyoncé Giselle Knowles (1981-09-04) September 4, 1981 Houston, Texas, USA
Other names	Harmonies by The Hive Queen B Third Ward Trill Sasha Fierce
Occupations	Singer songwriter producer actress businesswoman philanthropist record executive director model dancer
Years active	1990, 1996–present
Organizations	Parkwood Entertainment Ivy Park
Spouse	Jay-Z ​ (m. 2004)​
Children	3, including Blue Ivy
Parents	Mathew Knowles Tina Knowles
Relatives	Solange Knowles (sister)
Awards	Full list
Musical career
Genres	R&B pop hip hop afrobeats dance country
Instruments	Vocals
Labels	Parkwood Columbia Music World
Website	beyonce.com

Since then, she has released six more albums, which have all produced hit singles. She has sold over 250 million records worldwide as a solo artist, and as the lead singer of the world's best-selling female group of all time, selling over 100 million records worldwide. She is the most awarded musicians in Grammys of all time, with 32 wins during her career, as well as her nominations.

Early life

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles was born at Park Plaza Hospital in Houston, Texas. Her mother is Tina Knowles (née Beyincé; currently Lawson) with her Creole descent, which means she has some African and French roots. Her father is Mathew Knowles, who is African American. Knowles went to several performing arts schools, and took part in singing and dancing competitions as a child. Her younger sister, Solange, is also a musician.

Music career

In her youth, she started the girl group Girls Tyme. Her father Mathew became her manager.

Knowles became very famous in the late 1990s. She became the lead singer of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child. The group became the world's best-selling girl group of all time, selling over 85 million records worldwide.

Destiny's Child took a break from recording music. Knowles released her solo debut album, Dangerously in Love, in 2003. Two singles from the album—"Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy"—reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album became one of the most successful albums of that year. Dangerously in Love was given five Grammy Awards. After Destiny's Child split, Knowles released her second album. B'Day was released in 2006, and its singles "Déjà Vu", "Irreplaceable" and "Beautiful Liar" reached the top ten in the United States. Her third album I Am... Sasha Fierce was released in 2008. "If I Were a Boy", "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", "Halo" and "Sweet Dreams" became hit singles for Knowles. "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" became another number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. The album earned six Grammys in 2010, the most Grammys won by a woman in one night. Only Adele would do this again at the 2012 Grammys.

Her next album, 4 (2011), became her fourth number one album on the Billboard 200 chart. She became the third artist in history to have her first four albums debut at number one. Beyoncé released her fifth album Beyoncé on iTunes on December 13, 2013. The public did not know about the album before it was released. The album has fourteen songs and 17 videos. It has been given good reviews. It entered the Billboard 200 at number one. This made her the first female artist in the history of the chart to have her first five albums enter the chart at the top. Knowles performed "Drunk in Love" with JAY-Z at the 2014 Grammy Awards. She was nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Part II (On the Run)" with JAY-Z.

In February 2016, Beyoncé was a guest performer at Super Bowl 50. She performed "Formation", the lead single from her sixth studio album, Lemonade. The performance was controversial, as it had elements of the #BlackLivesMatter movement along with influences from the Black Panthers. She announced The Formation World Tour in a commercial after the Super Bowl performance.

In April 2016, an hour-long film, Lemonade, was shown on HBO. After the film aired, the Lemonade album was released. The album became her best-reviewed of her career. It entered the charts at number one in the US and Canada. Lemonade features the singles "Formation", "Sorry", and "Hold Up". It won the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album in 2017, while the music video for "Formation" won the award for Best Music Video.

In 2017, Beyoncé released the promotional single "Die with You". She later contributed to the remix of "Mi Gente" by J Balvin and Willy William. This caused the song to jump to number three on the Billboard Hot 100. On December 1, 2017, an acoustic duet between Beyoncé and Ed Sheeran of Sheeran's song "Perfect" was released and was at the top of the iTunes charts in 32 countries. The song became Beyoncé's sixth US number-one as a solo artist and her tenth number-one song in the US including songs with Destiny's Child.

Knowles was featured on a remix of rapper Megan Thee Stallion's song "Savage"; it became Knowles’ seventh number-one song in the US.

On June 20, 2022, she released "Break My Soul", the lead single from her seventh studio album, Renaissance and the album was released on July 29, 2022. "Break My Soul" became her eighth solo US number-one (twelfth overall), while the album's next single, "Cuff It", reached number ten on the Hot 100.

Artistry

Knowles has a three-and-a-half octave mezzo-soprano vocal range. Other sources state that she possesses a contralto vocal range at age of 30s. Jon Pareles of The New York Times commented that her voice is "velvety yet tart, with an insistent flutter and reserves of soul belting". Jody Rosen notes that the hip hop era highly influenced Knowles' unique rhythmic vocal style, but also finds her quite traditionalist in her use of balladry, gospel and falsetto.

Other projects

Acting career

Her first role in a movie was for the musical Carmen: A Hip Hopera (2001). Her first major movie was Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002). The movie Dreamgirls (2006) was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards. Her other movies Cadillac Records (2008) and Obsessed (2009) did not do so well.

In 2019, she starred as Nala in the 2019 drama-live action remake The Lion King.

Fashion

In 2005, Knowles and her mother created a fashion line called House of Deréon.

In 2016, she also introduced a fitness-wear collection called Ivy Park.

Perfume

In 2010, she released her first perfume which she called Heat.

Model

In 2013, Knowles became H&M's new swimwear model since she gave birth to her daughter Blue Ivy just a year prior.

Endorsements

She became a spokesperson for L'Oréal, Pepsi, Tommy Hilfiger, Nintendo, and Vizio.

Ranking

In 2010, Knowles was ranked first on Forbes list of the "100 Most Powerful and Influential Musicians in the World", and second on its list of the "100 Most Powerful and Influential Celebrities in the World". In 2012, she was named "World's Most Beautiful Woman" by People magazine.

Awards

Many of Knowles' recordings and movies were given many nominations, with many winning them. These include 32 Grammy Awards, 24 [MTV Video Music Awards], three [American Music Awards], a Billboard Millennium Award, and a star on the [Hollywood Walk of Fame] with Destiny's Child. In 2009, [Billboard (magazine)|Billboard] named her the Top Radio Songs Artist of the 2000s decade. They also ranked her 4th for Artist of the Decade. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), named Knowles as the Top Certified Artist of the 2000s. In the US, she has sold over 17 million copies as of May 2014. She has sold more than 30.4 million digital singles as of January 2012. Worldwide, she has sold 245 million records. This makes her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Knowles appeared on [VH1]'s 2010 list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". They ranked her third on their "100 Greatest Women in Music" list in 2012.

Personal life

In 2000, Knowles met Jay-Z and proposed her on his 38th birthday on December 4, 2007. The couple married on April 4, 2008. On January 7, 2012, she gave birth to their first daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, via natural birth in Lennox Hill Hospital, New York.

Knowles is a feminist. In the February 2013 issue of GQ magazine she said, "You know, equality is a myth, and for some reason, everyone accepts the fact that women don’t make as much money as men do. I don’t understand that. Why do we have to take a backseat? I truly believe that women should be financially independent from their men. And let’s face it, money gives men the power to run the show. It gives men the power to define value. They define what’s sexy. And men define what’s feminine. It’s ridiculous."

Knowles joined the Ban Bossy campaign in 2014.

In December 2013, it was revealed that she and her husband Jay-Z were longtime vegans. She wrote the foreword to the book The 22-Day Revolution by trainer Marco Borges, which was released in April 2015.

On February 1, 2017, Knowles announced via Instagram that she was expecting twins. She gave birth to a daughter, Rumi and a son, Sir on June 13, 2017 via cesarean section.

Discography

See the main article: Beyoncé discography

• Dangerously in Love (2003): 20 million copies sold.
• B'Day (2006): 15 million copies sold.
• I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008): 19 million copies sold.
• 4 (2011): 5 million copies sold.
• Beyoncé (2013) 11 million copies sold.
• Lemonade (2016) The audio CD/DVD set earned 653,000 total copies sold in the week ending April 28, 2016, according to Nielsen Music. Pure album sales comprised 485,000 of that sum.
• Renaissance (2022)
• Cowboy Carter (2024)

Filmography

Films

Title	Year	Role	Notes
Austin Powers in Goldmember	2002	Foxxy Cleopatra	Leading role
The Fighting Temptations	2003	Lilly	Supporting role
The Pink Panther	2006	Xania	Supporting role
Dreamgirls		Deena Jones	Leading role
Cadillac Records	2008	Etta James	Leading role
Obsessed	2009	Sharon Charles	Leading role
Epic	2013	Queen Tara	Voice role
The Lion King	2019	Nala	Voice role

Documentaries

Title	Year	Role
Fade to Black	2004	Herself
Beyoncé Shine – An Unauthorized Story on Beyoncé Knowles	2010	Herself
Life Is But a Dream	2013	Herself
Beyoncé: Finding Her Destiny		Herself
Beyoncé: Fierce and Fabulous	2014	Herself
Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams	2018	Herself
Homecoming	2019	Herself
Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé	2023	Herself

Television

Title	Year	Role	Notes
Smart Guy	1998	Herself	Episode: "A Date With Destiny"
Carmen: A Hip Hopera	2001	Carmen Brown	Television movie
The Famous Jett Jackson	2003	Herself	Episode: "Backstage Pass"
The X Factor	2008, 2013	Herself	Musical guest
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!	2009	Shine (voice)	4 episodes
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!: Wubb Idol		Shine (voice)	Television movie
American Idol	2011	Herself	Mentor (season 10)
A Night with Beyoncé		Herself	Television special
Keeping Up with the Kardashians		Herself	Episode: "Kim's Fairytale Wedding"
Lip Sync Battle	2016	Herself	Contestant

Other websites

• Beyoncé Archived January 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine – official U.S. website
• Beyoncé at AllMusic
• Beyoncé discography at Discogs

• Beyoncé on IMDb
• Beyoncé Knowles at AllRovi
• Beyoncé – official Sound Cloud