- R&B and pop singer songwriter born Beyoncé Knowles in Houston Texas in 1981.
- Beyoncé saw a Michael Jackson concert when she was 5, and she claims that she wanted to sing as a career because of that experience. She won a school talent show at 7 years old, singing Imagine, beating out other kids more than twice her age. At 8, she and her friend Kelly Rowland met LaTavia Roberson and LaToya Luckett while auditioning for an all-girl group. The 4 girls were placed in a group with 2 other girls, and they were given the name Girl’s Tyme. They participated in talent shows in Houston. A producer liked them, and placed them in the TV talent show Star Search, where they were eliminated early.
- In 1995, Beyoncé’s father quit his job to manage the group. The line-up was reduced to 4 girls, and they performed as an opening act for other R&B artists. By the next year, they got a record contract, and they changed their name to Destiny’s Child. Destiny’s Child released 5 albums between 1998 and 2004. All were certified platinum, with The Writing’s On The Wall going 8x platinum, and Survivor selling over 4 million copies in the U.S. and topping the Billboard 200 album chart. Nine singles were top 3 songs on the Hot 100 chart, with Bootylicious, Independent Woman Part 1, Say My Name, and Bills, Bills, Bills each topping the chart. The group also won 2 Grammy awards.
- In 2001, the group went on hiatus, with the members working on solo efforts and other projects. Beyoncé started an acting career, landing a role in the made-for-TV movie Carmen: A Hip Hopera. She later performed in films, including Austin Powers in Goldmember, The Pink Panther, and Dreamgirls. She has 11 films and TV movies to her credit, including the voice of Nala in the upcoming remake of The Lion King, due for release in 2019.
- Beyoncé’s first solo recording was as a featured artist on Jay-Z’s 2002 song 03 Bonnie and Clyde. It was the first of several collaborations with Jay-Z. By 2008, Beyoncé and Jay-Z had the ultimate collaboration – they got married.
- Her first solo album, Dangerously In Love, was released in 2003. It sold over 11 million copies worldwide. Two singles topped the Hot 100 chart – Crazy In Love and Baby Boy. The album won 5 Grammy awards in 2004. Crazy In Love ranks #118 on Rolling Stones’ 500 All Time Greatest Songs list. Also in 2003, Beyoncé created an alter ego, Sasha Fierce. Sasha is sexy, seductive and provocative, and she was created to help Beyoncé keep her stage persona separate from her private life.
- In 2004, Destiny’s Child re-assembled for a final studio album, Destiny Fulfilled. After the tour to support the album, the group officially disbanded.
- Beyoncé resumed her solo career with the release of B’Day in 2006. It topped the charts and sold over 8 million copies worldwide. Her #1 single from the album was Irreplaceable – it remained at the top of the chart for 10 weeks. She followed this album with I Am…Sasha Fierce in 2008. It includes her biggest selling single, Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It), and 2 other top 5 songs – Halo and If I Were A Boy. With the album’s success, she attained more top 10 hits than any other woman during the 00s. She won 6 Grammy awards for the album, including Song of the Year.
- In 2010, she collaborated with Lady Gaga on Gaga’s single Telephone, co-writing and performing on the song. Following this, she took a 9 month break to visit the world. She returned to work, and released her fourth studio album, titled 4, in 2011, followed by the self titled Beyoncé in 2013. Her final studio album is Lemonade, released in 2016. All 3 albums topped the Billboard album chart (in fact, all 6 of her solo albums debuted at #1 – no other artist has ever had their first 6 albums debut at #1). Singles from these albums have sold well, with 6 songs selling over 1 million downloads, though only Drunk In Love from the Beyoncé album broke into the top 10, peaking at #2. All 12 songs from Lemonade made the Hot 100 chart at the same time, another first for any artist.
- In 2017, Ed Sheeran released the song Perfect, and 2 months later, a duet acoustic version was released with Beyoncé singing the second verse from a woman’s perspective. This version topped the Hot 100 chart In December 2017.
- In 2020, she performed a charity single, Black Parade. Proceeds for the single benefited the BeyGOOD Black Business Impact Fund. BeyGOOD is Beyoncé’s charity program which has donated tens of millions of dollars to various causes. Black Parade won a Grammy for Best R&B Performance.
- Her rap collaboration with Megan thee Stallion in 2020, Savage, won two Grammy awards for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song.
- Beyoncé is perhaps the biggest music personality of the past 20 years. She has won 28 Grammy awards, passing Alison Krauss at the 2021 ceremony for the most wins for a woman. She is the most nominated woman in history, with 79 nominations. She has won 26 MTV Music Video awards, the most in history. She has a fragrance line and several fashion lines; she is co-owner of the music streaming service Tidal. In December 2016, she was named the Most Charitable Celebrity of the Year by DoSomething.org. Time Magazine has listed her several times in their list of the most influential people of the world, and in 2016 she was in sixth place for Time’s Person of the Year. Forbes Magazine listed her as the most powerful woman in entertainment in 2015 and in 2017. Impressive! Here is her iconic video, the often parodied (watch Justin Timberlake’s version on SNL) Single Ladies.
Started knowing her voice from the movie [Dreamgirls], and repeated listening to the strong song ‘LISTEN’ since that. The power of her performance in many other songs is impressive and great comfort when I am in bad mood and need something to cheer up.