Beyoncé

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Beyoncé Knowles in 2010.
Beyoncé Knowles in 2010.

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles is an African-American R&B singer, actress, and chief songwriter and producer in the group Destiny's Child.

Contents

[edit] About

Born on September 4, 1981 in Houston, Texas, Beyonce Knowles started performing at the age of seven. From dancing and singing she and cousin Kelly Rowland met Latavia Roberson and the trio formed a group with Letoya Luckett. Mathew Knowles, father of Beyonce and Rowland's guardian signed to be the girls manager. This led to the formation of the group of all time Destiny's Child.She released her first albumn Dangerously In Love which topped the Billboard 200 charts in U.S.

Destiny's Child went on hiatus in 2002 and Beyonce went solo, appearing as sexy secret agent in the Austin Powers sequel Goldmember and adding a hit single, Work It Out, to the movie's soundtrack. In 2003 she had another hit with the single Crazy in Love featuring rapper Jay-Z. Beyonce also continued her screen career in 2003 in The Fighting Temptations. In 2006 Beyonce released another single with boyfriend Jay-Z, Déjà Vu, from her solo album B'Day.

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles born September 4, 1981,commonly known as Beyoncé ,is an American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools, and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child. Knowles rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of girl group Destiny's Child and went on to sell over 50 million records worldwide with the group. After a series of commercial successes with the group, Knowles released her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love, in June 2003. The album became one of the most-successful albums of that year, spawning the number-one singles "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy". It earned Knowles five Grammy Awards in a single night in 2004, and its reception signaled her viability as a solo artist. The disbandment of Destiny's Child in 2005 facilitated her continued success; she released her second album, B'Day, in 2006, which contained the UK number-one singles "Déjà Vu" and "Beautiful Liar", which she performed with Shakira, and the worldwide hit "Irreplaceable". Knowles released her third solo album, I Am… Sasha Fierce, on November 18, 2008.The success of her solo albums has established Knowles as one of the most marketable artists in the industry, and she has expanded her career to acting and product endorsement. In 2006, she starred in the comedy film The Pink Panther, and, in the same year, played the lead role in the film adaptation of the 1981 Broadway musical Dreamgirls, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. Knowles launched her family's fashion line, House of Deréon, in 2004, and has been engaged to endorse such brands as Pepsi, Tommy Hilfiger, and L'Oréal. Knowles has been with husband Jay-Z since 2002, though they have been discreet about their relationship. After much speculation, they married on April 4, 2008. Knowles has sold more than 75 million albums throughout her career, counting her album sales with Destiny's Child. She was the second highest paid musician between June 2007 and June 2008, with earnings of US$80 million.Knowles was born in Houston, Texas, the daughter of Mathew Knowles, a successful record manager, and Tina Beyincé, a costume designer and hair stylist. Knowles' father is African American and her mother is of Creole (African-American, Native American, and French) descent. Knowles was baptized after her mother's maiden name, as a tribute to her mother and to prevent the name from becoming obsolete, since only a few of the Beyincé males carry the name. Her maternal grandparents, Lumis Albert Beyincé and Agnéz Deréon, were French-speaking Louisiana Creoles. She is the elder sister of Solange, a singer-songwriter and actress.Knowles was schooled in Texas, where she enrolled in dance classes, including ballet and jazz. Her talent in singing was discovered when her dance instructor began humming a song and she finished it, hitting the high-pitched notes. Although a shy girl, as her mother considered her, Knowles' interest in music and performing began unexpectedly after joining in a school talent show. Once she had a moment on the stage, she overcame her shyness and wanted to become a singer and performer. By age seven, Knowles had entered her first talent show, singing John Lennon's "Imagine". She won the contest and was honored with a standing ovation.In the fall of 1990, Knowles enrolled in Parker Elementary School, a music magnet school in Houston, where she would perform onstage with the school's choir. She also attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston and later went to Alief Elsik High School, located in the Houston neighborhood of Alief. Knowles was a soloist in the choir of her church, in St. John's United Methodist Church. She only lasted in the choir for two years, however, because she was preoccupied with her newfound career.At the age of eight, Knowles met LaTavia Roberson while in an audition for a girl group. They, along with Knowles' friend Kelly Rowland, were placed into a group that performed rapping and dancing. Originally named Girl's Tyme, they were eventually cut down to six members. With Knowles and Rowland, Girl's Tyme attracted audience nationally. West coast R&B producer, Arne Frager, flew into Houston to see them. He eventually brought them to his studio - The Plant Recording Studios - in Northern California, with Knowles' vocals being featured because Frager thought she had personality and the ability to sing. As part of efforts to sign Girl's Tyme to a major label record deal, Frager's strategy was to debut them in Star Search, the biggest talent show on national TV that time. They participated, but lost the competition because the song they performed was not good, as Knowles herself admitted. Knowles had her first "professional setback" after that defeat, but regained confidence after learning that pop stars Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake had also experienced the same fate.To manage the group, Knowles' father (who was at that time a medical-equipment salesman) resigned in 1995 from his job. He dedicated his time and established a "boot camp" for their training. The move reduced Knowles' family's income by half and her parents separated because of the pressure. Not long after the inclusion of Rowland, Mathew cut the original lineup to four, with LeToya Luckett joining in 1993. Rehearsing in Tina's salon and their backyards, the group continued performing as an opening act for other established R&B girl groups of the time; Tina contributed to the cause by designing their costumes, which she continued to do throughout the Destiny's Child era. With the continued support of Mathew, they auditioned before record labels and were finally signed to Elektra Records, only to be dropped months later before they could release an album.Taking inspiration from a passage in the Book of Isaiah, the group changed its name to Destiny's Child in 1993. Together, they performed in local events and, after four years on the road, the group was signed to Columbia Records in late 1997. That same year, Destiny's Child recorded its major label debut song, "Killing Time", for the soundtrack to the 1997 film, Men in Black.The following year, the group released its self-titled debut album, scoring their first major hit "No, No, No". That album established the group as a viable act in the music industry, amassing moderate sales and winning the group three Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards for "Best R&B/Soul Single" for "No, No, No", "Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year" and "Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist". However, the group rose to bona fide stardom after releasing their multi-platinum sophomore album The Writing's on the Wall in 1999. The record features some of the group's most widely known songs such as "Bills, Bills, Bills", the group's first number-one single, Jumpin' Jumpin'", and "Say My Name", which became their most-successful song at the time, and would remain one of their signature songs. "Say My Name" won the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and the Best R&B Song at the 2001 Grammy Awards. The Writing's on the Wall sold more than seven million copies, essentially becoming their breakthrough album.After settling on their final lineup, the trio recorded "Independent Women Part I", which appeared on the soundtrack to the 2000 film, Charlie's Angels. It became their best-charting single, topping the official U.S. singles chart for eleven consecutive weeks. The success cemented the new lineup and skyrocketed them to fame. Later that year, Luckett and Roberson withdrew their case against their now-former band mates, while maintaining the suit against Mathew, which ended in both sides agreeing to stop public disparaging. Destiny's Child's third album, Survivor, channels the turmoil they underwent, spawning its eponymous lead single, which was a response to the experience. The themes of "Survivor", however, caused Luckett and Roberson to refile their lawsuit, believing that the songs were aimed at them. However, the proceedings were eventually settled in June 2002. Meanwhile, the album was released in May 2001, debuting at number one on U.S. Billboard 200 with 663,000 units sold. To date, Survivor has sold over ten million copies worldwide, over forty percent of which were sold in the U.S. alone. The album spawned other number-one hits—"Bootylicious" and the title track, "Survivor", the latter of which earned the group a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. After releasing their holiday album, 8 Days of Christmas, the group announced their temporary break-up to pursue solo projects.While Knowles was with Destiny's Child, she also made appearances as a solo artist. In 2000, Knowles was featured on "I Got That" by rapper Amil, which was released on the latter's debut album, All Money Is Legal. In early 2001, while Destiny's Child was finishing Survivor, Knowles landed a major role in the MTV made-for-television film, Carmen: A Hip Hopera, starring alongside American actor Mekhi Phifer. Set in Philadelphia, the film is a modern interpretation of the 19th century opera Carmen by French composer Georges Bizet. In 2002, Knowles co-starred in the comedy film Austin Powers in Goldmember, playing Foxxy Cleopatra opposite Mike Myers. The movie topped the box office, gaining $73.1 million on its first weekend. Knowles recorded her first solo single, "Work It Out", for the film's soundtrack. The following year, Knowles starred opposite Cuba Gooding, Jr. in the romantic comedy film The Fighting Temptations, and recorded "Fighting Temptation", alongside female rappers Missy Elliott, MC Lyte, and Free for its soundtrack. She also recorded a version of 50 Cent's "In Da Club" and released it in March 2003. Luther Vandross and Knowles remade the duet "The Closer I Get to You", which was originally recorded by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway. Their version won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals the following year, and Vandross' "Dance with My Father", which also features Knowles, won for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.On April 4, 2008, Knowles and Jay-Z were married in New York City. It became a matter of public record on April 22, 2008, but Knowles did not publicly debut her wedding ring until the Fashion Rocks concert on September 5, 2008 in New York City. Knowles finally revealed their marriage during an opening montage video at the listening party for I Am... Sasha Fierce in Manhattan's Sony Club.Knowles has become a sex symbol, known in media for her curvaceous body that is complemented with her choice of clothing According to her, "I like to dress sexy and I carry myself like a lady," but she has said that the way she dresses on stage is "absolutely for the stage”. The sites I got my information from is called Wikipedia

[edit] Chart Toppers

Year Single Chart positions
U.S. UK CAN AUS NZ GER AUT SWI FRA IRE JPN
2002 "Work It Out" 7 21 36 75 87 12 16
"'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (Jay-Z feat. Beyoncé) 4 2 4 2 4 6 28 1 25 12
2003 "Crazy in Love" (feat. Jay-Z) 1 1 2 2 2 6 6 3 21 1 1
"Baby Boy" (feat.Sean Paul) 1 2 2 3 2 4 18 5 8 6 29
"Me, Myself and I" 4 11 7 11 18 12 51 41 45 21 33
2004 "Naughty Girl" 3 10 2 9 6 16 29 18 18 4 5
2005 "Check on It" (feat. Slim Thug) 1 3 5 6 1 11 10 7 32 2 45
2006 "Deja Vu" (feat. Jay-Z) 4 1 9 12 15 9 12 3 23 3 46
"Ring the Alarm" 11 TBR 16
"Irreplaceable" 2 4 30 2 2 11 28 9 1 23


[edit] News

[edit] Tours & Concerts

Beyonce Europe and U.K. 2007 World Tour

April 30, 2007, Festhalle Frankfurt,Germany

May 1, 2007, Schleyerhalle Stuttgart,Germany

May 3, 2007, Globen Stockholm,Sweden

May 4, 2007, Vikingskibet Hamar,

May 5, 2007, Gigantium, Aalborg Aalborg,Denmark

May 7, 2007, Olympiahalle Munich,Germany

May 8, 2007, Stadthalle Vienna,Austria

May 9, 2007, Hallenstadion Zurich,Switzerland

May 10, 2007, Forum - Itlay Milan,Assago

May 12, 2007, Gerry Weber Halle ,Germany

May 13, 2007, Max Schmeling Halle Berlin,Germany

May 14, 2007, Colorline Arena Hamburg,Germany

May 16, 2007, Bercy Paris,France

May 17, 2007, Konig Arena Oberhausen,Germany

May 18, 2007, Ahoy Rotterdam,Netherlands

May 19, 2007, Sportpalais Antwerp,Belgium

May 24, 2007, Atlantico Pavilion Lisbon,Portugal

May 26, 2007, Palacio Desportes Madrid,Spain

May 27, 2007, Palau St. Jordi Berclona,Spain

May 29, 2007, The Dome Marseilles,France

May 30, 2007, Tony Garnier Lyon,France

June 01, 2007, NEC Birmingham,England

June 03, 2007, Wembley Arena London,England

June 04, 2007, Wembley Arena London,England

June 06, 2007, Nottingham Arena - NIC Nottingham,England

June 07, 2007, MEN Manchester,England

June 09, 2007, The Point Dublin,Ireland

[edit] Announcements

  • Beyonce's long-term boyfriend is singer Jay-Z, and the couple are reportedly planning a wedding in November.
  • Beyonce Knowles warns paparazzi not to take shots of her kids when she becomes a mother.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

Album Cover Year Released Album Title Label
June 22, 2003 Dangerously In Love Columbia
<center> September 5, 2006 B'Day Columbia/Music World
<center> November 8, 2008 I Am... Sasha Fierce Columbia

[edit] Singles

[edit] Other artists

[edit] Similar artists

[edit] Influences

[edit] Contemporaries

[edit] Trivia

  • Beyonce's trademark is wearing that big heavy earrings whenever, wherever she go.
  • Her name Beyonce came from her mother's maiden name.

[edit] Reviews

[edit] External Links

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