Background

Knowles was born in Houston, Texas. She is the daughter of Mathew Knowles, a professional record manager, and Tina Knowles, 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.

Education

Knowles was educated at St. Mary's Elementary School 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. Knowles' interest in music and performing began after participating in a school talent show. She sang John Lennon's "Imagine" and won the competition. At age seven, Knowles started gaining attention from the press, having been mentioned in the Houston Chronicle as a nominee for the local performing arts award The Sammy. In the fall of 1990, Knowles enrolled in Parker Elementary School, a music magnet school in Houston, where she would perform on-stage 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 suburban munincipality, Alief. Knowles was a member of the choir at St. John's United Methodist Church for two years, performing as a soloist.

Career

Teaming up with her cousin, Kelly Rowland, and two classmates, Beyoncé formed an all-female singing group. Her father, Matthew Knowles, served as the band's manager. The group went through some name and line-up changes before landing a record deal in 1997 with Columbia Records. Destiny's Child soon became one of the most popular R&B acts, with the release of their first, self-titled album. Gaining momentum, the group scored its first No. 1 single on the pop charts with "Bills, Bills, Bills," off their second album. The recording also featured another smash hit, "Say My Name."

While enjoying her group's success, Beyoncé began exploring other projects. She made her acting debut in 2001 with a starring role in MTV's Carmen: A Hip Hopera. She then co-starred with Mike Myers in the Austin Powers spy parody Goldmember the following year.

On the musical front, Beyoncé took center stage as a solo artist, releasing her first album, Dangerously in Love, in 2003. The recording became a huge success for her both commercially and critically. It sold millions of copies and won five Grammy Awards. On the album, Beyoncé worked with a number of different artists, including Missy Elliott, Sean Paul and Jay-Z. She was rumored to be dating Jay-Z around this time, but the couple did not publicly acknowledge their relationship.

Destiny's Child released their last studio album, Destiny Fulfilled, in 2004, and officially broke up the following year. On her own, Beyoncé continued to enjoy great success. Her second studio album, 2006's B'Day featured such hits as "Irreplaceable" and "Deja Vu." On the big screen, she starred opposite Jennifer Hudson, Jaime Foxx and Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls. The film was adapted from the hit Broadway musical of the same name.

In addition to acting and performing, Beyoncé ran a clothing line called House of Dereon with her mother. She also launched her own fragrance, Heat, in 2010. Throughout her career, Beyoncé has served as a spokesperson and model for several other brands, including L'Oreal and Tommy Hilfiger.

Beyoncé found herself under fire after performing a private concert for Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi on New Year's Eve in 2010. She later donated her fee from the event to help victims of the Haitian earthquake. According to some reports, Beyoncé said that her father had been responsible for arranging the Libyan concert. She decided to drop her father as her manager in March 2011. Later that year, Beyoncé reached the top of the album charts with her latest solo release, 4.

In January 2013, Beyoncé generated some negative headlines for her performance at President Obama's second inauguration in Washington, D.C. She was criticized for reportedly pre-recording a version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and lip-syncing to her own track during the outdoor ceremony. Despite wide media coverage, in the days following the incident, Beyoncé did not publicly address the controversy.

Not long after, prior to her appearance at Super Bowl XLVII, Beyoncé performed the song live at a press conference. She explained to reporters that she had used a "backing track" at the inauguration, adding that she would "absolutely be singing live" at the NFL's biggest event of the year, according to The Huffington Post.

Beyoncé broke records once again on December 13, 2013, with her fifth studio album, self-titled Beyoncé. The album surprised fans and critics alike, as no promotion for the album had been announced prior to its release. The record, which Beyoncé called a "visual album," was released exclusively on iTunes, with physical discs available for purchase after December 18. The record-breaking album sold more than 800,000 copies throughout the weekend it was released alone.

The collection - which was the fastest-selling album ever distributed by iTunes - also marked Beyoncé's fifth studio album to debut at No. 1, making her the first woman to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with her first five albums. She released the Platinum Edition of the album in 2014, and the following year won three additional Grammys, including a Best R&B Performance award for "Drunk in Love."

In February 2016, Beyoncé returned to the Super Bowl stage, once again earning raves for her performance. This time around she appeared with Bruno Mars and Chris Martin of the band Coldplay, highlighting her new single "Formation" and subsequently announcing a world tour. The tune, its video and accompanying halftime show also garnered a wave of attention for politicized lyrics and imagery touching on everything from black power to Hurricane Katrina.

Just two months later, HBO aired an hour-long Beyoncé conceptual film, Lemonade, which presented tracks from the album of the same name released immediately afterward. The cable special showcased the singer reeling from the romantic and sexual betrayal of her partner while acknowledging the strength found in communities of African-American women. Tennis star Serena Williams and young actress Quvenzhané Wallis also made appearances in the New Orleans-based project, which was helmed by a variety of directors and featured poetry from Warsan Shire.

In February 2017, a pregnant Beyoncé delivered a surprise performance at the Grammys, singing songs from Lemonade amid a swirling spectacle of lights, holograms and backup dancers. Although she lost the coveted Album of the Year Grammy to Adele, she did take home two awards, for Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best Music Video.

In March 2018, reports surfaced that Beyoncé was working on new music and preparing to hit the road with Jay-Z. Following a false alarm in which a tour announcement appeared and quickly disappeared from her Facebook page, the power couple officially announced that their On the Run II (or OTR II) Tour would kick off in Cardiff, Wales, on June 6.

Achievements

• 

  Beyoncé has received numerous awards. As a solo artist she has sold over 17 million albums in the US, and over 100 million records worldwide (a further 60 million additionally with Destiny's Child), making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) listed Beyoncé as the top certified artist of the 2000s decade, with a total of 64 certifications. Her songs "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", "Halo", and "Irreplaceable" are some of the best-selling singles of all time worldwide. In 2009, The Observer named her the Artist of the Decade and Billboard named her the Top Female Artist and Top Radio Songs Artist of the Decade. In 2010, Billboard named her in their "Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years" list at number 15. In 2012 VH1 ranked her third on their list of the "100 Greatest Women in Music", behind Mariah Carey and Madonna. Beyoncé was honored with the International Artist Award at the 2007 American Music Awards. She has also received the Legend Award at the 2008 World Music Awards, the Billboard Millennium Award at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards, the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, and the Fashion Icon Award at the 2016 CFDA Awards.
  
  Beyoncé has won 22 Grammy Awards, both as a solo artist and member of Destiny's Child, making her the second most honored female artist by the Grammys, behind Alison Krauss and the most nominated woman in Grammy Award history with a total of 62 nominations. "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" won Song of the Year in 2010 while "Say My Name", "Crazy in Love" and "Drunk in Love" have each won Best R&B Song. Dangerously in Love, B'Day and I Am... Sasha Fierce have all won Best Contemporary R&B Album, while Lemonade has won Best Urban Contemporary Album. Beyoncé set the record for the most Grammy awards won by a female artist in one night in 2010 when she won six awards, breaking the tie she previously held with Alicia Keys, Norah Jones, Alison Krauss, and Amy Winehouse, with Adele equaling this in 2012.
  
  Beyoncé has also won 24 MTV Video Music Awards, making her the most-awarded artist in Video Music Award history. "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" and "Formation" won Video of the Year in 2009 and 2016 respectively. Beyoncé tied the record set by Lady Gaga in 2010 for the most VMAs won in one night for a female artist with eight in 2016. She is also the most awarded and nominated artist in BET Award history, winning 29 awards from a total of 60 nominations.
  
  Following her role in Dreamgirls Beyoncé was nominated for Best Original Song for "Listen" and Best Actress at the Golden Globe Awards, and Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture at the NAACP Image Awards. Beyoncé won two awards at the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2006; Best Song for "Listen" and Best Original Soundtrack for Dreamgirls: Music from the Motion Picture. According to Fuse in 2014, Beyoncé is the second most award-winning artist of all time, after Michael Jackson.
  
  She was named on the 2016 BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Power List as one of seven women judged to have had the biggest impact on women's lives over the past 70 years, alongside Margaret Thatcher, Barbara Castle, Helen Brook, Germaine Greer, Jayaben Desai and Bridget Jones.

Works

More photos

• music

  • Destiny's Child 1998
  • The Writing's On The Wall 1999
  • Survivor 2001
  • Dangerously In Love 2003
  • Destiny Fulfilled 2004
  • B'Day 2006
  • I Am...Sasha Fierce 2008
  • 4 2011
  • Beyoncé 2013
  • Lemonade 2016

Religion

Beyonce was raised a devout Methodist but considers herself more "spiritual" than religious: "I am about faith and spirituality more so than religion. Doing right by others and not judging. The thing that keeps me grounded is knowing that I'm always protected and that God is in control of things. Even the name of our group, Destiny's Child, we got out of the Bible.... For me it is about the way I carry myself and the way I treat other people. My relationship and how I feel about God and what he does for me is something deeply personal. It's where I came from. I was brought up in a religious household and that's very important to me."

Politics

Beyonce comes from a family of Republicans, but she was clearly excited enough at the election of Barack Obama to sing at his inauguration. In the 2012 Presidential election, Beyoncé voted for Obama.

Views

In 2013, Beyoncé stated in an interview with Vogue that she considered herself to be "a modern-day feminist". She would later align herself more publicly with the movement, sampling "We should all be feminists", a speech delivered by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at a TEDx talk in April 2013, in her song "Flawless", released later that year. In 2014 she performed live at the MTV Video Awards in front a giant backdrop reading "FEMINIST." She has also contributed to the Ban Bossy campaign, which uses television and social media to encourage leadership in girls. Following Beyoncé's public identification as a feminist, the sexualized nature of her performances and the fact that she championed her marriage was questioned.

Beyoncé publicly endorsed same sex marriage on March 26, 2013, after the Supreme Court debate on California's Proposition 8.

Quotations: "Power means happiness; power means hard work and sacrifice."

"I don’t have to prove anything to anyone, I only have to follow my heart and concentrate on what I want to say to the world. I run my world."

"Take all the rules away. How can we live if we don’t change?"

"Your self-worth is determined by you. You don’t have to depend on someone telling you who you are."

"We all have our imperfections. But I’m human and you know, it’s important to concentrate on other qualities besides outer beauty."

"The reality is: sometimes you lose. And you’re never too good to lose. You’re never too big to lose. You’re never too smart to lose. It happens."

"I’m a workaholic and I don’t believe in ‘No.’ If I’m not sleeping, nobody’s sleeping."

"Do what you were born to do. You just have to trust yourself."

"When you love and accept yourself, when you know who really cares about you, and when you learn from your mistakes, then you stop caring about what people who don’t know you think."

"I don’t feel like I have to please anyone. I feel free. I feel like I’m an adult. I’m grown. I can do what I want. I can say what I want. I can retire if I want. That’s why I’ve worked hard."

"Women have to take the time to focus on our mental health — take time for self, for the spiritual, without feeling guilty or selfish."

"When I’m not feeling my best I ask myself, ‘What are you gonna do about it?’ I use the negativity to fuel the transformation into a better me."

"I felt like it was time to set up my future, so I set a goal. My goal was independence."

"I think it’s healthy for a person to be nervous. It means you care – that you work hard and want to give a great performance. You just have to channel that nervous energy into the show."

"It is so liberating to really know what I want, what truly makes me happy, what I will not tolerate. I have learned that it is no one else’s job to take care of me but me."

"My biggest thing is to teach not to focus on the aesthetic. It’s really about who you are, and the human being, that makes you beautiful."

"I don’t like to gamble, but if there’s one thing I’m willing to bet on, it’s myself."

"We all have our imperfections. But I’m human and you know, it’s important to concentrate on other qualities besides outer beauty."

"If you don’t take the time to think about and analyze your life, you’ll never realize all the dots that are all connected."

"The most alluring thing a woman can have is confidence."

"Power is not given yo you. You have to take it."

"My focus is my art, and that’s what I love to do. I have to be really passionate in order to do something. I’ve turned down many things that I just didn’t believe in."

"I love my job, but it’s more than that: I need it."

"I wanted to sell a million records, and I sold a million records. I wanted to go platinum; I went platinum. I’ve been working nonstop since I was 15. I don’t even know how to chill out."

"I always try to be myself. Ever since I was an introverted kid, I’d get on stage and be able to break out of my shell."

"I can never be safe; I always try and go against the grain. As soon as I accomplish one thing, I just set a higher goal. That’s how I’ve gotten to where I am."

"To be able to travel the world, especially to places I never thought I’d be… it’s really, you know, still fascinating for me."

"I don’t really like to call myself a brand, and I don’t like to think of myself as a brand. I’m a singer, a songwriter, a musician and a performer. And an actress, and all the other things that I do. When you add it all together, some might call it a brand, but that’s not my focus."

Personality

Described as being "sexy, seductive and provocative" when performing on stage, Beyoncé has said that she originally created the alter ego "Sasha Fierce" to keep that stage persona separate from who she really is. She described Sasha as being "too aggressive, too strong, too sassy [and] too sexy", stating, "I'm not like her in real life at all." Sasha was conceived during the making of "Crazy in Love", and Beyoncé introduced her with the release of her 2008 album I Am... Sasha Fierce. In February 2010, she announced in an interview with Allure magazine that she was comfortable enough with herself to no longer need Sasha Fierce. However, Beyoncé announced in May 2012 that she would bring her back for her Revel Presents: Beyoncé Live shows later that month.

Physical Characteristics: Beyoncé has been described as having a wide-ranging sex appeal, with music journalist Touré writing that since the release of Dangerously in Love, she has "become a crossover sex symbol". Offstage Beyoncé says that while she likes to dress sexily, her onstage dress "is absolutely for the stage."

Interests

• Beyoncé has stated that she is personally inspired by Michelle Obama (the 44th First Lady of the United States), saying "She proves you can do it all" and she has described Oprah Winfrey as "the definition of inspiration and a strong woman."

• Philosophers & Thinkers

  Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi

• Politicians

  Barack Obama

• Writers

  Marianne Schnal

• Artists

  Kara Walker, Tracey Emin, Aaron Young, Ed Ruscha

• Sport & Clubs

  Basketball, Fitness

• Athletes

  Manny Pacquiao, Kobe Bryant, Serena Williams

• Music & Bands

  Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Aaliyah, Prince, Lauryn Hill, Sade Adu, Donna Summer, Mary J. Blige, Janet Jackson

Connections

She married rap star Jay-Z on April 4, 2008. They had a daughter named Blue Ivy in 2012.

On February 1, 2017 Beyonce revealed on her Instagram account that she was expecting twins. The twins were born at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in California. Rumi, the daughter, was born before Sir, the son.

Father:

Mathew Knowles

Mathew Knowles is a record label owner, talent manager, and businessman. He is best known for being the manager of Destiny's Child.

Mother:

Tina Knowles

Célestine Ann Beyincé, known as Tina Knowles, is an American businesswoman and fashion designer known for her House of Deréon and Miss Tina by Tina Knowles fashion brands.

Sister:

Solange Knowles

Solange Piaget Knowles, known mononymously as Solange, is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Expressing an interest in music from an early age, Knowles had several temporary stints as a backup dancer for Destiny's Child, before signing with her father Mathew Knowles's Music World Entertainment label.

husband:

Jay-Z (Shawn Carter)

Shawn Corey Carter known professionally as Jay-Z (stylized as JAY-Z), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and entrepreneur. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, and one of the most acclaimed rappers of all-time.

Daughter:

Blue Ivy Carter

Daughter:

Rumi Carter

Son:

Sir Carter

Collegue :

Kelly Rowland

Kelendria Trene Rowland is an American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. Rowland rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time.

Friend:

Oprah Winfrey

Friend:

Barack Obama

Friend:

Gwyneth Paltrow

Friend:

Michelle Obama

References

• Beyoncégraphica: A Graphic Biography of Beyoncé
• Beyoncé: Running the World
• Becoming Beyoncé: The Untold Story
• There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce
• I Can't Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I've Put My Faith in Beyoncé