Beyoncé

The daughter of an African American father and a Creole mother, Beyoncé Giselle Knowles – born September 4, 1981, in Houston, Texas - won her first talent show singing John Lennon's "Imagine" at the age of 7 and met LaTavia Roberson and Kelly Rowland at an audition the following year for a girl group that went on to become Girl's Tyme. Beyoncé's father, Matthew Knowles, took over the management and the group ultimately evolved into Destiny's Child in 1993. Four years later – with the addition of LeToya Lockett - the group was signed to Columbia and on their way to becoming the biggest-selling female group in the world, releasing six commercially acclaimed albums between 1998 and 2004. Beyoncé then launched her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love, in 2003. The album included the massive international hit "Crazy in Love," which featured rapper – and future husband - Jay-Z. In 2002, she added acting to her list of talents when she starred in the film Austin Powers: Goldmember before going on to take roles in Dreamgirls (2006), The Pink Panther (2006), and Cadillac Records (2008). Albums B'Day (2006) and I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008) continued her reign of success, the latter of which won six Grammy awards. She returned with fourth studio album 4 in 2011, which went straight in at number 1. Surprise self-titled album Beyoncé arrived in 2013 and was followed by the critically acclaimed album Lemonade (2016). The album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 and being the sixth consecutive studio album to do so meant that it made Billboard history. As part of a collaboration called The Carters, Beyoncé and Jay-Z released the album Everything Is Love (2018), which was released immediately after the premiere of the music video for the single “Apes**t” which was filmed at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. After her headlining performance at the 2018 Coachella music festival, in 2019 a documentary titled Homecoming featured footage from the concert and the behind-the-scenes production process. It was accompanied by Homecoming: The Live Album. Beyoncé provided the voice for Nala in 2019’s remake of The Lion King and provided the new song “Spirit” to the soundtrack. In June 2020, in the wake of the protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, Knowles released the single “Black Parade.” In 2022, Beyoncé returned with her seventh studio effort Renaissance, a celebration of black queer club music that shot straight to the top of the Billboard 200. In 2024, she released the album Cowboy Carter, an album that blended her classic R&B sound with country music. The album was warmly embraced by her fans and music lovers and went straight to number 1 on several album charts around the world. The album featured appearances by country icons Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Linda Martell as well as several up-and-coming country artists. While the single “Texas Hold ‘Em” made history by being the first country single by a black woman to stop the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs, charts, the most talked-about track was her cover of The Beatles’ “Blackbird,” which featured the song’s original backing track with Beyonce and backing singers adding their vocals to the song.

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