Beyonce

Beyonce

Early Life

Beyonce Giselle Knowles born on September 4, 1981 in Houston, Texas is an African-American R&B singer, actress and songwriter in the group Destiny's Child. Her father Matthew Knowles worked as Destiny's Child manager, while her mother Tina Knowles designed the group members glittering costumes. She once attended The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas before finally stepping into music business. 

Beyonce and her group were discovered by Whitney Houston. During her time in the group, Beyonce was perceived as a leader for her songwriting and producing expertise that led to many hit singles "Jumpin Jumpin", "Bootylicious", "Nasty Girl", "Independent Women", "Happy Face" and "Apple Pie a la mode." 

Personal Life

At the beginning of their career, Beyonce, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams (II), toured as an opening act for Christina Aguilera and TLC. Then in 1998, they released their group self-titled album, "Destiny's Child", which was produced by Wyclef Jean and Jermaine Dupri. Its single "No, No, No" peaked at No. 1 and the album itself went platinum. 

In 1999, they released a second album "The Writing's on the Wall", featuring two number one hits in "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "Say My Name" that won two awards at the 2001 Grammys for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best R&B Song, the latter of which was awarded to the songwriters, including Beyonce herself. 

Following both successful albums, Destiny's Child dropped "Survivor" in 2001. It became another smash, topped both the American Billboard 200 and R&B Albums charts, ruled the Canadian album chart, and generated success around the world. What's more, two singles from the album, namely "Independent Women (Part 1)" and "Bootylicious", went to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. 

On top of that, "Independent Women (Part 1)" became the theme song for "Charlie's Angels" in late 2000. Its title track "Survivor" gloriously won the band their second Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. 

Career

Despite their soaring success, Destiny's Child decided to take a break to pursue solo careers. But they returned in 2004 to produce two new albums. The first album entitled "Destiny Fulfilled" and its first single "Lose My Breath" both reached the top 10 Billboard album and singles charts respectively. 

Along with the group success, Beyonce's solo career also rose up. She won the Songwriter of the Year award from the ASCAP Pop Music Awards, making her the first African American woman and the second woman of any race to win the honor. Gaining fame and success in music production, Beyonce was curious to expand her career to acting, which resulted in her starring in MTV's "Carmen" without any previous training. 

She continued her acting exploration by starring in "Austin Powers in Goldmember" as Foxxy Cleopatra opposite Mike Myers. After that, Beyonce recorded a song and produced a music video, called "Work It Out", used for the movie soundtrack that was a top 10 hit in the UK and a top 40 hit in Netherlands, Australia, and Ireland. Later during the fall of 2002, Beyonce worked with Jay-Z on smash single, "03 Bonnie And Clyde". Both fell in love, started going on a date, and got engaged before secretly tying the knot on April 4, 2008. 

In the spring of 2003, Beyonce remade a duet with Luther Vandross, called "The Closer I Get to You", originally performed by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway. The song was included both on her debut solo album and on Luther's "Dance With My Father" set, for which the two singers shared the Grammy for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals. 

That year, Beyonce released her debut solo album "Dangerously in Love". The first single "Crazy In Love" featuring a guest rap from boyfriend Jay-Z quickly became one of the biggest hits of that summer, staying at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart for ten weeks. Soon afterwards "Dangerously in Love" went to the top of the album charts in the UK and Canada, as well as on both the American pop Billboard 200 and R&B charts. 

To welcome the end of 2003 summer, her second single "Baby Boy" which featured reggae star Sean Paul was launched. It climbed the charts, becoming one of the biggest hits of 2003 and dominating radio airplay for the fall of 2003. 

During the same time, Beyonce starred in the movie "The Fighting Temptations," for which she, together with rapper Missy Elliott, Free, and MC Lyte, recorded a song for it called "Fighting Temptation" that unfortunately failed to be popular despite the moderate success of the movie itself. 

As Beyonce's solo career got bigger, her group Destiny's Child was disbanded in 2005. They marked their farewell with a special greatest hits package titled "#1's".

source:aceshowbiz.com