Beyoncé
Beyoncé | |
|---|---|
| Beyoncé Knowles | |
| Background information | |
| Years active | 2000-present (solo) |
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles (born September 4 1981 in Houston, Texas) is a popular American Contemporary R&B singer, songwriter, producer, and actress. She was the one of the founding members, lead singer, chief songwriter, and producer with Destiny's Child.
Beyonce Knowles is usually referred to only by her first name, which she uses as her stagename, but has come to be called Beyoncé Knowles by many in the media. Her debut solo album, 2003's Dangerously in Love, topped both the R&B and Billboard 200 charts in the U.S., as well as the main album charts in Canada and the United Kingdom. Beyoncé has won eight Grammy Awards — five for her solo work, and three as a member of Destiny's Child. This year, she has been nominated for six Grammy's Award nominations - one solo, one duet (with Stevie Wonder) and four with Destiny's Child.
Beyoncé is currently dating rapper Jay-Z, who is also CEO and President of Def Jam Recordings.
Early life
Beyoncé was the first child of two children born to Matthew and Tina Knowles on September 4, 1981. Her parents decided on a french name, as Tina Knowles, her mother, has French Creole ancestry. Beyonce (pronounced differently) was also Tina's maiden name. By age seven, she was attending dance school and was a soloist in her church choir. Her dance instructor took an interest in Beyoncé, personally taking her star student to various competitions. As a result, Beyoncé began to get famous in her community, winning over thirty local singing and dancing competitions.
Beyoncé and her best friend Kelly Rowland, mistakenly (and helped by the media and A&R hype) referred to as her cousin, met LaTavia Roberson and Letoya Luckett. They formed a quartet that would perform in their backyards and in Tina Knowles' beauty shop. After performing at local events, they got their break when they entered Star Search. The group, then named Girl's Tyme, were heartbroken when they received only three stars, losing the competition.
Matthew Knowles, Beyoncé's father and Rowland's legal guardian, decided to help the girls reach their dreams of becoming singers. He quit his six figure salary at Xerox to manage the group.
As a teenager, she attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, where she honed her musical talents. She later went to Alief Elsik High School, also in Houston. She graduated from Elsik in 2000.
Destiny's Child
Beyoncé and Destiny's Child toured as an opening act for both Christina Aguilera and TLC before their self-titled debut album Destiny's Child was released. The band is managed by her father, Matthew Knowles, who is acknowledged as a strong force in Beyoncé's life. Beyoncé is the main songwriter for the group and is generally regarded as its leader. The group has currently returned from a hiatus since 2001, when its three current members, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams, each decided to temporarily pursue solo careers.
Their 1998 platinum-selling debut album was produced by Wyclef Jean and Jermaine Dupri and featured the platinum-selling, number-one Hot 100 single "No, No, No". Destiny Child's second album The Writing's On The Wall, released in 1999, featured two number-one hits in "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "Say My Name". "Bug-A-Boo" and "Jumpin' Jumpin'" were also popular singles from the album. "Say My Name" won two awards at the 2001 Grammy Awards 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, which included Beyoncé herself.
Their next album, Survivor, proved to be another smash, going to number one on both the American Billboard 200 and R&B Albums charts, as well as the Canadian album chart. Two singles from the album went to the top of the Hot 100: "Independent Women" (Part 1) and "Bootylicious", with the album's title track reaching number two. "Independent Women" (Part 1) had been the theme song for Charlie's Angels in late 2000, before the album's 2001 release. The title track "Survivor" would win the group their third Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The album's fourth and final single, "Emotions", was a cover of the Bee Gees hit of the same name; it continued the group's impressive string of top ten hits.
In 2001, Beyoncé won the Songwriter of the Year award, from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers Pop Music Awards. She is the first African-American woman, and the second woman of any race to win the award.
In 2004, the group began receiving threats from an obsessed fan from San Diego, California named LaToya Langford. Primarily aimed at Beyoncé, the threats caused major setbacks for the group. Langford continued the threats, until her arrest on August 23 2004 at her San Diego home. After Langford's arrest the release of Destiny Fulfilled went through. "Lose My Breath" and "Soldier" both became top-five hits on the Hot 100; their last single, "Cater 2 U", made it to the top twenty, while "Girl", their third single, only managed to reach the top forty.
On June 13 2005 it was announced that the group would disband after their world tour ended in September 2005.[1]
Solo career
Acting
Beyoncé then turned to acting, starring alongside Mekhi Phifer in the MTV TV film Carmen: A Hip Hopera, without any previous training. This film was the modern equivalent of the 1954 musical Carmen which starred Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge.
In the summer of 2002, Beyoncé co-starred in the film Austin Powers in Goldmember opposite Mike Myers as Austin Powers, as Foxxy Cleopatra. The film is in The Guinness Book of World Records as gaining the Highest Box Office Comedy Film gross. She also recorded a song called "Work It Out" for the film's soundtrack. "Work It Out" was a top-ten hit in the UK and a top-forty hit in the Netherlands, Australia, and Ireland, despite being Beyoncé's biggest flop to date in her home country; in America, radio barely played the song and the video received very minor exposure, only on digital video channels, MTV Jams and VH1 Soul.
In 2003, Beyoncé starred in the film The Fighting Temptations opposite Cuba Gooding Jr., and recorded a song for it called "Fighting Temptation", with rappers Missy Elliott, Free, and MC Lyte. Unlike Beyoncé's own singles, the song did not become popular, although the film was a moderate success.
Beyoncé is currently in post-production for The Pink Panther in which she plays role of Xania, appearing opposite Steve Martin, who plays Inspector Clouseau. The film is scheduled for release on February 10 2006.
Solo album
During Autumn 2002, Beyoncé was the featured vocalist on then-rumored boyfriend Jay-Z's smash single, "'03 Bonnie & Clyde". In Spring 2003, Beyoncé remade a duet with the late Luther Vandross, "The Closer I Get to You", originally made famous by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway. In this version, the vocal parts are switched, with Vandross taking Flack's part and Beyoncé taking Hathaway's. The song was included both on her debut solo album and on Vandross's Dance With My Father album, and they shared the Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
In 2003, Beyoncé released her debut solo album Dangerously in Love. Its first single, "Crazy in Love", featured a propulsive riff and a guest rap from Jay-Z and rapidly became one of the biggest hits of that summer, staying at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart for eight weeks. 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. This album has sold over four million copies in U.S. and more than eight million copies worldwide source . When single and album simultaneously topped the pop charts in both the U.S. and the UK, she became the first act to achieve this feat since Men at Work in 1983; in the 1960s and 1970s, it was performed by The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, and Rod Stewart.
On the televised celebration of July 4 in 2003, Beyoncé provoked controversy with the Grant Memorial Association for her performance of "Crazy in Love", in which she danced in a "patently inappropriate" way on the steps of the tomb of President Ulysses S. Grant. President Grant's great-grandsons Ulysses Grant Dietz and Chapman Foster Grant, spoke up on Knowles' behalf. "The way the world is now, who cares?" said Chapman Grant, "who knows? If the old guy were alive, he might have enjoyed it."
In the same year, Beyoncé was Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher just a couple of minutes after ruining Christmas at Universal Studios Hollywood.
Towards the end of the summer, "Baby Boy", Dangerously in Love's second single, which featured dancehall star Sean Paul, began to climb the charts. It went on to become one of the biggest hits of 2003, dominating radio airplay in Autumn 2003, and spending nine weeks at number one — one week longer than "Crazy in Love". In late 2005, Beyoncé was served with a lawsuit for a claimed copyright theft from a young girl named Jennifer Armour. Armour claimed that she sent the song to Beyoncé's label, and that she used it without permission. The Knowles have not commented publically on the lawsuit, nor have the Armours.
Fresh from the success of "Baby Boy", Beyoncé released her third solo single, "Me, Myself and I" towards the end of 2003; Dangerously in Love's fourth single, "Naughty Girl", came out in mid-2004. Both songs peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100.
At the 2004 Grammy awards ceremony, Beyonce won a record-tying five Grammy awards for her solo effort. These awards included Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Dangerously in Love II", and Best Contemporary R&B album.
In December 2005, Beyoncé released a new song, Check On It, featuring Slim Thug. The song is from the Destiny's Child album, #1's and the Pink Panther soundtrack.
Charity work
Beyoncé, David Foster, and his daughter, Amy Foster Gillies, wrote Destiny's Child's single "Stand Up for Love" for World Children's Day, an event which takes place annually around the world on November 20 to raise awareness and funds for children's causes worldwide. Over the past three years, more than $50 million has been raised to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities and other children's organizations.
Destiny's Child lent their voices and support as global ambassadors for the 2005 program. In this role, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams visited Ronald McDonald Houses around the world during their Destiny Fulfilled... and Lovin' It global tour and donated a portion of their North American ticket sales to Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland, along with Mathew Knowles, Tina Knowles, and Solange Knowles-Smith recently announced the formation of the Survivor Foundation, a charitable entity set up for the purpose of providing transitional housing for Hurricane Katrina victims and storm evacuees in the Houston, Texas area. The Survivor Foundation extends the philanthropic mission of the Knowles-Rowland Center For Youth, a multi-purpose community outreach facility in downtown Houston.
Forthcoming projects
Beyonce's singing can be heard on forthcoming music projects including her duet with Stevie Wonder on So Amazing: An All Star Tribute to Luther Vandross and her cover of Rose Royce's classic "Wishing on a Star" featured on the soundtrack to the film Roll Bounce. Beyonce is launching her own clothing line House of Dereon with her mother, Tina, November 2005. Destiny's Child modelled some of the clothing during their 2005 World Tour and during their performance at the annual Fashion Rocks concert, which took place September 9th. Beyonce's second solo album is expected to be released in September 2006. Beyonce will also star in the movie Dreamgirls about a singing group in the 1960's loosley based on The Supremes. In the movie she will play the Diana Ross-based character Deena Jones. It is scheduled for release in December 2006.
Solo career achievements
- First female artist to have a number-one album and a number-one single in the U.S. and the U.K. simultaneously.
- Remains the only African-American female to win the ASCAP Pop-songwriter award, and second female (the first is Diane Warren).
- Biggest selling female R&B artist of 2003.
- Beyonce sung three of the five nominees for the Best Original Song at the Academy Awards (Oscars) in 2005.
- Beyonce has won five Grammy Awards for her solo effort; tying the record with Alicia Keys, Norah Jones, and Lauryn Hill for the most awards won by a female artist in a single year.
- Beyonce has won over thirty industry awards for her solo efforts, including five Grammys, four MTV Video Music Awards, a Brit Award for Best International Female Solo Artist; beating Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera,Missy Elliott, and Kylie Minogue.
- Beyonce was #2 on BET's All Shades Of Fine: 25 Hottest Females of the Past 25 Years
- Biggest selling member of Destiny's Child who released solo material.
- Beyonce was #20 on MuchMusic's "Who To Do: 20 Sexiest Girls" list in 2005. She was #1 on that list in 2004.
Solo awards
Solo Tours
- Dangerously In Love European Tour: 2003
- 46664 Concert (Nelson Mandela's Charity Concert in South Africa - To Fight Against Aids, HIV Cancer, Diseases): 2003 (With Bono and The Edge from U2, Anastacia and other renowned artists)
- The Verizon Ladies First Tour: 2004 (with Alicia Keys and Missy Elliot)
Solo discography
For more information about her singles, albums certifications, and music video, see Beyoncé Knowles Discography
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | MTV's Hip-Hopera: Carmen | Carmen Brown | On TV & DVD |
| 2002 | Austin Powers in Goldmember | Foxxy Cleopatra | Debuted at #1 est. grossed $288,000,000 worldwide source |
| 2003 | The Fighting Temptations | Lilly | Debuted at #3 est. grossed $32,000,000 worldwide source |
| 2004 | Fade To Black | Beyoncé | Documentary |
| 2006 | The Pink Panther | Xania | Feb. 10th |
| 2006 | Dreamgirls | Deena Jones | Pre-production |
Solo Endorsements and Products
Tommy Hilfiger Fragrances
- True Star — 2004
- True Star Gold — 2005
See also
- List of best-selling music artists
- List of number-one hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (US)
- List of Number 1 Dance Hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
Reference
External links
- Destiny's Child
- 1981 births
- African American musicians
- American pop singers
- Rhythmic Top 40 acts
- Dance Top 40 acts in United States
- Female singers
- Houstonians
- R&B musicians
- Sex symbols
- Austin Powers girls
- Brit Award Winners
- Grammy Award Winners
- MTV Music Award Winners
- Members of girl groups
- Whistle register singers