Beyoncé Giselle Knowles (born September 4, 1981 in Houston, Texas) is an African-American R&B singer, actress, and chief songwriter and producer in the group Destiny's Child. In a Universal Music poll conducted earlier this year, Beyonce beat out Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera to be crowned the Princess of Pop.
by only her first name, Beyoncé, which is her stage name, 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 pop charts in America, as well as the main album charts in Canada and the UK. The album has spawned four top ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100 including "Crazy In Love" featuring boyfriend [[Jay-Z], "Baby Boy" featuring Sean Paul, "Me Myself & I", and "Naughty Girl" all of which were back-to-back multi-week number ones on said chart during last summer and fall. Beyoncé has won five Grammy Awards for her solo work and three as a member of Destiny's Child. As a teen, she attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, where she honed her musical talents.
Solo career
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.
Beyonce then turned to acting, starring in MTV's "Carmen" without any previous training. In the summer of 2002, Beyoncé co-starred in the film Austin Powers in Goldmember opposite Mike Myers' role of Austin Powers, as Foxxy Cleopatra. She also recorded a song and produced a music video, called "Work It Out", for the movie soundtrack. "Work It Out" was a top 10 hit in the UK and a top 40 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.
During the fall of 2002, Beyoncé was the featured vocalist on Jay-Z's smash single, "'03 Bonnie And Clyde". The couple are engaged, and current rumours say that they will marry soon.
In the spring of 2003, Beyoncé remade a duet with Luther Vandross, called "The Closer I Get To You", originally performed by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway. In this version, the vocal parts are flipped around, with Luther taking Roberta's part and Beyoncé taking Donny's. The song was included both on her debut solo album and on Luther's Dance With My Father set, 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 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 ten 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 in excess of 6 million copies worldwide. When single and album simultaneously topped the pop charts in both the US and the UK, she became the first act to achieve this feat since Men At Work in 1983 - in the '60s and '70s, it was performed by the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, and Rod Stewart.
On the televised celebration of July 4 in 2003, Beyoncé came under controversy from 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."
Towards the end of the summer, "Baby Boy", Dangerously In Love's second single, which featured reggae star Sean Paul, began to climb the charts. It, too, went on to become one of the biggest hits of 2003, dominating radio airplay for the fall of 2003.
Around the same time, Beyoncé starred in the movie 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 movie was a moderate success.
Fresh off 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 have also made the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.
Beyonce currently is in pre-production for The Pink Panther in the role of Xania, appearing opposite Steve Martin who plays Inspector Clouseau. The film is scheduled for release in 2005.
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Beyonce Knowles Biography
Beyonce first began her musical career when she was 7 years old and met LaTavia Roberson while auditioning for a children's group. Beyonc駳 cousin, Kelly Rowland, soon joined the girls, and the trio was finally joined by the fourth part of the group, LeToya Luckett.
Managed by Music World Management's Matthew Knowles -- who is also Beyonc駳 father and Kelly's legal guardian -- the four young girls with big dreams became Destiny's Child.
Worshipping the moves and voices of R&B legendary groups such as the Supremes and the Jackson 5, the children of Destiny's Child started small by performing at local events and moved on to their national television debut with their performance on Star Search.
Not only did their strong voices standout, but their originality and refreshing rap performance was only a preview of what the music industry was in store for.
Soon enough, the group had moved up from the ranks of performing at small-time gigs, to becoming the opening act for popular R&B and hip hop acts Dru Hill, SWV and Immature.
The group's first album, the self-titled Destiny's Child, was released in 1998, under the Columbia Records label. The album features Wyclef Jean, Pras and Jermaine Dupri as collaborating producers, as well as their hit single "No, No, No", which went platinum.
If the three awards that Destiny's Child received at the 1998 Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards wasn't enough of an indication of their upcoming success, their next album sure was. The Writing's on the Wall, which was released in 1999, reached the top ten Billboard album charts upon its release.
The album has so far spawned 4 hit singles, "Bills, Bills, Bills," "Say My Name," "Bug a Boo," and "Jumpin', Jumpin'." With their album reaching triple platinum status by the end of the year, 2 Grammy nominations in 1999, an "Image Award" for Outstanding Duo or Group by the NAACP, and contributions to the soundtracks for the films Why Do Fools Fall In Love?, Life, and Romeo Must Die, one would think that the Houston-based group would know no problems -- but that would be wrong.
In March of 2000, it was announced that group members LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson had left the group. It was later revealed that the two members were unhappy with the management of Matthew Knowles, and that they left because of existing "creative differences." LeToya and LaTavia took the group and its management to court, while the remaining members found two replacements, Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin.
Just when it seemed that Destiny's Child had seen the last of their problems, Farrah Franklin left the group after 5 months, leaving Beyonc頋nowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams (not to be confused with the blonde Dawson's Creek star) as a trio, basking in the glory of consecutive number one hits with the release of the group's third album, Survivor.