Actors - Beyoncé Knowles

Home > Listing Index > Actors > Beyoncé Knowles

	Actors - Beyoncé Knowles

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles (born September 4, 1981) is a popular American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and designer. She is usually referred to only by her first name, which she uses as her stage name. She was a founding member and lead singer of R&B supergroup Destiny's Child.

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 album charts in Canada and the United Kingdom. Knowles has won nine Grammy Awards — six for her solo work, and three as a member of Destiny's Child. Knowles has a successful film career, having co-starred in Austin Powers in Goldmember
, one of the highest grossing films of 2002, and having worked with Oscar winning actors in each of her theatrical films. In 2006, her song Check On It became her third number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist. Knowles is currently dating rap icon/Def Jam president Jay-Z.

Early life

Knowles is the elder of two children born to Matthew Knowles and Tina Beyince in Houston, Texas; her maternal grandparents, Lumis Beyince and Agnes Dereon (a seamstress), were French-speaking Creoles from Louisiana . Her parents decided on her first name as a tribute to her mother's surname. By age seven, she was attending dance school and was a soloist in her church choir. Her dance instructor took an interest in Knowles, personally taking her star student to various competitions. Knowles went on to win over 30 local singing and dancing competitions.

Knowles and her former best friend LaTavia Roberson met Kelly Rowland and LeToya Luckett. They formed a quartet that would perform in their backyards and in Tina Knowles' beauty shop. After singing at local events, they got their break when they entered Star Search . The group, then named "Girl's Tyme" , were heartbroken after 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 job as a multi-million dollar equipment salesman at Xerox to manage the group .

As a teenager, Knowles attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, where she showed her musical talents. She later went to Alief Elsik High School, also in Houston.

Destiny's Child

Knowles rose to fame with the then quartet Destiny's Child in 1998 with the Billboard Top 10 hit, No, No, No Part 2. Even after much publicized turmoil involving new and exiting group members, Destiny's Child (eventually a trio consisting of original members Knowles and Rowland, with Michelle Williams) managed to become one of the most successful pop/R&B acts of the late 90s/early 00's, earning four #1 Billboard Hot 100 singles, several Top 10's, and two #1 albums. The group also earned No. 1's on various other Billboard and non-Billboard charts.

Knowles and "Destiny's Child" toured as an opening act for TLC before their self-titled debut album Destiny's Child was released. The band was managed by her father, Matthew Knowles, who is acknowledged as a strong force in Beyoncé's life. Knowles is generally regarded as its leader.

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's 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 Vocals and Best R&B Song, the latter of which was awarded to the songwriters, which included Knowles.

Their next album, Survivor, proved to be another big success, going to number one on both the American Billboard 200 and R&B Albums charts, as well as the Canadian and the UK 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. In the United Kingdom, the first two tracks released reached number one consecutively. Independent Women Part 1 had been the theme song for the film 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 single, Emotion, was a cover of the Bee Gees hit of the same name; it continued the group's impressive string of top ten hits.
[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Beyoncé Knowles ]

Some related entries: Dean Cameron | Thelma Barlow | Laila Eloui | Pai Chan | Gus Lewis | Mark McKinney | One Night of Love | Rambha | Alfie | Terri Brosius | Jack Kehler
This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Beyoncé Knowles; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay