Beyonce

Early Years

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles was born on September 4, 1981, in Houston, TX. Her parents, Mathew Knowles and Tina Beyince Knowles (whose maiden name was the inspiration for her daughter’s first name), recognized her talent early in life. In her childhood years, Beyoncé racked up over 30 regional awards for singing and dancing and was a soloist in her church choir from age seven.

The Knowles family encouraged their daughter to form a music group with her friends LaTavia Roberson, Kelly Rowland, and LeToya Luckett. The group called themselves Girl's Tyme. Tina Knowles allowed the girls to perform regularly in her hair salon.

Girl's Tyme got their first shot at the big time on Star Search in the early 90s, but their rap performance failed to wow the crowd, and the group went home empty handed. Undeterred, Mathew Knowles decided to quit his $100K+ a year job at Xerox to help the girls with their music career full time.

From Girl's Tyme to Destiny’s Child

Beyonce with Destiny's Child

Girl's Tyme signed with Elektra Records in 1995 but were quickly dropped again, before their first album could be released. Columbia Records picked up the group in 1996.

Between 1996 and the 1998 release of their debut album, Girl Tyme went through many name changes. Interim names included:

• The Dolls
• Something Fresh
• Cliché

Finally, the group settled on Destiny’s Child. Destiny’s Child’s self-titled debut album hit the charts with a bang, thanks to the success of the first single, No, No No Part 2. The album went on to go platinum several times over.

Destiny’s Child was quick to follow-up on this success with the release of their sophomore album the next year. The Writing’s on the Wall was an even bigger commercial success than the first album, topping charts in the US, UK, and Canada, and earning the group two Grammy Awards.

Trouble was brewing the Destiny’s Child camp, though. Luckett and Roberson began to push for replacing Mathew Knowles with outside management, claiming he favored his daughter and was keeping too large a share of the profits. Luckett and Robertson quickly found themselves booted out of the group. The women were briefly replaced by Farrah Franklin, who left the group before the third album for personal reasons.

Destiny’s Child’s third release, Survivor, saw her take over the reigns more than ever. Some of the tracks featured her on vocals exclusively, and she did most of the songwriting and production work on the album. Survivor confirmed Destiny’s Child’s place at the top, debuting at number one on the Billboard charts with more first week sales than any girl group in pop history.

After Surviror, Destiny’s Child took three years off to concentrate on their solo careers. Their final album, Destiny Fulfilled, was released in 2004. In 2005, the group was recognized at the World Music Awards for having achieved the highest number of overall sales of any girl group in history.

Beyoncé's Solo Career

Music

Beyonce's next album, B'Day, will be released 9/5/06

Beyoncé’s solo debut album, Dangerously in Love, was released in 2003. The album topped both the R&B and Billboard Top 100 charts, plus UK, Canadian, and Australian charts. The album spawned the hits Crazy in Love, a duet with her boyfriend Jay-Z, and Baby Boy, a duet with Sean Paul. She was recognized for her work with a record six Grammy Awards.

B’Day, the follow-up album, is scheduled for a September, 5, 2006 USA release, to coincide with her 25th birthday. (It will be released Septeber 4 in the rest of the world).

Film

MTV’s Carmen: A Hip Hopera, a 2001 TV movie, was Beyoncé’s screen debut. Since then, she has appeared in several films, including:

• 2002 - Austin Powers - Goldmember. Beyoncé played the role of Foxxxy Cleopatra. The film is the highest grossing box office comedy of all times.

• 2003 - The Fighting Temptations - as Lilly.

• 2006 - The Pink Panther - as Xania!

Slated for a December, 2006, release is Dream Girls, a film based on an 80's Broadway musical. Beyoncé plays Deena Jones, a character inspired by Diana Ross. There are also rumors she will reprise her Foxxxy Cleopatra role for another Austin Powers film.

Fashion Designer

In 2005, Beyoncé launched the [http:/www.houseofdereon.com House of Dereon] clothing line, named for her maternal grandmother. The designs are created by Knowles and her mother, who also designed many of Destiny’s Child’s outfits. The line is available in department stores across the US.

Trivia

• The name Destiny’s Child is a Biblical reference to the Book of Isaiah.

• Beyoncé, her parents, and her fellow Destiny’s Child members set up the Survivor Foundation to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

• Long famous for her Bootylicious physique, Knowles lost 20 pounds for her role in Dream Girls.

• Destiny’s Child named their third album Survivor as a nod to joke about them “voting” members “off the island” after the departure of Luckett, Roberson, and Franklin from the group.