COUNTRY OF BIRTH

United States

INDUSTRY

Entertainment

TOP ACHIEVEMENTS

Beyoncé is an American singer-songwriter and actress acclaimed for her superior vocal ability, videos, and stunning live shows. Beyoncé's success and influence have earned her the nickname "Queen Bey." Female empowerment is a recurring theme in her work.

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles was born on September 4, 1981, in Houston, Texas. She attended St. Mary's Montessori School, where she was shy and had few friends. Aged seven, her parents signed her up for dance classes "to make friends more than anything else," as her mother says, but she soon discovered that her daughter had real talent. Beyoncé later went to Houston’s Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

EARLY CAREER

Aged just nine, Beyoncé formed an all-female singing group, Girl’s Tyme, with her cousin Kelly Rowland and two classmates. The group went through name and line-up changes until the trio known as Destiny’s Child landed a recording contract in 1997 with Columbia Records. Their first, self-titled album in 1998 produced the hit single No, No, No. Their follow-up album in 1999, The Writing’s on the Wall, yielded their first No. 1 single and earned two Grammy Awards.

ACHIEVEMENTS

While the group’s third album, Survivor (2001), reached the No.1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart, Beyoncé also explored other projects, making her acting debut with a starring role in Carmen: A Hip Hopera. Since then, she has starred in another nine films and directed four of her own. Her first solo album, Dangerously in Love (2003), won five Grammy Awards. Destiny's Child officially broke up in 2004, with total record sales of 60 million. Since then, Beyoncé has sold another 118 million as a solo artist. Her 2016 album Lemonade debuted at No. 1, making her the only artist in history to have all of her first six studio albums reach the top of Billboard's album charts. Beyoncé’s entrepreneurial activities in other fields include clothing lines and fragrances. Her own entertainment company, Parkwood Entertainment, manages her various brands in music, movie production, videos, and fashion. Beyoncé is known for her charitable activities, and her own organization, BeyGOOD, does everything from funding scholarships to fighting for gender equality and providing emergency aid.

RECOGNITION

In 2002, Beyoncé became the first African American woman to win the Songwriter of the Year Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. She holds the record for the most Grammy Awards ever won by a female artist, with 28 awards from a total of 79 nominations. Her six Grammys in 2010 represent the most awards ever collected by a female artist in a single night. Beyoncé also holds 24 MTV Video Music Awards, making her the most-awarded artist in VMA history.

ADDITIONAL FACTS

• Beyoncé’s tour band, Suga Mama, is an all-female entourage which includes bassists, drummers, guitarists, horn players, keyboardists and percussionists.
• She is married to rapper and music mogul Jay-Z and they have three children.