Beyoncé

Beyoncé
(Beyoncé Knowles 1981– )
a US pop singer and actor. Beyoncé was a singer and songwriter with the pop group Destiny’s Child before becoming a solo singer. She won five Grammy s for her first solo album Dangerously in Love 2003.

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▪ 2005

      The first solo album of singing star Beyoncé, Dangerously in Love, debuted to rave reviews; after two songs from the album reached number one on Billboard's Hot 100, the CD itself hit the top of Billboard's album chart in 2004. The success of the album at the 2004 Grammy Awards, where it won five prizes, including that for best contemporary R&B album, cemented her new celebrity status and marked her arrival as a genuine adult superstar. The album, heavily produced with booming beats, vocal overdubs, and lengthy interjections by Jay-Z and other male rappers, featured songs written mostly by Beyoncé herself; if her lyrics were usually about hot young lust (“Tonight I'll be your naughty girl”), her sweet little-girl voice lent them a safe air of innocence for her teenage female following.

      Beyoncé Giselle Knowles was born on Sept. 4, 1981, in Houston, Texas. She and three other youngsters formed the singing-rapping girl group Destiny's Child when she was nine years old. Her father, Matthew Knowles, managed the group. At first, fame eluded Destiny's Child. In 1992 the group lost on the Star Search television talent show, and three years later it was dropped from a recording contract before an album had been released. The group, which now included Beyoncé's cousin Kelly Rowland, nonetheless had a local following, and Matthew was determined to make them a success, even selling the family home in 1996 to support the girls. In 1997 Destiny's Child's fortunes reversed with a Columbia recording contract and then an eponymous debut album that yielded three hit singles. Though Destiny's Child's second CD, The Writing's on the Wall (1999), sold eight million copies, two of the quartet's singers decided their destiny was elsewhere. By the time of the release of their third album, Survivor (2001), Destiny's Child had become a trio.

      Beyoncé was clearly the group's star and increasingly took a leading role in the group, writing hit songs such as “Bootylicious.” By this time, however, Destiny's Child could no longer contain the ambitions of its members, all of whom sought solo projects. In 2001, the year she became the first African American woman to be named ASCAP's Pop Songwriter of the Year, Beyoncé began her acting career in MTV's Carmen: A Hip Hopera. Her role as Foxxy Cleopatra in Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) made her a film star and led to a part in The Fighting Temptations (2003). With the 2003 release of Dangerously in Love, Beyoncé shed her last name. She was already a Pepsi-Cola spokesperson by the time of her 2004 Grammy triumphs, and soon thereafter the 22-year-old's statue was unveiled at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London. Meanwhile, her second solo album, Beyoncé Live at Wembley, released on DVD with multimedia components, climbed the hit charts, and she secured a part as a pop singer in Blake Edwards's prequel to The Pink Panther (set for a 2005 release). Despite her solo success, Beyoncé reunited with the other members of Destiny's Child to record Destiny Fulfilled (2004).

John Litweiler

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▪ American singer
in full  Beyoncé Giselle Knowles 
born Sept. 4, 1981, Houston, Tex., U.S.
 
 American singer-songwriter and actress, who achieved fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the R&B (rhythm and blues) group Destiny's Child and then launched a successful solo career.

 At age nine Beyoncé formed the singing-rapping girl group Destiny's Child (originally called Girl's Tyme) in 1990 with childhood friends. In 1992 the group lost on the Star Search television talent show, and three years later it was dropped from a recording contract before an album had been released. In 1997 Destiny's Child's fortunes reversed with a Columbia recording contract and then an eponymous debut album that yielded three hit singles, including the Top Ten hit "No, No, No Part 2." Their follow-up album, The Writing's on the Wall (1999), earned the group two Grammy Awards (Grammy Award) and sold more than eight million copies in the United States. Survivor (2001), the group's third album, reached the number one spot on the Billboard 200 chart.

 Beyoncé was clearly the leader of the group and wrote hit songs for Destiny's Child such as "Bootylicious." Eventually, the group parted ways to pursue individual projects. Beyoncé used her songwriting talents to pen her first solo album, Dangerously in Love (2003). The album debuted to rave reviews, and it eventually topped the charts. In 2004 Beyoncé won five Grammy Awards, including best contemporary R&B album and best female R&B vocal performance.

      Destiny's Child reunited in 2004 to release a fourth studio album, Destiny Fulfilled. The album, as successful as the group's previous efforts, sold more than seven million copies worldwide and spawned several hit singles. The trio embarked on a world tour in 2005, during which they announced that the group would officially disband. That same year they released their final album, #1's, a collection of well-known songs and number one hits.

      In 2006 Beyoncé released her second solo studio album, B'Day, which featured several coproducers, including the Neptunes. The album's first single, "Déjà Vu," was a number one hit. The double album I Am…Sasha Fierce appeared in 2008. While I Am was a collection of introspective ballads, Sasha Fierce contained dance tracks familiar to most of her fans.

      In 2001 Beyoncé made her acting debut in the television movie Carmen: A Hip Hopera, which aired on MTV. Her role as Foxxy Cleopatra in Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) made her a film star and led to parts in The Fighting Temptations (2003) and The Pink Panther (2006). In 2006 she played Deena Jones in Dreamgirls, the film adaptation of the 1981 Broadway musical about a 1960s singing group. Beyoncé's performance was nominated for a Golden Globe and her song "Listen" for an Academy Award. In 2008 she earned praise for her portrayal of singer Etta James (James, Etta) in Cadillac Records, about the artists and executives of the legendary Chicago blues label .

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Universalium. 2010.

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