Beyonce Biography Filmography Discography

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles usually referred to only by her first name “Beyonce” was born on September 4, 1981 in Houston, Texas is a popular American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, and designer. She was a founding member, the lead singer, and chief songwriter of Destiny's Child.
As a teenager, Beyoncé attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, where she honed her musical talents. She later went to Alief Elsik High School, also in Houston and graduated in 2000.

Beyoncé was the elder of two children, with parents Matthew and Tina Knowles. Her parents decided on a French name, as Tina Knowles, her mother, has Creole ancestry. By age seven, she was attending dance school and was a soloist in her church choir. Her dance instructor took an interest in Beyoncé, personally taking her star student to various competitions. Beyoncé went on to win over 30 local singing and dancing competitions.

Beyoncé and her best friend, Kelly Rowland, met LaTavia Roberson and Letoya Luckett. They formed a group that would perform in their backyards and in Tina Knowles' beauty shop. After performing at local events, they got their break when they entered Star Search. The group, then named Girl's Tyme, they were heartbroken when they averaged only three stars out of a possible four, 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 at Xerox to manage the group.

She rose to fame with the then quartet Destiny's Child in 1998, involving new and exiting group members, a trio consisting of original members Knowles and Rowland with Michelle Williams managed to become one of the most successful pop/R&B acts in the late 90’s and early 2000. They earned No.1’s on various other Billboard and non- Billboard Charts.

The band was managed by her father, Matthew Knowles, who is acknowledged as a strong force in Beyoncé's life. Beyoncé is the main songwriter for the group and is generally regarded as its leader. The group has currently returned from a hiatus since 2001, when its three current members, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams, each decided to temporarily pursue solo careers.

In 2001, Beyoncé turned to acting, starring alongside Mekhi Phifer in the MTV made for television movie Carmen: A Hip Hopera, without any previous training. This film was the modern equivalent of the 1954 musical Carmen which starred Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge.
In the summer of 2002, Beyoncé co-starred in the film Austin Powers in Goldmember opposite Mike Myers as Austin Powers, as Foxxy Cleopatra. The film is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the Highest-Grossing Box Office Film Comedy. She also recorded a song called "Work It Out" for the film's soundtrack. "Work It Out" was a top-ten hit in the UK and a top-forty hit in the Netherlands, Australia, and Ireland, despite being Beyoncé's biggest flop to date in her home country; in the U.S.A., radio barely played the song and the video received very minor exposure, only on digital video channels, MTV Jams and VH1 Soul.
In 2003, Beyoncé starred in the film 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 film was a moderate success.
Beyoncé is currently in post-production for The Pink Panther in which she plays role of Xania, appearing opposite Steve Martin, who plays Inspector Clouseau. The film is scheduled for release on February 10, 2006. She is also currently filming the cinematic adaptation of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, which is co-starring Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx, and which is scheduled to hit movie theatres across the country on December 22, 2006.

Back to her solo career during Autumn 2002, Beyoncé was the featured vocalist on then-rumored boyfriend Jay-Z's smash single, "'03 Bonnie & Clyde". In Spring 2003, Beyoncé remade a duet with the late Luther Vandross, "The Closer I Get to You", originally made famous by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway. In this version, the vocal parts are switched, with Vandross taking Flack's part and Beyoncé taking Hathaway's. The song was included both on her debut solo album and on Vandross's Dance With My Father album, 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 propulsive riff and 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 eight 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 over four million copies in U.S. and more than eight million copies worldwide source. When her single and album simultaneously topped the pop charts in both the U.S. and the UK, she became the first act to achieve this feat since Men at Work in 1983; in the 1960s and 1970s, it was performed by The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, and Rod Stewart.
On the televised celebration of July 4 in 2003, Beyoncé provoked controversy with 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 dancehall star Sean Paul, began to climb the charts. It went on to become one of the biggest hits of 2003, dominating radio airplay in Autumn 2003, and spending nine weeks at number one — one week longer than "Crazy in Love".
Fresh from 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 songs peaked at number four and number three respectively on the Billboard Hot 100.
At the 2004 Grammy awards ceremony, Beyoncé won a record-tying five Grammy awards for her solo effort. These awards included Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for Dangerously in Love 2, and Best Contemporary R&B album.

In December 2005, Beyoncé released a new song, Check On It, featuring Slim Thug. The song is from the Destiny's Child album, #1's and the Pink Panther soundtrack and is Beyoncé's sixth top five hit and third number one. Beyoncé announced that she will start writing songs for her new album after she has completed filming her new movie Dreamgirls. Until then, she said she will concentrate mainly on the film.
Beyoncé will begin to record her second solo album sometime in 2006 after she finishes shooting Dreamgirls and it is expected to be released in 2006. Beyoncé will star in the movie Dreamgirls, about a singing group in the 1960's loosley based on The Supremes, as the Diana Ross-based character Deena Jones. Dreamgirls is scheduled for release in December 22 2006.

Discography

Dangerously in Love (2003)
Live at Wembley (2004)

Filmography

Carmen: A Hip Hopera (2001)
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
The Fighting Temptations (2003)
Fade to Black (2004)
The Pink Panther (2006)
Dreamgirls (2006)

Awards

ASCAP Awards
Year, Category, Award, Won/Nominated
2001, Pop Songwriter of the Year, Pop Music Awards, Won
2002, Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures (Independent Woman Part 1), Film and Television Music Awards, Won

VH1 Awards
Year, Catergory, Award, Won/Nominated
2003, Big Entertainer, Big in 2003, Won

MTV Music Awards
Year, Catergory, Award, Won/Nominated
2003, Best Female Video (Crazy in love), Video Music Awards, Won
2003, Best R&B Video (Crazy in love), Video Music Awards, Won
2003, Best Choreography (Crazy in love), Video Music Awards, Won
2003, Best R&B Award, Europe Music Awards, Won
2003, Best Song of the Year (Crazy in love), Europe Music Awards, Won
2003, Viewers Choice Award (Crazy in love), Video Music Awards, Nominated
2004, Best Female Video (Naughty Girl), Video Music Awards, Won
2004, Best R&B Video (Me, Myself and I), Video Music Awards, Nominated
2004, Best Choreography (Naughty Girl), Video Music Awards, Nominated
2004, Best Direction (Naughty Girl), Video Music Awards, Nominated
2004, Best Dance Video (Naughty Girl), Video Music Awards, Nominated
2004, TRL's First Lady Award, TRL Awards, Won

Soul Train Music Awards
Year, Catergory, Award, Won/Nominated
2004, Entertainer of the Year (Female), Sammy Davis Jr. Awards, Won
2004, Best Female R&B/ Soul Album (Dangerously in Love), Won

NAACP Image Awards
Year, Catergory, Won/Nominated
2004, Entertainer of the Year, Won

Brit Awards
Year, Catergory, Won/Nominated
2004, Best International Female Solo Artist (Dangerously in Love), Won
2004, Best International Album (Dangerously in Love), Nominated

Grammy Awards
Year, Catergory, Won/Nominated
2004, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (Dangerously in Love 2), Won
2004, Best R&B Performace by a Dou or Group with Vocal (The Closer I get to you), Won
2004, Best R&B Song (Crazy in Love), Won
2004, Best Contemporary R&B Album (Dangerously in Love), Won
2004, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (Crazy in Love), Won
2004, Record of the year (Crazy in Love, Nominated
2006, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (Wishing on a Star), Nominated
2006, Best R&B Performance by a Dou or Group Vocal (So Amazing), Nominated

Billboard Music Awards
Year, Catergory, Won/Nominated
2003, New Female Artist, Won
2003, Hot 100 Female Artist, Won
2003, Hot 100 Award for Most Weeks at No. 1, Won
2003, New R&B Artist, Won

Capital FM Awards
Year, Category, Won/Nominated
2004, London's Favorite International Solo Artist, Won

Radio Music Awards
Year, Category, Won/Nominated
2004, Artist of the Year-Top 40 Radio, Won

BET Awards
Year, Category, Won/Nominated
2004, Best Female R&B Artist, Won
2004, Best Collaboration (Crazy in Love), Won

People Choice Awards
Year, Category, Won/Nominated
2004, Favorite Female Performer, Won

Vibe Awards
Year, Category, Won/Nominated
2003, Coolest Collabo (Crazy in Love), Won
2003, Most Stylish Artist Ever, Won

Black Reel Awards
Year, Category, Won/Nominated
2004, Best Song in Film (Song:"He Still Loves Me", Film: The Fighting Temptations), Won
2004, Best Actress (Film: The Fighting Temptation), Nominated)