Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter (born September 4, 1981) is an American singer and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child, and rose to fame in the late 1990s as lead singer of R&B girl-group Destiny's Child. Managed by her father Mathew Knowles, the group became one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. Their hiatus saw the release of Beyoncé's debut album, Dangerously in Love (2003), which established her as a solo artist worldwide; it sold 11 million copies, earned five Grammy Awards and featured the Billboard number-one singles "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy".
Following the disbandment of Destiny's Child in
2005, she released her second solo album, B'Day (2006), which contained
hits "Déjà Vu", "Irreplaceable" and "Beautiful
Liar". Beyoncé also ventured into acting, with a Golden Globe-nominated
performance in Dreamgirls (2006), and starring roles in The Pink
Panther (2006) and Obsessed (2009). Her marriage to rapper Jay-Z and
portrayal of Etta James in Cadillac Records (2008) influenced her third
album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), which saw the birth of her alter-ego
Sasha Fierce and earned a record-setting six Grammy Awards in 2010, including
Song of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)". Beyoncé took
a hiatus from music in 2010 and took over management of her career; 4 (2011) was
subsequently mellower in tone, exploring 1970s funk, 1980s pop, and 1990s soul.
Her fifth studio album, Beyoncé (2013), was critically acclaimed and was
distinguished from previous releases by its experimental production and exploration
of darker themes.
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles was born in Houston, Texas to Xerox sales manager Mathew Knowles and hairdresser/salon owner Celestine Ann "Tina" Beyincé. Beyoncé's name is a tribute to her mother's maiden name. Beyoncé's younger sister Solange is also a singer and actress. Mathew is African-American, while Tina is of Louisiana Creole descent (with African, Native American, French, and 1/16th Irish, ancestry). Through her mother, Beyoncé is a descendant of Acadian leader Joseph Broussard.
Beyoncé was educated at St. Mary's Elementary School in Fredericksburg, Texas, where she enrolled in dance classes. Her singing talent was discovered when dance instructor Darlette Johnson began humming a song and she finished it, hitting the high-pitched notes. Beyoncé's interest in music and performing continued after winning a school talent show at age seven, singing John Lennon's "Imagine" to beat 15 and 16-year-olds. In fall of 1990, Beyoncé enrolled in Parker Elementary School, a music magnet school in Houston, where she would perform with the school's choir. She also attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and later Alief Elsik High School. Beyoncé was also a member of the choir at St. John's United Methodist Church as a soloist for two years.
Aged eight, Beyoncé and childhood friend Kelly Rowland met LaTavia Roberson while in an audition for an all-girl entertainment group. They were placed into a group with three other girls as Girl's Tyme, and rapped and danced on the talent show circuit in Houston. After seeing the group, R&B producer Arne Frager brought them to his Northern California studio and placed them in Star Search, the largest talent show on national TV at the time. Girl's Tyme failed to win, and Beyoncé later said the song they performed was not good. In 1995 Beyoncé's father resigned from his job to manage the group. The move reduced Beyoncé's family's income by half, and her parents were forced to move into separated apartments. Mathew cut the original line-up to four and the group continued performing as an opening act for other established R&B girl groups. The girls auditioned before record labels and were finally signed to Elektra Records, moving to Atlanta Records briefly to work on their first recording, only to be cut by the company. This put further strain on the family, and Beyoncé's parents separated. On October 5, 1995, Dwayne Wiggins's Grass Roots Entertainment signed the group. In 1996, the girls began recording their debut album under an agreement with Sony Music, the Knowles family reunited, and shortly after, the group got a contract with Columbia Records.
The group changed their name to Destiny's Child in 1996,
based on a passage in the Book of Isaiah. In 1997, Destiny's Child released
their major label debut song "Killing Time" on the soundtrack to the
1997 film, Men in Black. The following year, the group released their
self-titled debut album, scoring their first major hit "No, No, No".
The album established the group as a viable act in the music industry, with
moderate sales and winning the group three Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards for
Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year, Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist, and
Best R&B/Soul Single for "No, No, No". The group released their
multi-platinum second album The Writing's on the Wall in 1999. The
record features some of the group's most widely known songs such as
"Bills, Bills, Bills," the group's first number-one single,
"Jumpin' Jumpin'" and "Say My Name", which became their
most successful song at the time, and would remain one of their signature
songs. "Say My Name" won the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or
Group with Vocals and the Best R&B Song at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. The
Writing's on the Wall sold more than eight million copies worldwide. During
this time, Beyoncé recorded a duet with Marc Nelson, an original member of Boyz
II Men, on the song "After All Is Said and Done" for the soundtrack
to the 1999 film, The Best Man.
In July 2002, Beyoncé continued her acting career playing
Foxxy Cleopatra alongside Mike Myers in the comedy film, Austin Powers in
Goldmember, which spent its first weekend atop the US box office and
grossed $73 million. Beyoncé released "Work It Out" as the lead
single from its soundtrack album which entered the top ten in the UK, Norway,
and Belgium. In 2003, Beyoncé starred opposite Cuba Gooding, Jr., in the
musical comedy The Fighting Temptations as Lilly, a single mother whom
Gooding's character falls in love with. The film received mixed reviews from
critics but grossed $30 million in the U.S. Beyoncé released
"Fighting Temptation" as the lead single from the film's soundtrack
album, with Missy Elliott, MC Lyte, and Free which was also used to promote the
film. Another of Beyoncé's contributions to the soundtrack,
"Summertime", fared better on the US charts.
Beyoncé's first solo recording was a feature on Jay-Z's "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" that was released in October 2002, peaking at number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Her first solo album Dangerously in Love was released on June 24, 2003, after Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland had released their solo efforts. The album sold 317,000 copies in its first week and debuted atop the Billboard 200. As of 2012 it remains Beyoncé's best-selling album, with 11 million copies sold worldwide. The album's lead single, "Crazy in Love", featuring Jay-Z, became Beyoncé's first number-one single as a solo artist in the US. The single "Baby Boy" also reached number one, and singles, "Me, Myself and I" and "Naughty Girl", both reached the top-five. The album earned Beyoncé a then record-tying five awards at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards; Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Dangerously in Love 2", Best R&B Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Crazy in Love", and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "The Closer I Get to You" with Luther Vandross.
In November 2003, she embarked on the Dangerously in Love
Tour in Europe and later toured alongside Missy Elliott and Alicia Keys for the
Verizon Ladies First Tour in North America. On February 1, 2004, Beyoncé
performed the American national anthem at Super Bowl XXXVIII, at the Reliant
Stadium in Houston, Texas. After the release of Dangerously in Love,
Beyoncé had planned to produce a follow-up album using several of the left-over
tracks. However, this was put on hold so she could concentrate on recording Destiny
Fulfilled, the final studio album by Destiny's Child. Released on November
15, 2004, in the US and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200, Destiny
Fulfilled included the singles "Lose My Breath" and
"Soldier", which reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100
chart. Destiny's Child embarked on a worldwide concert tour, Destiny
Fulfilled... and Lovin' It and during the last stop of their European tour, in
Barcelona on June 11, 2005, Rowland announced that Destiny's Child would
disband following the North American leg of the tour. The group released their
first compilation album Number 1's on October 25, 2005, in the US
and accepted a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in March 2006.
Beyoncé's second solo album B'Day was released on September 5, 2006, in the US, to coincide with her twenty-fifth birthday. It sold 541,000 copies in its first week and debuted atop the Billboard 200, becoming Beyoncé's second consecutive number-one album in the United States. The album's lead single "Déjà Vu", featuring Jay-Z, reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The second international single "Irreplaceable" was a commercial success worldwide, reaching number one in Australia, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States. B'Day also produced three other singles; "Ring the Alarm", "Get Me Bodied", and "Green Light" (released in the United Kingdom only).
On April 4, 2008, Beyoncé married Jay-Z. She publicly revealed their marriage in a
video montage at the listening party for her third studio album, I Am...
Sasha Fierce, in Manhattan's Sony Club on October 22, 2008. I Am...
Sasha Fierce was released on November 18, 2008 in the United States. The
album introduces Beyoncé's alter ego Sasha Fierce, conceived during the making
of her 2003 single "Crazy in Love" and sold 482,000 copies in its
first week, debuted atop the Billboard 200, and gave Beyoncé her third
consecutive number-one album in the US. The album included the number one song
"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" and top-five songs "If I Were
a Boy" and "Halo". Along with being the song that has spent the
longest time on the Hot 100 charts in her career, "Halo"'s US success
helped Beyoncé achieve more top ten singles on the list than any other woman
during the 2000s. It also included the successful "Sweet Dreams" and
singles "Diva", "Ego", "Broken-Hearted Girl" and
"Video Phone". The music video for "Single Ladies" has been
parodied and imitated around the world, spawning the "first major dance
craze" of the Internet age according to the Toronto Star. The video
won several awards, including Best Video at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards,
the 2009 Scottish MOBO Awards, and the 2009 BET Awards. At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, the video
was nominated for nine awards, ultimately winning three including Video of the
Year. Its failure to win the Best Female Video category, which went to American
country pop singer Taylor Swift's "You Belong with Me", led to Kanye
West interrupting the ceremony and Beyoncé improvising a re-presentation of
Swift's award during her own acceptance speech. In March 2009, Beyoncé embarked
on the I Am... World Tour, her second headlining worldwide concert tour,
consisting of 108 shows, grossing $119.5 million.
In 2011, documents obtained by WikiLeaks revealed that
Beyoncé was one of many entertainers who had received extravagant sums to
perform for the family of Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Rolling Stone
reported that the music industry was urging them to return the money they
earned for the concerts; a spokesperson for Beyoncé later confirmed to The
Huffington Post that she donated the money to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.
Later that year she became the first solo female artist to headline the main
Pyramid stage at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival in over twenty years and was named the "Highest Paid Performer
Per Minute in the World", having earlier earned £1.25 million for a
five-song performance at a private 2010 New Year's Eve party on St. Barts. In
April 2011, Beyoncé joined forces with US First Lady Michelle Obama and the
National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation, to help boost the
latter's campaign against child obesity by reworking her single
"Get Me Bodied". Following the death of Osama bin Laden, Beyoncé
released her cover of the Lee Greenwood song "God Bless the USA", as
a charity single to help raise funds for the New York Police and Fire Widows'
and Children's Benefit Fund.
At the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, Beyoncé announced that she and Jay-Z were expecting their first child, throwing her microphone on the floor and undoing her blazer at the end of her performance of "Love On Top". Her appearance helped that year's MTV Video Music Awards become the most-watched broadcast in MTV history, pulling in 12.4 million viewers. Beyoncé received two nominations at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards: Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Party" and Best Long Form Music Video for I Am... World Tour. On January 7, 2012, Beyoncé gave birth to a daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York under heavy security.
Beyoncé's father Mathew had an 18-month affair with
actress Alexsandra Wright, who gave birth to their son, Nixon, in February
2010. Her parents' divorce was granted in November 2011 after 31 years of
marriage, with Beyoncé severing professional ties with her father shortly
after, although she maintains they are not estranged. Beyoncé is believed to
have first started a relationship with Jay-Z after a collaboration on "'03
Bonnie & Clyde", which appeared on his seventh album The Blueprint
2: The Gift & The Curse. Beyoncé appeared as Jay-Z's girlfriend in the
music video for the song, which would further fuel speculation of their
relationship. On April 4, 2008, Beyoncé and Jay-Z were married without
publicity. As of April, 2014, the couple have a sold a combined 300 million
records together. The couple are known for being private about their
relationship, although they have appeared to become more relaxed in recent
years. Beyoncé suffered a miscarriage sometime around 2010 or 2011, describing
it as "the saddest thing" she had ever been through. Beyoncé returned
to the studio and wrote music in order to cope with the loss. In April 2011,
Beyoncé and Jay-Z traveled to Paris in order to shoot the album cover for her 4;
she would fall unexpectedly pregnant here.
On January 7, 2012, Beyoncé gave birth to a daughter,
Blue Ivy Carter, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York under heavy security. Two
days later, Jay-Z released "Glory", a song dedicated to their child,
on his website Lifeandtimes.com. The song detailed the couple's pregnancy
struggles, including a miscarriage Beyoncé suffered before becoming pregnant.
Blue Ivy's cries are included at the end of the song, and she was officially
credited as B.I.C. on it. At two days old, she became the youngest person ever
to appear on a Billboard chart when "Glory" debuted on the Hot
R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The couple unsuccessfully attempted to trademark
the name Blue Ivy to start a line of merchandise.
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter (born
September 4, 1981) is an American singer and actress. Born and raised in
Houston, Texas, she performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a
child, and rose to fame in the late 1990s as lead singer of R&B girl-group
Destiny's Child. Managed by her father Mathew Knowles, the group became one of
the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. Their hiatus saw the release
of Beyoncé's debut album, Dangerously in Love (2003), which established
her as a solo artist worldwide; it sold 11 million copies, earned five
Grammy Awards and featured the Billboard number-one singles "Crazy
in Love" and "Baby Boy".
Following the disbandment of Destiny's Child in
2005, she released her second solo album, B'Day (2006), which contained
hits "Déjà Vu", "Irreplaceable" and "Beautiful
Liar". Beyoncé also ventured into acting, with a Golden Globe-nominated
performance in Dreamgirls (2006), and starring roles in The Pink
Panther (2006) and Obsessed (2009). Her marriage to rapper Jay-Z and
portrayal of Etta James in Cadillac Records (2008) influenced her third
album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), which saw the birth of her alter-ego
Sasha Fierce and earned a record-setting six Grammy Awards in 2010, including
Song of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)". Beyoncé took
a hiatus from music in 2010 and took over management of her career; 4 (2011) was
subsequently mellower in tone, exploring 1970s funk, 1980s pop, and 1990s soul.
Her fifth studio album, Beyoncé (2013), was critically acclaimed and was
distinguished from previous releases by its experimental production and exploration
of darker themes.
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles was born in Houston, Texas to Xerox sales manager Mathew Knowles and hairdresser/salon owner Celestine Ann "Tina" Beyincé. Beyoncé's name is a tribute to her mother's maiden name. Beyoncé's younger sister Solange is also a singer and actress. Mathew is African-American, while Tina is of Louisiana Creole descent (with African, Native American, French, and 1/16th Irish, ancestry). Through her mother, Beyoncé is a descendant of Acadian leader Joseph Broussard.
Beyoncé was educated at St. Mary's Elementary School in Fredericksburg, Texas, where she enrolled in dance classes. Her singing talent was discovered when dance instructor Darlette Johnson began humming a song and she finished it, hitting the high-pitched notes. Beyoncé's interest in music and performing continued after winning a school talent show at age seven, singing John Lennon's "Imagine" to beat 15 and 16-year-olds. In fall of 1990, Beyoncé enrolled in Parker Elementary School, a music magnet school in Houston, where she would perform with the school's choir. She also attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and later Alief Elsik High School. Beyoncé was also a member of the choir at St. John's United Methodist Church as a soloist for two years.
Aged eight, Beyoncé and childhood friend Kelly Rowland met LaTavia Roberson while in an audition for an all-girl entertainment group. They were placed into a group with three other girls as Girl's Tyme, and rapped and danced on the talent show circuit in Houston. After seeing the group, R&B producer Arne Frager brought them to his Northern California studio and placed them in Star Search, the largest talent show on national TV at the time. Girl's Tyme failed to win, and Beyoncé later said the song they performed was not good. In 1995 Beyoncé's father resigned from his job to manage the group. The move reduced Beyoncé's family's income by half, and her parents were forced to move into separated apartments. Mathew cut the original line-up to four and the group continued performing as an opening act for other established R&B girl groups. The girls auditioned before record labels and were finally signed to Elektra Records, moving to Atlanta Records briefly to work on their first recording, only to be cut by the company. This put further strain on the family, and Beyoncé's parents separated. On October 5, 1995, Dwayne Wiggins's Grass Roots Entertainment signed the group. In 1996, the girls began recording their debut album under an agreement with Sony Music, the Knowles family reunited, and shortly after, the group got a contract with Columbia Records.
The group changed their name to Destiny's Child in 1996,
based on a passage in the Book of Isaiah. In 1997, Destiny's Child released
their major label debut song "Killing Time" on the soundtrack to the
1997 film, Men in Black. The following year, the group released their
self-titled debut album, scoring their first major hit "No, No, No".
The album established the group as a viable act in the music industry, with
moderate sales and winning the group three Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards for
Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year, Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist, and
Best R&B/Soul Single for "No, No, No". The group released their
multi-platinum second album The Writing's on the Wall in 1999. The
record features some of the group's most widely known songs such as
"Bills, Bills, Bills," the group's first number-one single,
"Jumpin' Jumpin'" and "Say My Name", which became their
most successful song at the time, and would remain one of their signature
songs. "Say My Name" won the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or
Group with Vocals and the Best R&B Song at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. The
Writing's on the Wall sold more than eight million copies worldwide. During
this time, Beyoncé recorded a duet with Marc Nelson, an original member of Boyz
II Men, on the song "After All Is Said and Done" for the soundtrack
to the 1999 film, The Best Man.
In July 2002, Beyoncé continued her acting career playing
Foxxy Cleopatra alongside Mike Myers in the comedy film, Austin Powers in
Goldmember, which spent its first weekend atop the US box office and
grossed $73 million. Beyoncé released "Work It Out" as the lead
single from its soundtrack album which entered the top ten in the UK, Norway,
and Belgium. In 2003, Beyoncé starred opposite Cuba Gooding, Jr., in the
musical comedy The Fighting Temptations as Lilly, a single mother whom
Gooding's character falls in love with. The film received mixed reviews from
critics but grossed $30 million in the U.S. Beyoncé released
"Fighting Temptation" as the lead single from the film's soundtrack
album, with Missy Elliott, MC Lyte, and Free which was also used to promote the
film. Another of Beyoncé's contributions to the soundtrack,
"Summertime", fared better on the US charts.
Beyoncé's first solo recording was a feature on Jay-Z's "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" that was released in October 2002, peaking at number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Her first solo album Dangerously in Love was released on June 24, 2003, after Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland had released their solo efforts. The album sold 317,000 copies in its first week and debuted atop the Billboard 200. As of 2012 it remains Beyoncé's best-selling album, with 11 million copies sold worldwide. The album's lead single, "Crazy in Love", featuring Jay-Z, became Beyoncé's first number-one single as a solo artist in the US. The single "Baby Boy" also reached number one, and singles, "Me, Myself and I" and "Naughty Girl", both reached the top-five. The album earned Beyoncé a then record-tying five awards at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards; Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Dangerously in Love 2", Best R&B Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Crazy in Love", and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "The Closer I Get to You" with Luther Vandross.
In November 2003, she embarked on the Dangerously in Love
Tour in Europe and later toured alongside Missy Elliott and Alicia Keys for the
Verizon Ladies First Tour in North America. On February 1, 2004, Beyoncé
performed the American national anthem at Super Bowl XXXVIII, at the Reliant
Stadium in Houston, Texas. After the release of Dangerously in Love,
Beyoncé had planned to produce a follow-up album using several of the left-over
tracks. However, this was put on hold so she could concentrate on recording Destiny
Fulfilled, the final studio album by Destiny's Child. Released on November
15, 2004, in the US and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200, Destiny
Fulfilled included the singles "Lose My Breath" and
"Soldier", which reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100
chart. Destiny's Child embarked on a worldwide concert tour, Destiny
Fulfilled... and Lovin' It and during the last stop of their European tour, in
Barcelona on June 11, 2005, Rowland announced that Destiny's Child would
disband following the North American leg of the tour. The group released their
first compilation album Number 1's on October 25, 2005, in the US
and accepted a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in March 2006.
Beyoncé's second solo album B'Day was released on September 5, 2006, in the US, to coincide with her twenty-fifth birthday. It sold 541,000 copies in its first week and debuted atop the Billboard 200, becoming Beyoncé's second consecutive number-one album in the United States. The album's lead single "Déjà Vu", featuring Jay-Z, reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The second international single "Irreplaceable" was a commercial success worldwide, reaching number one in Australia, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States. B'Day also produced three other singles; "Ring the Alarm", "Get Me Bodied", and "Green Light" (released in the United Kingdom only).
On April 4, 2008, Beyoncé married Jay-Z. She publicly revealed their marriage in a
video montage at the listening party for her third studio album, I Am...
Sasha Fierce, in Manhattan's Sony Club on October 22, 2008. I Am...
Sasha Fierce was released on November 18, 2008 in the United States. The
album introduces Beyoncé's alter ego Sasha Fierce, conceived during the making
of her 2003 single "Crazy in Love" and sold 482,000 copies in its
first week, debuted atop the Billboard 200, and gave Beyoncé her third
consecutive number-one album in the US. The album included the number one song
"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" and top-five songs "If I Were
a Boy" and "Halo". Along with being the song that has spent the
longest time on the Hot 100 charts in her career, "Halo"'s US success
helped Beyoncé achieve more top ten singles on the list than any other woman
during the 2000s. It also included the successful "Sweet Dreams" and
singles "Diva", "Ego", "Broken-Hearted Girl" and
"Video Phone". The music video for "Single Ladies" has been
parodied and imitated around the world, spawning the "first major dance
craze" of the Internet age according to the Toronto Star. The video
won several awards, including Best Video at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards,
the 2009 Scottish MOBO Awards, and the 2009 BET Awards. At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, the video
was nominated for nine awards, ultimately winning three including Video of the
Year. Its failure to win the Best Female Video category, which went to American
country pop singer Taylor Swift's "You Belong with Me", led to Kanye
West interrupting the ceremony and Beyoncé improvising a re-presentation of
Swift's award during her own acceptance speech. In March 2009, Beyoncé embarked
on the I Am... World Tour, her second headlining worldwide concert tour,
consisting of 108 shows, grossing $119.5 million.
In 2011, documents obtained by WikiLeaks revealed that
Beyoncé was one of many entertainers who had received extravagant sums to
perform for the family of Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Rolling Stone
reported that the music industry was urging them to return the money they
earned for the concerts; a spokesperson for Beyoncé later confirmed to The
Huffington Post that she donated the money to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.
Later that year she became the first solo female artist to headline the main
Pyramid stage at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival in over twenty years and was named the "Highest Paid Performer
Per Minute in the World", having earlier earned £1.25 million for a
five-song performance at a private 2010 New Year's Eve party on St. Barts. In
April 2011, Beyoncé joined forces with US First Lady Michelle Obama and the
National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation, to help boost the
latter's campaign against child obesity by reworking her single
"Get Me Bodied". Following the death of Osama bin Laden, Beyoncé
released her cover of the Lee Greenwood song "God Bless the USA", as
a charity single to help raise funds for the New York Police and Fire Widows'
and Children's Benefit Fund.
At the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, Beyoncé announced that she and Jay-Z were expecting their first child, throwing her microphone on the floor and undoing her blazer at the end of her performance of "Love On Top". Her appearance helped that year's MTV Video Music Awards become the most-watched broadcast in MTV history, pulling in 12.4 million viewers. Beyoncé received two nominations at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards: Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Party" and Best Long Form Music Video for I Am... World Tour. On January 7, 2012, Beyoncé gave birth to a daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York under heavy security.
Beyoncé's father Mathew had an 18-month affair with
actress Alexsandra Wright, who gave birth to their son, Nixon, in February
2010. Her parents' divorce was granted in November 2011 after 31 years of
marriage, with Beyoncé severing professional ties with her father shortly
after, although she maintains they are not estranged. Beyoncé is believed to
have first started a relationship with Jay-Z after a collaboration on "'03
Bonnie & Clyde", which appeared on his seventh album The Blueprint
2: The Gift & The Curse. Beyoncé appeared as Jay-Z's girlfriend in the
music video for the song, which would further fuel speculation of their
relationship. On April 4, 2008, Beyoncé and Jay-Z were married without
publicity. As of April, 2014, the couple have a sold a combined 300 million
records together. The couple are known for being private about their
relationship, although they have appeared to become more relaxed in recent
years. Beyoncé suffered a miscarriage sometime around 2010 or 2011, describing
it as "the saddest thing" she had ever been through. Beyoncé returned
to the studio and wrote music in order to cope with the loss. In April 2011,
Beyoncé and Jay-Z traveled to Paris in order to shoot the album cover for her 4;
she would fall unexpectedly pregnant here.
Following the disbandment of Destiny's Child in
2005, she released her second solo album, B'Day (2006), which contained
hits "Déjà Vu", "Irreplaceable" and "Beautiful
Liar". Beyoncé also ventured into acting, with a Golden Globe-nominated
performance in Dreamgirls (2006), and starring roles in The Pink
Panther (2006) and Obsessed (2009). Her marriage to rapper Jay-Z and
portrayal of Etta James in Cadillac Records (2008) influenced her third
album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), which saw the birth of her alter-ego
Sasha Fierce and earned a record-setting six Grammy Awards in 2010, including
Song of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)". Beyoncé took
a hiatus from music in 2010 and took over management of her career; 4 (2011) was
subsequently mellower in tone, exploring 1970s funk, 1980s pop, and 1990s soul.
Her fifth studio album, Beyoncé (2013), was critically acclaimed and was
distinguished from previous releases by its experimental production and exploration
of darker themes.
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles was born in Houston, Texas to Xerox sales manager Mathew Knowles and hairdresser/salon owner Celestine Ann "Tina" Beyincé. Beyoncé's name is a tribute to her mother's maiden name. Beyoncé's younger sister Solange is also a singer and actress. Mathew is African-American, while Tina is of Louisiana Creole descent (with African, Native American, French, and 1/16th Irish, ancestry). Through her mother, Beyoncé is a descendant of Acadian leader Joseph Broussard.
Beyoncé was educated at St. Mary's Elementary School in Fredericksburg, Texas, where she enrolled in dance classes. Her singing talent was discovered when dance instructor Darlette Johnson began humming a song and she finished it, hitting the high-pitched notes. Beyoncé's interest in music and performing continued after winning a school talent show at age seven, singing John Lennon's "Imagine" to beat 15 and 16-year-olds. In fall of 1990, Beyoncé enrolled in Parker Elementary School, a music magnet school in Houston, where she would perform with the school's choir. She also attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and later Alief Elsik High School. Beyoncé was also a member of the choir at St. John's United Methodist Church as a soloist for two years.
Aged eight, Beyoncé and childhood friend Kelly Rowland met LaTavia Roberson while in an audition for an all-girl entertainment group. They were placed into a group with three other girls as Girl's Tyme, and rapped and danced on the talent show circuit in Houston. After seeing the group, R&B producer Arne Frager brought them to his Northern California studio and placed them in Star Search, the largest talent show on national TV at the time. Girl's Tyme failed to win, and Beyoncé later said the song they performed was not good. In 1995 Beyoncé's father resigned from his job to manage the group. The move reduced Beyoncé's family's income by half, and her parents were forced to move into separated apartments. Mathew cut the original line-up to four and the group continued performing as an opening act for other established R&B girl groups. The girls auditioned before record labels and were finally signed to Elektra Records, moving to Atlanta Records briefly to work on their first recording, only to be cut by the company. This put further strain on the family, and Beyoncé's parents separated. On October 5, 1995, Dwayne Wiggins's Grass Roots Entertainment signed the group. In 1996, the girls began recording their debut album under an agreement with Sony Music, the Knowles family reunited, and shortly after, the group got a contract with Columbia Records.
The group changed their name to Destiny's Child in 1996,
based on a passage in the Book of Isaiah. In 1997, Destiny's Child released
their major label debut song "Killing Time" on the soundtrack to the
1997 film, Men in Black. The following year, the group released their
self-titled debut album, scoring their first major hit "No, No, No".
The album established the group as a viable act in the music industry, with
moderate sales and winning the group three Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards for
Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year, Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist, and
Best R&B/Soul Single for "No, No, No". The group released their
multi-platinum second album The Writing's on the Wall in 1999. The
record features some of the group's most widely known songs such as
"Bills, Bills, Bills," the group's first number-one single,
"Jumpin' Jumpin'" and "Say My Name", which became their
most successful song at the time, and would remain one of their signature
songs. "Say My Name" won the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or
Group with Vocals and the Best R&B Song at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. The
Writing's on the Wall sold more than eight million copies worldwide. During
this time, Beyoncé recorded a duet with Marc Nelson, an original member of Boyz
II Men, on the song "After All Is Said and Done" for the soundtrack
to the 1999 film, The Best Man.
In July 2002, Beyoncé continued her acting career playing
Foxxy Cleopatra alongside Mike Myers in the comedy film, Austin Powers in
Goldmember, which spent its first weekend atop the US box office and
grossed $73 million. Beyoncé released "Work It Out" as the lead
single from its soundtrack album which entered the top ten in the UK, Norway,
and Belgium. In 2003, Beyoncé starred opposite Cuba Gooding, Jr., in the
musical comedy The Fighting Temptations as Lilly, a single mother whom
Gooding's character falls in love with. The film received mixed reviews from
critics but grossed $30 million in the U.S. Beyoncé released
"Fighting Temptation" as the lead single from the film's soundtrack
album, with Missy Elliott, MC Lyte, and Free which was also used to promote the
film. Another of Beyoncé's contributions to the soundtrack,
"Summertime", fared better on the US charts.
Beyoncé's first solo recording was a feature on Jay-Z's "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" that was released in October 2002, peaking at number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Her first solo album Dangerously in Love was released on June 24, 2003, after Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland had released their solo efforts. The album sold 317,000 copies in its first week and debuted atop the Billboard 200. As of 2012 it remains Beyoncé's best-selling album, with 11 million copies sold worldwide. The album's lead single, "Crazy in Love", featuring Jay-Z, became Beyoncé's first number-one single as a solo artist in the US. The single "Baby Boy" also reached number one, and singles, "Me, Myself and I" and "Naughty Girl", both reached the top-five. The album earned Beyoncé a then record-tying five awards at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards; Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Dangerously in Love 2", Best R&B Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Crazy in Love", and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "The Closer I Get to You" with Luther Vandross.
In November 2003, she embarked on the Dangerously in Love
Tour in Europe and later toured alongside Missy Elliott and Alicia Keys for the
Verizon Ladies First Tour in North America. On February 1, 2004, Beyoncé
performed the American national anthem at Super Bowl XXXVIII, at the Reliant
Stadium in Houston, Texas. After the release of Dangerously in Love,
Beyoncé had planned to produce a follow-up album using several of the left-over
tracks. However, this was put on hold so she could concentrate on recording Destiny
Fulfilled, the final studio album by Destiny's Child. Released on November
15, 2004, in the US and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200, Destiny
Fulfilled included the singles "Lose My Breath" and
"Soldier", which reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100
chart. Destiny's Child embarked on a worldwide concert tour, Destiny
Fulfilled... and Lovin' It and during the last stop of their European tour, in
Barcelona on June 11, 2005, Rowland announced that Destiny's Child would
disband following the North American leg of the tour. The group released their
first compilation album Number 1's on October 25, 2005, in the US
and accepted a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in March 2006.
Beyoncé's second solo album B'Day was released on September 5, 2006, in the US, to coincide with her twenty-fifth birthday. It sold 541,000 copies in its first week and debuted atop the Billboard 200, becoming Beyoncé's second consecutive number-one album in the United States. The album's lead single "Déjà Vu", featuring Jay-Z, reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The second international single "Irreplaceable" was a commercial success worldwide, reaching number one in Australia, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States. B'Day also produced three other singles; "Ring the Alarm", "Get Me Bodied", and "Green Light" (released in the United Kingdom only).
On April 4, 2008, Beyoncé married Jay-Z. She publicly revealed their marriage in a
video montage at the listening party for her third studio album, I Am...
Sasha Fierce, in Manhattan's Sony Club on October 22, 2008. I Am...
Sasha Fierce was released on November 18, 2008 in the United States. The
album introduces Beyoncé's alter ego Sasha Fierce, conceived during the making
of her 2003 single "Crazy in Love" and sold 482,000 copies in its
first week, debuted atop the Billboard 200, and gave Beyoncé her third
consecutive number-one album in the US. The album included the number one song
"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" and top-five songs "If I Were
a Boy" and "Halo". Along with being the song that has spent the
longest time on the Hot 100 charts in her career, "Halo"'s US success
helped Beyoncé achieve more top ten singles on the list than any other woman
during the 2000s. It also included the successful "Sweet Dreams" and
singles "Diva", "Ego", "Broken-Hearted Girl" and
"Video Phone". The music video for "Single Ladies" has been
parodied and imitated around the world, spawning the "first major dance
craze" of the Internet age according to the Toronto Star. The video
won several awards, including Best Video at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards,
the 2009 Scottish MOBO Awards, and the 2009 BET Awards. At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, the video
was nominated for nine awards, ultimately winning three including Video of the
Year. Its failure to win the Best Female Video category, which went to American
country pop singer Taylor Swift's "You Belong with Me", led to Kanye
West interrupting the ceremony and Beyoncé improvising a re-presentation of
Swift's award during her own acceptance speech. In March 2009, Beyoncé embarked
on the I Am... World Tour, her second headlining worldwide concert tour,
consisting of 108 shows, grossing $119.5 million.
In 2011, documents obtained by WikiLeaks revealed that
Beyoncé was one of many entertainers who had received extravagant sums to
perform for the family of Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Rolling Stone
reported that the music industry was urging them to return the money they
earned for the concerts; a spokesperson for Beyoncé later confirmed to The
Huffington Post that she donated the money to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.
Later that year she became the first solo female artist to headline the main
Pyramid stage at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival in over twenty years and was named the "Highest Paid Performer
Per Minute in the World", having earlier earned £1.25 million for a
five-song performance at a private 2010 New Year's Eve party on St. Barts. In
April 2011, Beyoncé joined forces with US First Lady Michelle Obama and the
National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation, to help boost the
latter's campaign against child obesity by reworking her single
"Get Me Bodied". Following the death of Osama bin Laden, Beyoncé
released her cover of the Lee Greenwood song "God Bless the USA", as
a charity single to help raise funds for the New York Police and Fire Widows'
and Children's Benefit Fund.
At the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, Beyoncé announced that she and Jay-Z were expecting their first child, throwing her microphone on the floor and undoing her blazer at the end of her performance of "Love On Top". Her appearance helped that year's MTV Video Music Awards become the most-watched broadcast in MTV history, pulling in 12.4 million viewers. Beyoncé received two nominations at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards: Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Party" and Best Long Form Music Video for I Am... World Tour. On January 7, 2012, Beyoncé gave birth to a daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York under heavy security.
Beyoncé's father Mathew had an 18-month affair with
actress Alexsandra Wright, who gave birth to their son, Nixon, in February
2010. Her parents' divorce was granted in November 2011 after 31 years of
marriage, with Beyoncé severing professional ties with her father shortly
after, although she maintains they are not estranged. Beyoncé is believed to
have first started a relationship with Jay-Z after a collaboration on "'03
Bonnie & Clyde", which appeared on his seventh album The Blueprint
2: The Gift & The Curse. Beyoncé appeared as Jay-Z's girlfriend in the
music video for the song, which would further fuel speculation of their
relationship. On April 4, 2008, Beyoncé and Jay-Z were married without
publicity. As of April, 2014, the couple have a sold a combined 300 million
records together. The couple are known for being private about their
relationship, although they have appeared to become more relaxed in recent
years. Beyoncé suffered a miscarriage sometime around 2010 or 2011, describing
it as "the saddest thing" she had ever been through. Beyoncé returned
to the studio and wrote music in order to cope with the loss. In April 2011,
Beyoncé and Jay-Z traveled to Paris in order to shoot the album cover for her 4;
she would fall unexpectedly pregnant here.
On January 7, 2012, Beyoncé gave birth to a daughter,
Blue Ivy Carter, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York under heavy security. Two
days later, Jay-Z released "Glory", a song dedicated to their child,
on his website Lifeandtimes.com. The song detailed the couple's pregnancy
struggles, including a miscarriage Beyoncé suffered before becoming pregnant.
Blue Ivy's cries are included at the end of the song, and she was officially
credited as B.I.C. on it. At two days old, she became the youngest person ever
to appear on a Billboard chart when "Glory" debuted on the Hot
R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The couple unsuccessfully attempted to trademark
the name Blue Ivy to start a line of merchandise.
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter (born
September 4, 1981) is an American singer and actress. Born and raised in
Houston, Texas, she performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a
child, and rose to fame in the late 1990s as lead singer of R&B girl-group
Destiny's Child. Managed by her father Mathew Knowles, the group became one of
the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. Their hiatus saw the release
of Beyoncé's debut album, Dangerously in Love (2003), which established
her as a solo artist worldwide; it sold 11 million copies, earned five
Grammy Awards and featured the Billboard number-one singles "Crazy
in Love" and "Baby Boy".
Following the disbandment of Destiny's Child in
2005, she released her second solo album, B'Day (2006), which contained
hits "Déjà Vu", "Irreplaceable" and "Beautiful
Liar". Beyoncé also ventured into acting, with a Golden Globe-nominated
performance in Dreamgirls (2006), and starring roles in The Pink
Panther (2006) and Obsessed (2009). Her marriage to rapper Jay-Z and
portrayal of Etta James in Cadillac Records (2008) influenced her third
album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), which saw the birth of her alter-ego
Sasha Fierce and earned a record-setting six Grammy Awards in 2010, including
Song of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)". Beyoncé took
a hiatus from music in 2010 and took over management of her career; 4 (2011) was
subsequently mellower in tone, exploring 1970s funk, 1980s pop, and 1990s soul.
Her fifth studio album, Beyoncé (2013), was critically acclaimed and was
distinguished from previous releases by its experimental production and exploration
of darker themes.
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles was born in Houston, Texas to Xerox sales manager Mathew Knowles and hairdresser/salon owner Celestine Ann "Tina" Beyincé. Beyoncé's name is a tribute to her mother's maiden name. Beyoncé's younger sister Solange is also a singer and actress. Mathew is African-American, while Tina is of Louisiana Creole descent (with African, Native American, French, and 1/16th Irish, ancestry). Through her mother, Beyoncé is a descendant of Acadian leader Joseph Broussard.
Beyoncé was educated at St. Mary's Elementary School in Fredericksburg, Texas, where she enrolled in dance classes. Her singing talent was discovered when dance instructor Darlette Johnson began humming a song and she finished it, hitting the high-pitched notes. Beyoncé's interest in music and performing continued after winning a school talent show at age seven, singing John Lennon's "Imagine" to beat 15 and 16-year-olds. In fall of 1990, Beyoncé enrolled in Parker Elementary School, a music magnet school in Houston, where she would perform with the school's choir. She also attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and later Alief Elsik High School. Beyoncé was also a member of the choir at St. John's United Methodist Church as a soloist for two years.
Aged eight, Beyoncé and childhood friend Kelly Rowland met LaTavia Roberson while in an audition for an all-girl entertainment group. They were placed into a group with three other girls as Girl's Tyme, and rapped and danced on the talent show circuit in Houston. After seeing the group, R&B producer Arne Frager brought them to his Northern California studio and placed them in Star Search, the largest talent show on national TV at the time. Girl's Tyme failed to win, and Beyoncé later said the song they performed was not good. In 1995 Beyoncé's father resigned from his job to manage the group. The move reduced Beyoncé's family's income by half, and her parents were forced to move into separated apartments. Mathew cut the original line-up to four and the group continued performing as an opening act for other established R&B girl groups. The girls auditioned before record labels and were finally signed to Elektra Records, moving to Atlanta Records briefly to work on their first recording, only to be cut by the company. This put further strain on the family, and Beyoncé's parents separated. On October 5, 1995, Dwayne Wiggins's Grass Roots Entertainment signed the group. In 1996, the girls began recording their debut album under an agreement with Sony Music, the Knowles family reunited, and shortly after, the group got a contract with Columbia Records.
The group changed their name to Destiny's Child in 1996,
based on a passage in the Book of Isaiah. In 1997, Destiny's Child released
their major label debut song "Killing Time" on the soundtrack to the
1997 film, Men in Black. The following year, the group released their
self-titled debut album, scoring their first major hit "No, No, No".
The album established the group as a viable act in the music industry, with
moderate sales and winning the group three Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards for
Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year, Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist, and
Best R&B/Soul Single for "No, No, No". The group released their
multi-platinum second album The Writing's on the Wall in 1999. The
record features some of the group's most widely known songs such as
"Bills, Bills, Bills," the group's first number-one single,
"Jumpin' Jumpin'" and "Say My Name", which became their
most successful song at the time, and would remain one of their signature
songs. "Say My Name" won the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or
Group with Vocals and the Best R&B Song at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. The
Writing's on the Wall sold more than eight million copies worldwide. During
this time, Beyoncé recorded a duet with Marc Nelson, an original member of Boyz
II Men, on the song "After All Is Said and Done" for the soundtrack
to the 1999 film, The Best Man.
In July 2002, Beyoncé continued her acting career playing
Foxxy Cleopatra alongside Mike Myers in the comedy film, Austin Powers in
Goldmember, which spent its first weekend atop the US box office and
grossed $73 million. Beyoncé released "Work It Out" as the lead
single from its soundtrack album which entered the top ten in the UK, Norway,
and Belgium. In 2003, Beyoncé starred opposite Cuba Gooding, Jr., in the
musical comedy The Fighting Temptations as Lilly, a single mother whom
Gooding's character falls in love with. The film received mixed reviews from
critics but grossed $30 million in the U.S. Beyoncé released
"Fighting Temptation" as the lead single from the film's soundtrack
album, with Missy Elliott, MC Lyte, and Free which was also used to promote the
film. Another of Beyoncé's contributions to the soundtrack,
"Summertime", fared better on the US charts.
Beyoncé's first solo recording was a feature on Jay-Z's "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" that was released in October 2002, peaking at number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Her first solo album Dangerously in Love was released on June 24, 2003, after Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland had released their solo efforts. The album sold 317,000 copies in its first week and debuted atop the Billboard 200. As of 2012 it remains Beyoncé's best-selling album, with 11 million copies sold worldwide. The album's lead single, "Crazy in Love", featuring Jay-Z, became Beyoncé's first number-one single as a solo artist in the US. The single "Baby Boy" also reached number one, and singles, "Me, Myself and I" and "Naughty Girl", both reached the top-five. The album earned Beyoncé a then record-tying five awards at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards; Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Dangerously in Love 2", Best R&B Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Crazy in Love", and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "The Closer I Get to You" with Luther Vandross.
In November 2003, she embarked on the Dangerously in Love
Tour in Europe and later toured alongside Missy Elliott and Alicia Keys for the
Verizon Ladies First Tour in North America. On February 1, 2004, Beyoncé
performed the American national anthem at Super Bowl XXXVIII, at the Reliant
Stadium in Houston, Texas. After the release of Dangerously in Love,
Beyoncé had planned to produce a follow-up album using several of the left-over
tracks. However, this was put on hold so she could concentrate on recording Destiny
Fulfilled, the final studio album by Destiny's Child. Released on November
15, 2004, in the US and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200, Destiny
Fulfilled included the singles "Lose My Breath" and
"Soldier", which reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100
chart. Destiny's Child embarked on a worldwide concert tour, Destiny
Fulfilled... and Lovin' It and during the last stop of their European tour, in
Barcelona on June 11, 2005, Rowland announced that Destiny's Child would
disband following the North American leg of the tour. The group released their
first compilation album Number 1's on October 25, 2005, in the US
and accepted a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in March 2006.
Beyoncé's second solo album B'Day was released on September 5, 2006, in the US, to coincide with her twenty-fifth birthday. It sold 541,000 copies in its first week and debuted atop the Billboard 200, becoming Beyoncé's second consecutive number-one album in the United States. The album's lead single "Déjà Vu", featuring Jay-Z, reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The second international single "Irreplaceable" was a commercial success worldwide, reaching number one in Australia, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States. B'Day also produced three other singles; "Ring the Alarm", "Get Me Bodied", and "Green Light" (released in the United Kingdom only).
On April 4, 2008, Beyoncé married Jay-Z. She publicly revealed their marriage in a
video montage at the listening party for her third studio album, I Am...
Sasha Fierce, in Manhattan's Sony Club on October 22, 2008. I Am...
Sasha Fierce was released on November 18, 2008 in the United States. The
album introduces Beyoncé's alter ego Sasha Fierce, conceived during the making
of her 2003 single "Crazy in Love" and sold 482,000 copies in its
first week, debuted atop the Billboard 200, and gave Beyoncé her third
consecutive number-one album in the US. The album included the number one song
"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" and top-five songs "If I Were
a Boy" and "Halo". Along with being the song that has spent the
longest time on the Hot 100 charts in her career, "Halo"'s US success
helped Beyoncé achieve more top ten singles on the list than any other woman
during the 2000s. It also included the successful "Sweet Dreams" and
singles "Diva", "Ego", "Broken-Hearted Girl" and
"Video Phone". The music video for "Single Ladies" has been
parodied and imitated around the world, spawning the "first major dance
craze" of the Internet age according to the Toronto Star. The video
won several awards, including Best Video at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards,
the 2009 Scottish MOBO Awards, and the 2009 BET Awards. At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, the video
was nominated for nine awards, ultimately winning three including Video of the
Year. Its failure to win the Best Female Video category, which went to American
country pop singer Taylor Swift's "You Belong with Me", led to Kanye
West interrupting the ceremony and Beyoncé improvising a re-presentation of
Swift's award during her own acceptance speech. In March 2009, Beyoncé embarked
on the I Am... World Tour, her second headlining worldwide concert tour,
consisting of 108 shows, grossing $119.5 million.
In 2011, documents obtained by WikiLeaks revealed that
Beyoncé was one of many entertainers who had received extravagant sums to
perform for the family of Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Rolling Stone
reported that the music industry was urging them to return the money they
earned for the concerts; a spokesperson for Beyoncé later confirmed to The
Huffington Post that she donated the money to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.
Later that year she became the first solo female artist to headline the main
Pyramid stage at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival in over twenty years and was named the "Highest Paid Performer
Per Minute in the World", having earlier earned £1.25 million for a
five-song performance at a private 2010 New Year's Eve party on St. Barts. In
April 2011, Beyoncé joined forces with US First Lady Michelle Obama and the
National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation, to help boost the
latter's campaign against child obesity by reworking her single
"Get Me Bodied". Following the death of Osama bin Laden, Beyoncé
released her cover of the Lee Greenwood song "God Bless the USA", as
a charity single to help raise funds for the New York Police and Fire Widows'
and Children's Benefit Fund.
At the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, Beyoncé announced that she and Jay-Z were expecting their first child, throwing her microphone on the floor and undoing her blazer at the end of her performance of "Love On Top". Her appearance helped that year's MTV Video Music Awards become the most-watched broadcast in MTV history, pulling in 12.4 million viewers. Beyoncé received two nominations at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards: Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Party" and Best Long Form Music Video for I Am... World Tour. On January 7, 2012, Beyoncé gave birth to a daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York under heavy security.
Beyoncé's father Mathew had an 18-month affair with
actress Alexsandra Wright, who gave birth to their son, Nixon, in February
2010. Her parents' divorce was granted in November 2011 after 31 years of
marriage, with Beyoncé severing professional ties with her father shortly
after, although she maintains they are not estranged. Beyoncé is believed to
have first started a relationship with Jay-Z after a collaboration on "'03
Bonnie & Clyde", which appeared on his seventh album The Blueprint
2: The Gift & The Curse. Beyoncé appeared as Jay-Z's girlfriend in the
music video for the song, which would further fuel speculation of their
relationship. On April 4, 2008, Beyoncé and Jay-Z were married without
publicity. As of April, 2014, the couple have a sold a combined 300 million
records together. The couple are known for being private about their
relationship, although they have appeared to become more relaxed in recent
years. Beyoncé suffered a miscarriage sometime around 2010 or 2011, describing
it as "the saddest thing" she had ever been through. Beyoncé returned
to the studio and wrote music in order to cope with the loss. In April 2011,
Beyoncé and Jay-Z traveled to Paris in order to shoot the album cover for her 4;
she would fall unexpectedly pregnant here.
On January 7, 2012, Beyoncé gave birth to a daughter,
Blue Ivy Carter, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York under heavy security. Two
days later, Jay-Z released "Glory", a song dedicated to their child,
on his website Lifeandtimes.com. The song detailed the couple's pregnancy
struggles, including a miscarriage Beyoncé suffered before becoming pregnant.
Blue Ivy's cries are included at the end of the song, and she was officially
credited as B.I.C. on it. At two days old, she became the youngest person ever
to appear on a Billboard chart when "Glory" debuted on the Hot
R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The couple unsuccessfully attempted to trademark
the name Blue Ivy to start a line of merchandise.
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