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Beyoncé Knowles B singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, and designer. She is usually referred to only by her first name, which she uses as her stagename. She was a founding member, the lead singer, and chief songwriter of Destiny's Child.

Her debut solo album, 2003's B and Billboard 200 charts in the U.S., as well as the album charts in Canada and the United Kingdom. Beyoncé has won nine Grammy Awards — six for her solo work, and three as a member of Destiny's Child. In 2006, her song "Check on It" became her third solo number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, in addition to the four number one singles she scored as a member of Destiny's Child.

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Beyoncé was the elder of two children born to Matthew and Tina Knowles in Houston, Texas. 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 quartet 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, 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.

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. She graduated from Elsik in 2000.

Beyoncé rose to fame with the then quartet Destiny's Child in 1998 with the Billboard Top 10 hit, "No, No, No"(Part 2)". Even after much publicized turmoil involving new and exiting group members, Destiny's Child (eventually a trio consisting of original members Knowles and Rowland, with Michelle Williams) managed to become one of the most successful popearly 00's, earning four#1 Billboard 100 singles, several Top 10's,and two #1 albums. The group also earned No. 1's on various other Billboard and non Billboard charts.

Beyoncé and Destiny's Child toured as an opening act for both Christina Aguilera and TLC before their self-titled debut album was released. 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.

Their 1998 platinum-selling debut album was produced by Wyclef Jean and Jermaine Dupri and featured the platinum-selling, number-one Hot 100 single "No, No, No". Destiny Child's second album , released in 1999, featured two number-one hits in "Bills Bills Bills" and "Say My Name". "Bug A Boo" and "Jumpin' Jumpin'" were also popular singles from the album. "Say My Name" won two awards at the 2001 Grammy Awards for Best RB Song, the latter of which was awarded to the songwriters, which included Beyoncé herself.

Their next album, B Albums charts, as well as the Canadian and the UK album chart. Two singles from the album went to the top of the Hot 100: "Independent Women" (Part 1) and "Bootylicious", with the album's title track reaching number two. In United Kingdom, the first two tracks released went to number one consecutively. ("Independent Women" (Part 1) and "Survivor"). "Independent Women" (Part 1) had been the theme song for in late 2000, before the album's 2001 release. The title track "Survivor" would win the group their third Grammy for Best RB Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The album's fourth and final single, "Emotion", was a cover of the Bee Gees hit of the same name; it continued the group's impressive string of top ten hits.

In 2001, Beyoncé won the award, from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers Pop Music Awards. She is the first African-American woman, and the second woman of any race to win the award.

In 2004, the group began receiving threats from an obsessed fan from San Diego, California named LaToya Langford. Primarily aimed at Beyoncé, the threats caused major setbacks for the group. Langford continued the threats until her arrest on August 23, 2004 at her San Diego home. After the three year hiatus that involved concentration on individual solo projects and Langford's arrest, Beyoncé rejoined Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams for Destiny's Child's fourth (and final) studio album, may in fact be the last Destiny's Child album and indeed that was to be the case.

Destiny's Child embarked on a world tour sponsored by McDonald's titled, , in 2005, visiting over 70 cities throughout Australia, Asia, Europe and North America from April to September. On June 13, 2005 it was announced that the group would disband after their world tour ended in September 2005. [1]

In October 2005 the group released their final album, entitled , including all of Destiny's Child's #1 hits and most well-known songs. The Greatest Hits collection also includes 3 new tracks, including

In 2001, Beyoncé turned to acting, starring alongside Mekhi Phifer in the MTV made for television movie which starred Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge.

In the summer of 2002, Beyoncé co-starred in the film 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 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 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 , which is co-starring Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx, and which is scheduled to hit movie theatres across the country on December 22, 2006 [2].

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 , 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. went to the top of the album charts in the UK and Canada, as well as on both the American pop (Billboard 200) and RB 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 , 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."

In the same year, Beyoncé was Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher just a couple of minutes after "ruining Christmas" at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Towards the end of the summer, , 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 , 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, 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. [3]

At the 2006 Grammy awards, Beyoncé won a Grammy Award in the category of Best RB Performance by a Duo or Group with vocals for the song "So Amazing", a duet with Stevie Wonder.

Beyoncé has been classified as a Dramatic mezzo-soprano because of the strength and power of her singing voice (she can possibly be classified as a Full Soprano or Wagnerian Soprano). She is also capable of employing high and fast melismas and this technique is a unique feature to her sound. Beyoncé has approximately a three and a half octaves vocal range (in accordance with her records and live performances).

Beyoncé, David Foster, and his daughter, Amy Foster Gillies, wrote Destiny's Child's single "Stand Up for Love" for World Children's Day, an event which takes place annually around the world on November 20 to raise awareness and funds for children's causes worldwide. Destiny's Child lent their voices and support as global ambassadors for the 2005 World Children's Day program.

Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland, along with Mathew Knowles, Tina Knowles, and Solange Knowles recently announced the formation of the Survivor Foundation, a charitable entity set up for the purpose of providing transitional housing for Hurricane Katrina victims and storm evacuees in the Houston, Texas area. The Survivor Foundation extends the philanthropic mission of the Knowles-Rowland Center For Youth, a multi-purpose community outreach facility in downtown Houston.

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 [4]. Beyoncé will star in the movie , about a singing group in the 1960's loosley based on The Supremes, as the Diana Ross-based character Deena Jones. First female artist to have a number-one album and a number-one single in the U.S. and the U.K. simultaneously.The first African-American female to win the ASCAP Pop Songwriter Award, and second female overall (the first is Diane Warren).Of all the former members of the group Destiny's Child, she has sold the most albums as a solo artist.Beyoncé's clothing line, House of Dereon, is sold in LeToya Luckett's (a former member of Destiny's Child) boutique, Lady Elle in Houston, TX.With combined albums and singles of Beyoncé solo career, she has sold more than 18.5 million records worldwide.Beyoncé Knowles has now spent more time at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 as a solo artist than she did as part of Destiny's Child. Destiny's Child spent 17 weeks at #1, with "Bills, Bills, Bills" (one week), "Say My Name" (three weeks), "Independent Women Part I" (11 weeks) and "Bootylicious" (two weeks). Beyoncé has so far spent 20 weeks at #1, with "Crazy in Love" (eight weeks), "Baby Boy" (nine weeks), and her current hit, "Check On It" (three weeks). [5]46664 Concert (Nelson Mandela's Charity Concert in South Africa - To Fight Against Aids, HIV Cancer, Diseases): 2003 (With Bono and The Edge from U2, Anastacia and other world renowned artists)

For more information about her singles, albums, certifications, and music video, see Beyonce: Independent woman - BBC Article: Analysing the Worldwide success and story of Beyoncé as a solo artist