Beyonce Giselle Knowles is a famous American R&B star, actress, fashion designer and music producer. She was born on September 4, 1981 in Houston, Texas. Beyonce has one younger sister, Solange, who is also in the music industry. Beyonce started singing at a very young age participating in local talent shows and with the school choir. Eventually, Beyonce auditioned for and became part of a group called Girl Tyme consisted of six girls including Kelly Rowland.

They entered and lost the Star Search competition but continued performing locally and otherwise. The group was also cut down to four girls. In the meantime the group changed their name to Destiny's Child and eventually signed a record deal with Columbia Records in 1997. The members of the group changed finally leaving Beyonce, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams as the final line-up. They had a number of hits such as Say My Name, Jumpin' Jumpin', Independent Women (Charilie's Angels soundtrack) and Survivor others, earning them numerous music achievement awards. While still with Destiny's Child, Beyonce did solo projects and finally released her solo debut album in June 2003. This album, called Dangerously in Love went platinum 5 and brought her 6 Grammy Awards in one night, which was at the time the most ever won by a female artist in one night.

Destiny's Child announced they were breaking up in 2005 and Beyonce released her second solo album B'Day in 2006. her third studio album I Am... Sasha Fierce! came out in 2008 spawning hits such as Sweet Dreams, Single Ladies, If I Were a Boy and Halo. She has also ventured into acting appearing in films such as Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), Dreamgirls (2006) for which she received two Golden Globe nominations and Obsessed (2009). Beyonce has been in a relationship with rapper Jay-Z since 2002 and the two finally married in 2008.