‘Naughty’ Girl Beyonce Knowels Biography

Beyonce Knowels
As the hottest thing in music today, this statuesque and bootylicious R&B/Pop queen has captured the attention of males aged 11 to 111 with her titillating performances and string of nightclub hits.

One day she wanted to make a gold album, record a platinum follow-up disc, and write and produce the third. So much for lifetime achievements – the little girl grew up to do all three before she reached 21.

If we didn't like Beyonce, we should be committed to a mental institute. She has the physical and musical attributes that have already translated into a stellar career and a top 10 appearance in AskMen.com's Most Desirable Women of 2003.

The Texas-born daughter of Matthew, a former salesman, and his salon owner wife Tina, Beyonce – the unique moniker is her mum's maiden name – didn't always seem destined for stardom. September 4th, Beyonce's birthday. Born in 1981 to a loving family in Houston, Texas, Beyonce (rhymes with fiancé) Giselle Knowles showed an aptitude for music before she could even talk. As a young girl, she would drown out everyone, including the church choir, on Sundays at church. Every weekend, she tuned her voice by doing soulful hymns with the congregation and then moved on to opera classes, in which she was classically trained. Her first project in the Eighties, Girls Tyme, went nowhere, and after a few other incarnations, the girl group became Destiny´s Child. Beyonce was crushed when they lost US talent show Star Search in 1992, and were dropped from their record label in 1995, before they'd even released an album. Dad Matthew, who managed the group, was forced to sell the family home in 1996 to keep them going.

Beyonce's father, Matthew Knowles, manages Destiny's Child. Her mother, Tina Knowles, designs their glittering costumes. Solange, her sister (they're about 5 years apart) has released her debut album. She dances with her big sister during DC-3 concerts.

She and her group were discovered by Whitney Houston. One of her favorite songs is "Lovefool" by the Cardigans. Her favourite item of clothing is a pair of pathwork metallic boots. She writes & produces many of the group's songs, including smash hits "Jumpin Jumpin", "Bootylicious", "Nasty Girl", "Independent Women", "Happy Face" and "Apple Pie a la mode".

The central figure for R&B group Destiny's Child, Beyonce was the talent behind such smash hits as "Say My Name," "No, No, No" and "Independent Women." Venturing out on her own, it has been no surprise that her solo album, Dangerously In Love, includes the chart-toppers "Baby Boy" and "Crazy In Love."
A normal childhood was not in the books for Beyonce. At 8 years old, she met LaTavia Robertson while auditioning for a girls musical group and Matthew Knowles, Beyonce's manager and father, later paired the two with LeToya Luckett. In 1992, cousin Kelly Rowland joined the group, and they performed together on Star Search.

Small gigs and much label-shopping later, the four beauties cemented their relationship by calling themselves Destiny's Child. In 1997, "No, No, No" became their first official single, and they got off to a big start as the track went multi-platinum. The girls were instantly popular in the media and impressed all with their self-titled debut.

If critics were impressed with this new R&B group's success, they were absolutely floored when The Writing's on the Wall hit stores in 1999. DC, led by the incomparable Beyonce, had three top ten hits within the year: "Jumpin, Jumpin," "Say My Name" and "Bills, Bills, Bills." They became one of the best-selling female groups of recent memory after this second album sold more than 9 million units worldwide. At the same time, it was announced that their single "Independent Women Part 1," off the Charlie's Angels soundtrack, had reached the largest audience ever in the recorded radio airplay -- 140.4 million pairs of ears.

After all this success, the group's three talented sistas decided to try their hands at solo careers before investing their time in another Destiny's Child album. To no one's surprise, Beyonce has captured the bulk of the spotlight with her sex appeal and strong vocals. Even before her first album was organized, she had a hit with Jay-Z called "Bonnie and Clyde '03" and was cracking up audiences with her big-screen debut alongside Mike Myers in Austin Powers in Goldmember. This simply prepared fans for what was to come with Dangerously In Love, released in June 2003.

Beyonce displayed a versatile style with this solo effort, creating the club hit "Baby Boy," the pop success "Crazy In Love" and the soulful "The Closer I Get To You" with Luther Vandross. Like her work in Destiny's Child, Beyonce wrote or co-wrote many of the tracks and performed her heart out on award shows to get the word out to a huge audience. She has emerged as a diva, making the best videos, catchiest songs and creating the most headlines. At 2004's Grammy ceremony, Beyonce took away five awards and was the biggest winner of the night (a feat Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys and Norah Jones each accomplished in previous years). Rumors have swirled that she is involved with rapper Jay-Z, and talk of another Destiny's Child album has surfaced.

Her work outside the recording studio does not go ignored either. As she prepares for a solo tour, Beyonce can be seen in ads for L'Oreal and Pepsi, and in the musical/comedy The Fighting Temptations. A star of her caliber comes along very rarely, so we expect even bigger things from our favorite R&B star in the near future: more music, movies and sexy outfits, please.

Of course, Beyonce acts as well; see her foxy self in "Austin Powers in Goldmember" and "The Fighting Temptations".

It must be hard to stay humble when studio execs are calling you "the next Diana Ross", and you win over the director of your big screen debut. "She could keep up with Mike and make him laugh" says Jay Roach, director of Mike Myers' Goldmember. "I thought, 'Man, she's going to be a huge star'."

Studio bosses had noticed Beyonce after her first film project, the MTV hip hop production of Carmen. And on the set of Goldmember she proved she's quite a charmer in person as well. "Everybody fell in love with her," says star Mike Myers. "On her last day, everyone was sad to see her go because she's so nice and funny and silly… and 'bootylicious'."

Now a red carpet star at music awards and film premieres, how does she cope with the pressures of fame? "I take 'home' with me," she says. "I take the church and the hair salon, the Southern hospitality and realness. They shape the way I look at people and look at life. It keeps us all grounded."