Beyonce

Beyonce Knowles was born in Houston in 1981. She started her artistic career in Destiny's Child. Yet it is not only her membership in one of the most successful R&B projects that made her extremely popular, but also the later solo music career and acting. As a child, she was a timid and secluded girl. It did not stop her from going into dancing at seven and participating in multiple local competitions. The girl's parents did not expect such a progress from their shy daughter. Since that time, dancing and singing became her best way of self-expression. Beyonce added a great power of will and labor to her in-born talents to make a great career. Working as hard as they all were, the members of Destiny's Child made their band the sales leader among all female groups in entire history.

Beyonce started her solo career in autumn 2002, as she participated in recording Jay-Z's single '03 Bonnie&Clyde. In spring 2003, she and Luther Vandross remade the song The Closer I Get to You. This duo was rewarded with Grammy for the best vocal performance. In 2003, Beyonce Knowles released her first album, Dangerously in Love. Crazy in Love, one of its singles, recorded with Jay-Z, became the unsurpassed hit of that summer and occupied the top of the Billbord charts for eight weeks. The album itself peaked first in the UK and Canada as well as in Billboard 200 pop and R&B charts. The total number of the copies sold to the present day is 4 million in the States alone and 8 million worldwide. The second single Baby Boy featuring celebrated Sean Paul beat the record of Crazy in Love, as it remained the leader of Billboard one week longer. The follow-up singles Me, Myself and I, and Naughty Girl met less acclaim and reached the third position. Grammy 2004 brought Beyonce 5 awards, including the prestigious nomination Best Contemporary R&B-album. In the same year, she won the Brit Awards prize as the best performer. In December 2005, Beyonce produced the new song Check On It involving rapper Slim Thug. This track was included into the album by Destiny's Child #1's and utilized as soundtrack to The Pink Panther. In 2006, Beyonce won Grammy for the song So Amazing recorded in duo with Stevie Wonder in the memory of Luther Vandross.

In September 2006, Beyonce produced her second long player, B'Day. It was released on the singer's birthday. Within the first week after, over 500 000 copies were sold. In the USA, it was certificated triple platinum. Nevertheless, the critics stated that this CD, recorded singularly fast, did not correspond to the level of the singer's debut work. Beyonce confessed to having set an aim to become the first Afro-American woman winning Grammy, Emmy and Oscar. She succeeded both as singer and movie actress. In February 2006, she played a part of a pop singer in The Pink Panther. However, she revealed her acting talent later, in Dreamgirls, a movie based on The Supremes’ biography. Beyonce makes her living with not her art alone. She and couturier Tommy Hilfiger created perfumes True Star, and True Star Gold; she also launched her own fashion line House of Dereon. Beyonce is actively participating in charity. In 2005, she co-founded Survival Foundation for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Beyonce's third studio will appear in stores in November 2008.

I Am …Sasha Fierce (2008) became the third solo studio album of Beyonce. The album was split into two parts: the first disc being I Am …Sasha Fierce was composed of eight heartfelt ballads credited to Beyonce. It was romantic, vulnerable and more mainstream. The second danceable disc comprising eight more up-tempo songs was devoted to Sasha Fierce, the pop diva's brasher, fiercer alter ego. It included her more traditional R&B songs. In 2009, a collection called Above & Beyonce: Dance Mixes arrived. It featured remixes of the singer’s popular songs especially for dance floors.