Beyonce Knowles
Real Name: Beyonce Giselle Knowles
Date of Birth: 4 September 1981
Place of birth: Houston, TX
Profession: Actress/Singer
Beyonce’ Knowles started her illustrious singing and acting career in the Houston area, after forming Destiny’s Child with four other friends from school. Her father, Matthew Knowles, was the group’s manager, while her mother, Tina Knowles, was their costume designer. Destiny’s Child came from humble beginnings, but turned into one of the biggest commercial successes in pop music history. The group had acquired a modest amount of fame by the mid-nineties, but ditched two of the less-talented members and continued on with the more popular lineup of Beyonce’, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. This lineup of the group gained infamous commercial success from such hits as, “Survivor”, “Bootylicious”, and “Jumpin Jumpin”. Beyonce’s success continued to grow aside from the group and the obvious oncoming split occurred in 2005, after their most recent tour.
Beyonce’s first big acting role was as the femme fatale in, “Austin Power’s Goldmember”, which did well commercially, and also showed Beyonce’s abilities as an actress, but was not well-received critically. The movie garnered Beyonce a Worst Supporting Actress nomination from the Razzies, an awards ceremony that mocks the Oscars and celebrates the year’s worst movies and performances. While her first movies were well-received, her music career was even better, as Beyonce continued to shine in her solo efforts. Beyonce’s 2003 album received lukewarm critical acclaim, but great commercial success, while Beyonce’s more recent releases are getting even better critical and commercial reviews. Songs like “Crazy in Love” and “Irreplaceable” are proving to be very dynamic in the sounds and styles that Beyonce can imitate, while her acting career is quickly getting hotter as well.
Beyonce had another huge role in the box office hit-remake of “The Pink Panther”, which again cast her as a leading lady alongside a comical genius, this time played by Steve Martin. Beyonce’s biggest role to date is coming up in the winter of 2006 in, “DreamGirlz”, which puts Beyonce in the well-cast role of an old doo-wop music group, alongside Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, and American Idol finalist, Jennifer Hudson. Beyonce’s career continues to flourish musically and through the medium of film, so it should come as no surprise that she will be an entertainment institution for many years to come.
Interesting Facts
Beyonce is dating Def Jam rap mogul Jay-Z and the couple has an age difference of almost fifteen years. They have been together for over three years, and do not tend to broadcast their image as a couple publicly in hopes of preventing many of the problems that couples in the entertainment industry face.
Beyonce also was the first African-American woman to win the ASCAP Songwriter of the Year Award, an honor which is very prestigious in the music industry and tends to be granted to people in other genres of the music industry. This award transcends all of her talents and abilities, whether it is songwriting, acting, or performing live.
