Beyoncé

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( bee-ON-say; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and businesswoman. Nicknamed "Queen Bey" (pronounced "queen bee"), she is regarded as one of the most influential cultural figures of the 21st century. Throughout her career, Beyoncé has been recognized for her expert vocal ability, executive media producing, and grandness of live performances. Rolling Stone named her the world's greatest living entertainer, and one of the greatest vocalists of all time.

As a child, Beyoncé started performing in various singing and dancing competitions. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. The group's hiatus saw the release of Beyoncé's debut album, Dangerously in Love (2003). She then followed with the U.S. number-one solo albums B'Day (2006), I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), and 4 (2011). After creating her own management company Parkwood Entertainment, Beyoncé achieved critical acclaim for the experimental visual albums Beyoncé (2013) and Lemonade (2016), which explored themes such as feminism and womanism. With her Black queer-inspired dance album Renaissance (2022) and country album Cowboy Carter (2024) from her trilogy project, she became the only female artist to have all of her first eight solo studio albums debut at number one on the Billboard 200.

Beyoncé's most successful songs on the Billboard Hot 100 include "Crazy in Love", "Baby Boy", "Check On It", "Irreplaceable", "If I Were a Boy", "Halo", "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", "Drunk in Love", "Break My Soul", "Cuff It" and "Texas Hold 'Em". She is the only woman in history to achieve at least 20 top 10 songs as a solo artist and 10 as a member of a group. Her collaborative music ventures include Everything Is Love (2018), an album with her husband, rapper Jay-Z, released as the Carters, and the musical film Black Is King (2020), inspired by the music of the film soundtrack The Lion King: The Gift (2019). Self-directed concert films, including Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé (2019) and Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé (2023), document some of her most acclaimed onstage performances. Outside of music, she has starred as an actress in films such as Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), The Pink Panther (2006), Dreamgirls (2006), Cadillac Records (2008), Obsessed (2009), and The Lion King (2019).

Having sold 200 million records worldwide, Beyoncé is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Her accolades include a record 32 Grammy Awards (including the 2010 Song of the Year), as well as 26 MTV Video Music Awards (including the 2014 Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award), 24 NAACP Image Awards, 35 BET Awards, and 17 Soul Train Music Awards – all of which are more than any other artist in the music industry. Her success during the 2000s earned her recognition as the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)'s Top Certified Artist of the Decade and Billboard's Top Female Artist and Top Radio Songs Artist of the Decade. She is the most successful black touring act in history and received the Pollstar Touring Artist of the Decade award in 2021. Time included her as one of the 100 women who has so far defined the 21st century.