On September 4th, 1981, a star was born. A shockwave must’ve been sent through Houston, Texas when she arrived in the world. The child that by the turn of the century would already be transcending generations of musical stardom and fame. The star is none other than Beyoncé Giselle Knowles. From the time she was a child, up until today, it has been clear that Beyoncé was destined to make music.
Beginning at the age of 7, Beyoncé participated in many talent shows and competitions where she displayed her natural musical ability. Witnessing her talent, her parents knew from the beginning that music was what she was meant to do and by 1990, her father had created Destiny’s Child. Originally named Girl’s Tyme, the group consisted of Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Támar Davis, LaTavia Roberson, and Nikki and Nina Taylor. Beyoncé’s accomplishments during the Girl’s Tyme era included her very first music video and being featured on the competitive talent tv show, Star Search. The group eventually ended up losing the competition resulting in Beyoncé’s dad, the manager of the group, cutting three of the members and renaming the group to Destiny’s Child.
By the time Beyoncé was 17, Destiny’s Child had become one of the most popular girl groups of the 90s with the release of their first number one hit, “Bills, Bills, Bills” from their second studio album, By 2000, the group had a new set of members but Beyoncé still remained. In 2003, in between Destiny Child’s third and fourth studio albums, Beyoncé dropped her first solo album, Dangerously in Love. The album included hit singles like “Baby Boy” and “Crazy in Love,” both peaking at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100. She also earned five Grammys for Dangerously in Love including Best Contemporary R&B Album and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for “Crazy In Love”.
By the time Destiny’s Child had disbanded at the end of their world tour in 2006, Beyoncé’s solo career had taken full effect. Riding off of the success of Dangerously in Love, in 2006 Beyoncé released B’Day, her second solo album. A few of the singles included “Irreplaceable” and “Deja Vu” and the album won Beyoncé her sixth Grammy with her second Best Contemporary R&B Album award. Over the span of the next two decades, Beyoncé would release five studio albums, sell over 200 million records, and win 25 Grammys amongst hundreds of other awards and accolades. In fact, by early 2023, Beyoncé broke the record for most Grammy wins ever with her 32nd Grammy awarded to her seventh studio album, Renaissance. Her record breaking albums and records have also displayed her versatility as she’s mastered various genres like R&B, hip-hop, pop, rock, and even country music over the years.
Outside of the professional world, she has garnered hundreds of millions of fans around the world and has toured in every populated continent. She has gone on eight world tours and performed at over 600 concerts during her 20 year solo career. In fact, as of this article’s publication, she has just completed her last concert of the Renaissance Tour in Kansas City, MO and announced a documentary of the world tour.
Beyoncé’s impact does not just affect the music industry, but pop culture and media as a whole. As we know today, new albums are usually announced at the start of every week, then released on Fridays. But prior to 2013, this wasn’t the case as new albums were released on Tuesdays. But on Friday, December 13th, 2013, Beyoncé released a surprise album, Beyoncé. Despite having no previous promotion, the album immediately became No.1 in multiple countries and sold over 600,000 copies within the first three days. This was her fifth studio album and would change the music industry forever as it sparked lots of debate over whether to switch the official music release day for all artists to Fridays. After seven months of negotiations, the record industry decided to make Fridays the official release date for music around the world. In pop culture, Beyoncé has been the origin of various memes and trends. For example, in 2016 she released her sixth studio album, a visual album, Lemonade. In the Lemonade visuals, Beyoncé wore blonde braids that were half cornrows, and half down. The hairstyle immediately took off within the Black community and was coined, “Lemonade Braids”. She has also continued to be a hot topic within the media with many unforgettable moments like her pregnancy announcement at the VMA’s, Beychella, and her Super Bowl Halftime performance of “Formation”.
From the early 1990’s Beyoncé has been nothing short of a star within the music industry. Her artistic abilities have allowed her to withstand and succeed over 30 years within the public eye. She is a timeless artist who has gained generations of fans and respect for her natural talents and has made history multiple times during her longevity. Needless to say, Beyoncé’s star may not ever disappear and I can’t wait to see how she changes our world next.
