Beyonce biography, net worth, age, twins, Jay Z, birthday, children, height and weight 2025

Beyoncé's biography

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, aka Beyoncé or simply Queen B is an American R&B singer, a former lead singer of the once-popular band Destiny's Child. She hit the big stage at nine, rose to fame as part of the girl-pop trio, and then multiplied that success in her solo career.

She is the only singer whose solo albums have all received a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album and debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 national music chart. Forbes estimates her net worth at $440 million.

Childhood

The woman now known worldwide for her powerful mezzo-soprano and luxurious curves was born in Houston to Matthew Knowles, a producer and sound engineer, and Tina Knowles (née Beyoncé), a fashion designer and stylist. It was in honor of her mother's parents' last name that the newborn got her name.

Five years later, baby sister Solange was born. By that time, the young Beyoncé had already revealed remarkable vocal talent. It all started simply: her elementary school dance teacher began singing a song, and Beyoncé finished it with soaring high notes. Next came a school talent contest where she sang John Lennon's "Imagine" and won first prize, beating competitors who were 15-16 years old. Soon, B was competing in every urban music competition around.

Little Beyonce with her parents and younger sister Solange

But the girl who lived for performing was actually shy and reserved in everyday life. Their family was rather wealthy, the mother owned a beauty salon. Beyoncé tried to avoid her peers' mocking and whispers, working hard to seem as ordinary as possible. She walked silently, staring at the floor, and developed posture problems by age 7.

Everything changed in 1990. She moved on to a secondary school that specialized in music. Here, she no longer had to be ordinary and stay unnoticed. She was immediately taken to the school choir, and sometime later she began to perform there.

Beginning: Destiny's Child

In 1990, Beyoncé and her classmate Kelly Rowland auditioned for a teen pop group. At the audition, they met Latavia Robertson. Beyoncé, Kelly, Latavia, and three other girls were eventually selected and merged into a project called Girl's Tyme.

Beyonce and the first cast of "Destiny's Child" ("Girl's Tyme")

The group's producer was Arne Frager from California. Banking on the girls' young age, he decided to send them to the country's biggest talent show at the time, Star Search. He was sure audiences would be charmed by young Black girls rapping, but he was wrong. Girl's Tyme failed because of a poorly rehearsed song: "We rap, but we had to sing," Beyoncé admitted later.

Girl's Tyme on Star Search. First failure

The loss hit young Beyoncé hard. Seeing his daughter so devastated, Beyoncé's father—who worked in the music industry—stepped in with some advice.

At his insistence, the group was trimmed to four members. Beyoncé and her friends rehearsed in the back room of her mother's salon, taking advice and criticism from clients. During the school year, they often performed at local events. They spent summer breaks at a vocal arts camp, honing their skills.

Rehearsal in Beyoncé's mother beauty salon (1995)

During their early years, the group changed its name several times. From Girl's Tyme, they turned into Something Fresh, then into Cliche and the Dolls. In 1995, record label Elektra Records took interest in them. To land the deal, the girls had to become Destiny.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, but just before recording their first album, the label pulled the plug on their contract. Beyoncé's father then decided to produce the band himself. He walked away from other projects, cutting the family's income in half. Knowles even had to move from their house to an apartment.

Matthew Knowles changed the name of the group again. From then on, the group was called Destiny's Child (a reference to the Book of Isaiah). He helped the girls sign the contract with Columbia Records. By 1997, their song "Killing Time" became part of the soundtrack for the action-comedy "Men in Black" starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. This was the beginning of great times.

In 1997, Destiny's Child was recognized by the whole world

In February 1998, the group released their debut album Destiny's Child, which hit #67 on the Billboard 200 and sold 33 million copies. Their single "No, No, No" topped the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Destiny's Child – No, no, no (1998)

1999 brought new turbulence. Two band members accused Matthew Knowles of unfair income management. They claimed he was giving Beyoncé and her best friend Kelly the lion's share of the money while discriminating against them at every turn. The two were let go, and the second album "The Writing's on the Wall" was released with two new members. The dismissed singers launched a lengthy legal battle against the group's producer but came up empty-handed. The only outcome was that one of the new members quit due to harassment.

The truth about Beyoncé's father's financial fraud became known much later, in 2011. Beyoncé fired him as her manager and revealed that he'd been skimming substantial portions of her earnings for years. She also revealed that during Destiny's Child's early days, he made her run three miles daily while singing songs from their catalog. He believed this training would enable Beyoncé to perform flawlessly under any conditions.

Beyoncé before and after plastic surgery of the nose (2000 vs 2010)

In 2000, Destiny's Child, now as a trio, warmed up the audience before Britney Spears's and Christina Aguilera's concerts. Meanwhile, their song "Independent Women Part I", the soundtrack for " Charlie's Angels," topped the Billboard 100 for 11 weeks – that was a record for the group.

The beginning of the solo career

At the end of 2000, the band members announced they would each record solo albums. At the same time, Beyoncé made her film debut, appearing in the spy movie parody "Austin Powers" starring Mike Myers as Foxy Cleopatra. In the film, she sang "Work It Out," her first solo single.

All three women successfully launched solo careers. In 2003, Beyoncé's debut solo album "Dangerously in Love," aimed at R&B and soul fans, was released. It went quadruple platinum and won five Grammys. The single "Crazy in Love," a duet with rapper Jay-Z, made an even bigger impact. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two months. "Signs," featuring Missy Elliott, was also a huge success.

2003: Beyonce and Jay-Z singing in a duet for the first time

For three years, the girls did not perform together. Rumors spread about Destiny's Child disbanding, but the singers denied it. At the end of 2004, they reunited to record "Destiny Fulfilled," which sold 500,000 copies in its first week. By the band's standards, this was modest – their previous album sold 700,000 copies in the same timeframe – but the record still became 2005's best-selling album.

In 2005, the girls went on tour in support of the new album, and during the concert in Barcelona, in front of 16,000 fans, they announced that Destiny's Child would disband after the tour. In March 2006, Destiny's Child received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as the best-selling female group of all time.

The heyday of Beyoncé's career

After becoming a full-time solo star, Beyoncé turned to the cinema. Undoubtedly, her participation contributed to the box office success of the criminal comedy "The Pink Panther" (2006). In addition, the soundtrack to the film has become B's then-new song "Check On It."

A screenshot from the film "The Pink Panther" (2006)

After that, she starred in the musical film "Dreamgirls" featuring Eddie Murphy, Jamie Foxx, and Jennifer Hudson. Beyoncé's character was inspired by Diana Ross. For this role, Beyoncé was nominated for two Golden Globes: for the best female role and for the best song («Listen»).

The real Diana Ross and Beyoncé in her image

After wrapping filming, Beyoncé dove into work on her second album. The record «B'Day» was released on September 4, 2006, and coincided with the date of the singer's 25th birthday. Her style became more diverse, incorporating live instruments into the mix. The album shot straight to #1 on the Billboard 200.

Two years later, the singer released her third studio album "I am ... Sasha Fierce". When asked about Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé explained it was her alter ego – a more sensual and energetic persona that emerged while working on "Crazy in Love" in 2003. A distinctive feature of Sasha Fierce was the robot's glove on her hand. Beyoncé first appeared in this image on MTV EMA-2008.

In 2009, film critics praised the on-screen chemistry between Beyoncé and Idris Elba in the thriller "Obsessed." Her character had to fight for her family against a dangerous obsession.

In 2010, Beyoncé nearly broke Michael Jackson's record for most Grammys won in a single ceremony, taking home 6 out of 10 nominations. Shortly after, she took a brief hiatus before delighting fans with her fourth album ("4") in mid-2011.

Grammy-2010: Beyoncé – If I Were A Boy LIVE

In 2012, GQ magazine named Beyoncé the sexiest woman of the 21st century.

At that point, the singer turned 31 years old

In 2013, the singer released her groundbreaking visual album "Beyoncé." Each of the 14 songs came with its own music video. The album dropped on iTunes without any advance promotion, completely surprising Beyoncé's fans, and took the record for sales in 108 countries (only Adele had more – the first place in iTunes in 115 countries). The song "Blue" is sung with Beyoncé's daughter Blue Ivy.

On April 23, 2016, Beyoncé dropped her sixth album "Lemonade" on the world. The R&B queen continued the line of a «visual album»: all twelve tracks came with their own music video. But unlike her previous album where the videos stood alone, this time they wove together into one complete narrative, dedicated to the ups and downs in the singer's family life. HBO aired the complete "Lemonade" visual album live on release day.

Beyoncé's personal life

When the singer was 19, she went through a painful breakup that coincided with turmoil within the group. Since then, she's kept her private life out of the spotlight.

In 2002, she sang composition "Crazy Love" in a duet with rapper Jay-Z. After that, the press began linking them romantically. The rumors persisted for six long years and in April 2008, Beyoncé finally appeared in public with an elegant ring on her finger. It turned out that the lovers secretly married.

Just as secretly, their first baby was born. In January 2012, the singer went to an elite clinic under the fake name Ingrid Jackson. The baby was named Blue Ivy Carter, and she became an integral part of their family's happiness.

But apparently, not everything in their lives was as perfect as it appeared on the surface. In 2014, Beyoncé's younger sister attacked Jay-Z with fists. The rapper's bodyguard barely pulled the furious girl away, while Beyoncé watched without interfering. It was after the Met Gala, so the fight between Beyoncé's husband and sister was caught on camera.

Fight between Beyoncé's sister and Jay-Zee

The record was published, and rumors spread in the media: has Jay-Z cheated on his beloved? However, the incident was hushed up. When the album Lemonade was released in 2016, accompanied by the eponymous video clip, light was shed on the situation. In the songs "Pray You Catch Me" and "Daddy Lessons," there are lyrics about a husband's lies. However, in the song "All Night" there are these lines: "Every diamond has imperfections," "My torturer became a remedy." The film ends with Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Blue Ivy peacefully together. Apparently, the storm in their relationship had finally settled.

The stars managed to save their marriage

Meanwhile, fans conducted their own investigation and found out that the rapper most likely cheated on his wife with Rachel Roy, the creative director of the Rocawear brand. After that, fans of the star couple launched a cyber attack on Rachel. Eventually, she posted on Twitter that she respects family values, and that cyberbullying is intolerable.

Beyoncé's fans decided that Jay-Z was cheating on her with Rachel Roy (pictured)

In February 2017, Beyoncé appeared at the Grammy Awards pregnant. Her big round belly was emphasized by a spectacular golden dress. Beyoncé embraced her pregnancy during her speech, channeling the image of a fertility goddess.

In June 2017, Beyoncé became a mother for the second time. At a private Los Angeles clinic, "royal" twins were born—a boy and a girl. A couple of days later, the American tabloid TMZ published the information about the health problems of newborns.

Latest photos of Beyoncé without photoshop

Beyoncé now

In January 2018, Beyoncé appeared as a featured artist on her husband's track 'Family Feud,' which addressed issues of division within African-American culture.

Four months later, Beyoncé delivered a performance to Coachella's 125,000-strong audience. Critics hailed her nearly two-hour show, featuring a Destiny's Child reunion, as 'historic.'

This performance became the foundation for Netflix's documentary 'Homecoming,' which boosted Beyoncé's net worth by $60 million.

In summer 2019, Jay-Z and Beyoncé launched a new project as the family duo The Carters. In June, they released their debut album 'Everything Is Love' and the music video 'Apesh*t.'

Beyoncé voiced Nala, one of the main characters in Jon Favreau's 'Lion King' remake. She recorded a cover of 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' alongside Donald Glover and Seth Rogen.

Beyonce voiced Nala from the new Lion King

Beyonce: latest news and articles

Beyoncé and Jay-Z fan: King of the United Kingdom Charles III has published a playlist of his favorite songs

10 Mar 2025

David Dunn

Beyoncé is ready to make money on everything : fights, pregnancy, even on losing weight but she should pay attention to her work.

2021-05-12 14:11:43
Ruby Peterson

The body of Beyoncé is wonderful and I guess it`s difficult to be on her previous form again after kids.

2021-05-03 10:33:00
Angel Joseph White

I`m long way from creative work of Beyoncé but perfectly know compositions by Jay-Z. I think they are a beautiful and talented couple.

2021-04-26 10:24:38
Beatrice Harris

I guess that after a plastic surgery Beyoncé lost her individuality but undoubtedly became more beautiful.

2021-04-21 23:28:43
Adam Bryan Johnson

Strange that in spite of fighting for the rights of equality, Beyoncé is getting lighter year by year.

2021-02-26 16:44:16

Photos: Beyonce