Beyonce Knowles

Introduction

I choose to make a website about my idol, Beyonce Knowles. She has always been one of my heroes because of her enthusiasm and how complete she is. I also really like all of her songs and I own all of her albums. Her full name is Beyonce Giselle Knowles-Carter, taking the last name of her husband Jay-Z. Apart from music she has also starred in numerous movies like The Austin Powes, The Pink Panther and Obsessed. Knowles was ranked number 1 on the “100 Most Powerful and Influental Celebrities in the World“ in 2010 and in 2012 she was named “World‘s Most beautiful woman“ by People magazine. She has won 16 Grammy awards, 12 MTV Video Music Awards, 3 American Music Awards, a Billboard Millenium Award and a star on the Holloywood Walk of Fame with the girl group Destiny‘s Child. 

Early life

Beyonce was born in Houston, Texas. Her family consists of her mother, Tina Knowles, her father, Mathew Knowles, her self and her younger sister, Solange Knowles. Beyonce studied at ST. Mary's Elementary school. There she found the interest in music after winning a school talent show by singin John Lennon's "Imagine". Destiny's Child At the age of 8, Beyonce were placed in a group with LaTavia Roberson and childhood friend Kelly Rowland and named Girl's Tyme. In 1993 they changed the name of the group to Destiny's Child and after four years on the road they finally signed a contract with Columbia Records. In 1999 they released their multi-platinum second album, The Writing's on the wall, which included one of their most succesful song, "Say my name" ( See link under "tenglar" ). Destiny's Child announced a hiatus aftuer releasing their holiday album in october 2001. The singers were on to a solo career. Three years later the group got back together to releas their forth and final album, Destiny fulfilled. In the end of the European tour of the album Kelly Rowland announced, that after the North America leg of the tour, the band would disband. Filming Career After starting solo career Beyonce played a role in numerous films, such as Austin Powers in Goldmember and The Fighting Temptations. In Austin Powers was her first solo single , "Work it Out", one of the film's soundtrack and she recorded numerous songs for The Fighting Temptations. She has also acted in films such as; The Pink Panther, released in 2006 and Dreamgirls that same year. She was nominated both in the category “Best Actress“ and “Best Original Song“ for her work in Dreamgirls. It does look like we're going to see more of her in movies because two movies for the year 2013 are in production with her onboard. It was announced in January 2011 that would appear in a remake of the movie “A Star is Born“.

Solo Career

Her first solo album, Dangerously in Love, was released in June 2003. It is still her best selling album 9 years later with 11 million copies sold worldwide. The first-week sales of the album were about 317 thousand copies! "Crazy in Love" featuring Jay-Z, her husband, the album's lead single spent eight consecutive weekst at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. That year Knowles won five awards at the 46th Grammy Awards, but that was a record back then. Her second solo album, B‘day, was released in September 2006. It gained Beyonce her largest first-week sales of her solo career, selling astonishing 541.000 copies. I also debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 list. Her thrid US single from the album,“Irreplacesble“, topped the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed in the top spot for ten consecutive weeks. In April 2007 she embarked on “The Beyonce Experience tour“ in which she visited 90 venues worldwide and was later made into concert DVD. In November 2008 she released her third album of her solo career, “ I am... Sasha Fierce“, which sold 482.000 copies in its first week and overall 7 million copies worldwide. It debuted at number one on the billboard 200 list and became her third consecutive album to devute at number 1. The second songle of that Album, Single Ladies ( Out a Ring on It ), peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became her fifth number one single. She set a record when the fourth US single, “Halo“, reached into the top ten at the Billboard Hot 100 and became her 12th Hot 100 top ten single as a solo artist, more than any other female artist in the 2000s. At the 52nd Grammy Awards she tied a record with Lauryn Hill for most Grammy nominations in a single year by receiving ten nominations. At the end of the evening she set another record, the most Grammy awards won on a single night by winning six of those ten nominations. She had been earning pretty well from 2007-2010 earning around $87 millions but from May 2010 -2011 she “Only“ earned $35 millions. That was because she spent most of her time in the studio recording her fourth album. The album was finally released in June 2011 and debuted, like the other three of her solo career albums, at number 1. But even though the first-week sales were over 300.000 copies it was her lowest first-week sales with a studio album and the singles from the album, “Run the World(Girls)“ and “Best Thing I Never Had“, did not get any hights. In late 2011 she was named the highest Paid Performer Per Minute in the world by Saucytime.com, eraning 71.040 pounds per minute on stage.

Personal Life

Beyonce started dating Shawn Corey Carter, better known as Jay-Z, in 2002. He is a rapper and is a big name in the music industry and a name everybody knows. Rumours about them began when she featured on his single “03 Bonnie & Clyde“. Beyonce has earned a lot of money since she became a big name. In 2009 Forbes listed her first on the list of “Top Best-Paid Celebs under 30“ earning astonishing $87 millions! If we take in what her husband is earning we can at least double that number so they are one of the richest and most powerful couple on the planet. Jay-Z and Beyonce Knowles got married on April 4th 2008. She didn‘t debut her wedding ring openly until the “Fashion rocks“ concert in September that same year. In September 2011 Beyonce announced her pegnancy on stage at the MTV Video Music Awards. She gave birth to herdaughter on January 7th this yer. She was given the name Blue Ivy Carter. Only two days later Jay-Z released a song dedicated to their daughter. Influences and Puplic Image Michael Jackson was her major musical influence and idol but Beyonce has also mentioned Diana Ross, because she is an all-around entertainer, Whitney Houston and many others. Though these are her influences in her career and life, she had always some new influences on each of her albums. A new word was made up to describe Beyonce, “Bootylicious“, because of her curves. She likes to dress and carry herself like a lady. She also stated that her “on stage dress“ was only worn on the stage.

Interview

I decided to phone a good friend of mine from elementary school that shared the same interest in Beyonce‘s life as I do. Her name is Karen and is known by her friends as Karen Knowles. I started the interview by asking her what was the best thing about Beyonce. It didn‘t take her long to answer, she was so complete – both on stage and off it. She never got cocky and was so down to earth. It was admirable. She also told me that even though she listened alot to Beyonce the best time of the day was just before going to sleep. At that time of the day it was easiest to understand the meaning and the message of the song. She also told me a secret she had never told anyone before. She oftened fell asleep crying because how beautiful Beyonces songs were. I did not agree with her on which album is the best. She said Beyonces latest album, “4“, was the best but I think “I am... Sasha Fierce“ is the best. It was a entertaining phone call which ended by her telling me she was planning to get a Beyonce tattoo! That is what I call love!

Awards in Music

Here goes a list of some of Beyonce‘s Awards for her work in music. It is only a small peace of her awards but I choose some of them randomly.

- American Music Awards

o International Artist Award – 2007

o Favourite Soul/R&B Female Artist – 2009 and 2011

- ASCAP Pop Music Awards

o Songwriter of the year – 2002

o Most Performed songs

 

• Crazy in Love – 2004 
• Baby Boy – 2005 
• Me, Myself and I – 2005 
• Naughty Girl – 2005 
• Lose My Breath – 2006 
• Soldier – 2006
•  Check on It – 2007 
•  Irreplaceable – 2008 
•  Halo – 2010 
•  Single Ladies ( Put a Ring on It ) – 2010 
•  Sweet Dreams – 2010 
•  Telephone – 2011

 

- ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards

o Soundtrack of the year – 2002, 2007

o Award Winning R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

 

• Baby Boy – 2004 
•  Crazy in Love – 2004 
•  Me, Myself and I – 2005 
•  Cater 2 U – 2006
•  Soldier – 2006
• Check on It – 2007
•  Get Me bodied – 2008 
•  Irreplaceable – 2008 
•  Until the End of Time – 2008 
•  Diva – 2010 
•  Ego – 2010 
• Single Ladies ( Put a Ring on It ) – 2010 
•  Best Thing I never Had – 2012

 

 - BET Awards

o Best Colaboration – 2004

o Best Female R&B Artist – 2004, 2007, 2009, 2012

o Video of the Year – 2007, 2009 and 2010

o Video Director of the Year – 2012

- Grammy Awards

o Best R&B Perfomance by a Duo or a Group with Vocals – 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006

o Best R&B song – 2001, 2004, 2010

o Best Rap/Sung Collaboration – 2004

o Best Female R&B Vocal Perfomance – 2004, 2010

o Best Contemporary R&B Album – 2004, 2007, 2010

o Best Female Pop Vocal Performance – 2010

o Song of the year – 2010

o Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance – 2010

- MTV Video Music Awards

o Best Female video – 2003, 2004

o Best R&B video – 2003, 2006

o Best Choreography – 2003, 2004, 2009, 2011

o Most Earthshattering Collaboration – 2007

o Video of the Year – 2009

o Best Editing – 2009, 2012

o Best Collaboration – 2010 

  Vocabulary

Multi-platinum:Music recording sales cerftification 

Appear: to come into sight or view

Release: to issue ( a record, a book, etc.) for sale or circulation

Embark: to commence or engage in a new project, venture, etc.

Overall: in general, on the whole

Reach: to come to

Nomination: The act of nomating or state of being nominated

 Single: A gramophone record, CD or Cassette with a short recording, usually a pop music, on it

 Rumour: information, often a mixture of truth and untruth, passed around verbally

 Earn: To gain or be paid(money or other payment) in return for work or service.

Dedicated: devoted to a particular purpose or cause

 Influence: an effect of one person or thing on another

Admirable: deserving or inspiring admiration, excellent

 Collaboration: the act of working with another or others on a joint project

Choreography: the composition of dance steps and sequences for ballet and stage dancing

Perform: to carry out or do (an action)

Director: a person or thing that directs, controls, or regulates

Artist: a person who practises or is skilled in an art

Soundtrack: the recorded sound accompniment to a film

Songwriter: the person who composes the words or music for songs in a popular idiom

 

 Sources

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0461498/

http://www.beyonce.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyonc%C3%A9_Knowles