Beyoncé

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; (née Knowles; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and businesswoman. Dubbed as "Queen Bey" and a prominent cultural figure of the 21st century, she has been recognized for her artistry and performances, with ''Rolling Stone'' naming her one of the greatest vocalists of all time.

Beyoncé started performing in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. 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. Their hiatus saw the release of her debut album ''Dangerously in Love'' (2003). She then released the commercially successful solo albums ''B'Day'' (2006), ''I Am... Sasha Fierce'' (2008), and ''4'' (2011). After creating her own management company Parkwood Entertainment, Beyoncé achieved acclaim for releasing the sonically experimental visual albums ''Beyoncé'' (2013) and ''Lemonade'' (2016), which explored multiple societal themes such as feminism, relationships and womanism. Following the release of the queer-inspired dance album ''Renaissance'' (2022), she became the first solo artist to have their first seven studio albums debut at number one in the United States.

Some of Beyoncé's most successful songs include "Crazy in Love", "Baby Boy", "Irreplaceable", "If I Were a Boy", "Halo", "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", "Run the World (Girls)", "Love On Top", "Drunk in Love", "Formation", "Break My Soul", and "Cuff It." Her collaborative music ventures include ''Everything Is Love'' (2018), an album with her husband Jay-Z, 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). ''Homecoming: The Live Album'' (2019), which chronicles her 2018 Coachella performance, has been heralded as one of the best live albums of all time, lauded for wide-reaching curation from many eras of black musical history. Outside of music, she has starred as an actress in multiple 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 over 200 million records worldwide, Beyoncé is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Her accolades include 32 Grammy Awards (the most Grammys won by any artist), 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'' Top Female Artist of the Decade. In 2014, ''Billboard'' named her the highest-earning black musician of all time. 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 defined the 21st century. Provided by Wikipedia