BEYONCÉ KNOWLES

Date of Birth: September 4, 1981

This Houston, Texas lass first began her musical career when she was seven years old and met LaTavia Roberson while auditioning for a children's group. The two soon joined with Knowles cousin, Kelly Rowland, and then LeToya Luckett to form Destiny's Child.

Managed by Knowles' father, Matthew, the group started performing at local events leading to their national television debut on the televised show, Star Search. The exposure led to small-time gigs, to opening acts for popular R&B and hip hop acts Dru Hill, SWV and Immature.

The group released its first album, self-titled Destiny's Child in 1998 in which their hit single 'No, No, No' went platinum. A year later they released their second album, The Writing's On the Wall, which reached the top ten Billboard album charts upon its release, had four hit singles, earned triple platinum status and earned two Grammy nominations. The group also contributed to a number of movie soundtracks for films like Why Do Fools Fall In Love? (1998), Life (1999), Romeo Must Die (2000) and Charlie's Angels (both 2000).

At the start of the new millennium, the group started breaking apart. Though Knowles stayed with the remaining singers to create their third album, Survivor, she did take some time off to star in her first film, Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) as Foxxy Cleopatra. Her second film, The Fighting Temptations (2003), co-starred Cuba Gooding Jr. and she returned to the screen after a short absence to appear in The Pink Panther (2006) alongside Steve Martin. Next, she played a role in the Broadway musical-turned-movie, Dreamgirls (2006), for which she received a Golden Globe nomination.

In April 2008, she married rapper Jay-Z.

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