Where did Beyonce get her start?

Beyonce Giselle Knowles was born in Houston, Texas on September 4th, 1981 to parents Matthew and Tina Knowles. Now an actress and R&B singer, songwriter and record producer, Beyonce has won multiple Grammy Awards for her work. By the age of seven, Beyonce was a soloist in her church choir and was also dancing competitively. Taken under the wing of her dance instructor, Beyonce was guided through the world of dance competitions, becoming well-known in her community.

Beyonce formed a quartet called Girl's Tyme with her best friend Kelly Rowland and two other girls they met; LaTavia Roberson and Letoya Luckett. Performances in their backyards and Tina Knowles' beauty shop led to an appearance on the TV show Star Search. Although the group lost the competition, Matthew Knowles was inspired to help them and quit his high-paying job at Xerox to manage the girls.

In addition to performing, Beyonce attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston.

Achieving Fame

Beyonce and Rowland went on to form the quartet Destiny's Child, which achieved fame in 1998 with the Billboard Top 10 hit, No, No, No (Part 2). Then followed some troubled times as group members came and went, with Michele Williams eventually joining them to make a trio. In the late 1990s they became one of the most successful pop/R&B groups of that time, with two #1 albums, several top-ten singles and four #1 Billboard 100 singles, as well as #1's on various other charts.

Destiny's Child took a break in 2001, while all three members worked on their solo careers. In 2004 they reformed to produce the album Destiny Fulfilled, which proved to be their final original work together. Their Greatest Hits Collection was released in October of 2005.

Beyonce's Solo Career

Despite never having studied acting, Beyonce decided to try her hand at it, with her first appearance being in 2001 in Carmen: A Hip Hopera, a made for television movie. This was followed by a co-starring role with Mike Myers in the film Austin Powers in Goldmember. Her next debut came in February 2006, when she apeared in the hit remake of the classic film The Pink Panther, co-starring Kevin Kline and Steve Martin.

Dangerously in Love, Beyonce's debut solo album, came out in 2003. Its single, Crazy in Love, was a huge hit and was followed by another hit, the single Baby Boy. Beyonce is the first female artist to have a number-one album and a number-one ingle in the US and the UK at the same time.

More on Beyonce

For a full list of Beyonces work go to the Official Beyonce Website.

To catch up with the latest news, check out the Beyonce Blog and News site.