Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter (/biːˈjɒnseɪ/ bee-YON-say; née Knowles;
born September 4, 1981)[5] is an American singer, songwriter, record
producer, dancer, actress and filmmaker. Her influential contributions to
music, dance, and fashion[6] have established her as a global icon in the
history of popular music.[7][8] Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Beyoncé
performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. She
rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of Destiny's Child, one of
the best-selling girl groups of all time.
During Destiny's Child's hiatus, Beyoncé made her theatrical film debut
with a role in the US box-office number-one Austin Powers in
Goldmember (2002) and began her solo music career. She became the
first music act to debut at number one with their first six solo studio
albums on the Billboard 200.[9] Her debut album Dangerously in
Love (2003) featured four Billboard Hot 100 top five songs, including the
number-one singles "Crazy in Love" featuring rapper Jay-Z and "Baby Boy"
featuring singer-rapper Sean Paul. Following the disbandment of Destiny's
Child in 2006, she released her second solo album, B'Day, which
contained her first US number-one solo single "Irreplaceable", and
"Beautiful Liar", which topped the charts in most countries. Beyoncé
continued her acting career with starring roles in The Pink
Panther (2006), Dreamgirls (2006), and Obsessed (2009). Her marriage to
Jay-Z and her portrayal of Etta James in Cadillac Records (2008) influenced
her third album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), which earned a record-