Beyoncé

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( bee-ON-say; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and businesswoman. As an influential cultural figure, she has been credited with transforming the sound of popular music with her vocal ability, live performances and artistic innovations. Her work is considered to be amongst the greatest in music history.

As a child, Beyoncé began performing through various singing and dancing competitions. She debuted in the late 1990s and rose to fame as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. Her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love (2003), became one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century and earned her first U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy". Beyoncé's commercial success continued with the albums B'Day (2006), I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008) and 4 (2011), all of which featured hit singles including "If I Were a Boy", "Halo", "Run the World (Girls)", and "Love On Top", as well as the chart-topping "Check on It", "Irreplaceable", and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it).

Beyoncé's career shifted after forming her own management company Parkwood Entertainment, creating monocultural events through acclaimed concept albums. She explored personal and sociopolitical themes on Beyoncé (2013) and Lemonade (2016), which are credited with popularizing the surprise album and visual album. The former inspired setting Friday as the Global Release Day, while the latter became the best-selling album of 2016 worldwide. Her ongoing trilogy project – currently consisting of queer-inspired dance album Renaissance (2022) and Americana-themed Cowboy Carter (2024) – highlight the contributions of Black pioneers to American musical and cultural history, spawning the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "Break My Soul" and "Texas Hold 'Em".

Beyoncé is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold 200 million records worldwide. Billboard ranked her as the greatest pop star of the 21st century and Rolling Stone named her among the best singers of all time. Her accolades include the most Grammy Awards (32), NAACP Image Awards (25), BET Awards (32) and Soul Train Music Awards (25) for any artist. She was repeatedly named artist of the decade for both the 2000s and 2010s, including recognition as the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)'s Top Certified Artist of the Decade and Pollstar's Touring Artist of the Decade. All of her eight studio albums have debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, and she is the only artist to top 23 different Billboard charts simultaneously. She is a ubiquitous figure within popular culture and has influenced various other artists.