Beyonce biography

BEYONCE BIOGRAPHY

Beyonce Knowles: singer, songwriter, producer, actress, founding member, chief songwriter and co-producer of Destiny's Child, one of the biggest selling female acts of all time having sold more than 33 million records worldwide.

A 21-year-old Houston native, Beyonce Knowles is a founding member and chief songwriter of Destiny's Child, one of the biggest selling female acts of all time. With many of the group's hit songs co-written and co-produced by Beyonce, Destiny's Child has sold more than 33 million records worldwide. When Beyonce won the 2001 ASCAP Pop Songwriter Of The Year Award, she became the first African-American woman - and the second woman ever - to receive that honor.

Led by founding members Beyonce Knowles and Kelly Rowland, Destiny's Child burst on the scene in 1997 with their multi-platinum single, "No, No, No," from their self-titled album. That success was dwarfed when Destiny's Child's The Writing's On The Wall was released in 1999. The album would go on to sell more than 10 million copies worldwide, driven in part by three Top 10 hits: "Jumpin, Jumpin," "Say My Name" and "Bills, Bills, Bills," which spent 9 weeks at #1 on the Billboard RandB singles chart.

A year after Michelle Williams joined Destiny's Child in 2000, the group recorded Survivor, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Survivor was certified double platinum four weeks after its release and has gone on to sell more than nine million copies worldwide. In 2001 Destiny's Child took home two Grammy awards: Best RandB song ("Say My Name") and Best RandB performance by a Duo or Group ("Say My Name"). Destiny's Child has won numerous other awards, among them Billboard Artist of the year, NAACP Image Awards, American Music Awards, Nickelodeon Kid's Choice and The Sammy Davis Jr. Award for Entertainer of the Year at the Soul Train Awards. The group has toured worldwide and performed at many high profile events including The Michael Jackson 30th Anniversary Concert Special and the Concert For New York City.

Given the fact that the general public is so familiar with chart-topping songs such as "Say My Name," "Independent Woman, Part I" and "Survivor," it was a challenge to break away from the group and make a stand as a solo artists, in 2003.