Beyoncé Giselle Knowles

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles (born September 4, 1981) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, music video director, actress, dancer, and fashion designer. Knowles rose to fame as the creative force and lead singer of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child, the world's best-selling female group of all time.

After a series of commercially successful releases with the group, Knowles released her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love, in June 2003. The album became one of the biggest commercial successes of the year, topping the albums charts in the U.S. and the UK. It also spawned the number-one singles "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy" and earned Knowles five Grammy Awards in a single night in 2004. Knowles' second album B'Day was released worldwide on September 4, 2006, coinciding with her twenty-fifth birthday. The album spawned the UK number-one singles "Déjà Vu" and "Beautiful Liar", as well as the worldwide hit "Irreplaceable", which reached number one in several countries. It also earned Knowles her seventh solo Grammy Award (she has won ten in total).

Knowles also achieved success in the film industry, starring in such Hollywood films as the 2006 comedy The Pink Panther and the 2006 musical film Dreamgirls, which earned her two Golden Globe Award nominations—one for acting and other for the song "Listen".

Third studio album (2008)

In an interview, Knowles stated that she is going into studio in December to begin official work on her third studio album although she is in the studio all the time. As reported by Scratch magazine, producer Timbaland was recently signed on to produce the majority of the album. In the interview, Timbaland stated that the outcome of the album will be "huger than life".

Knowles is switching musical direction on her third solo album. Apparently, Knowles' R&B sound will be terminated in favor of a dance floor-orientated album. She has hired English dance/house/electronica production duo The Freemasons to work on several songs for the record. Knowles' team approached James Wiltshire and his musical partner Russell Small after they heard the pair's official remixes of Knowles' hit singles "Déjà Vu" and "Beautiful Liar". Wiltshire recently told the Daily Star, "The album is going to be huge. It will rival anything the likes of Britney and Rihanna have done recently. Beyoncé and her team can see where mistakes were made on the last album. It was very American, very R'n'B and stripped back. They want to go for a more international sound this time. Normally big stars don't take any notice of smaller acts like ours, so her decision to work with us shows just where she is going with this album". Wiltshire also added, "Her management have been in almost daily contact with us ever since. It is exciting getting to work on a new tune for her, as we get to be really creative". They even put both Britney Spears and Donna Summer on hold to work with Knowles.

In 2001, Knowles turned to acting, starring alongside actor Mekhi Phifer in the MTV made-for-television film http://bestuff.com/http://bestuff.com/http://bestuff.com/Carmen: A Hip Hopera.

In the summer of 2002, Knowles co-starred in the film Austin Powers in Goldmember, playing Foxxy Cleopatra opposite Mike Myers and Michael Caine. Knowles also recorded the song "Work It Out" for the film's soundtrack. "Work It Out" was a top ten hit in the UK and a top forty hit in the Netherlands, Australia, and Ireland, despite being Knowles' biggest commercial disappointment to date in the U.S., where radio stations barely played the song and the video received very minor exposure, playing only on digital video channels, MTV Jams, and VH1 Soul.

In 2003, Knowles starred opposite Cuba Gooding, Jr. in the film The Fighting Temptations, and recorded a song for it called "Fighting Temptation", alongside female rappers Missy Elliott, MC Lyte, and Free. Unlike Knowles' own singles, the song did not become a hit, although the film was a moderate success at the box office.

Knowles co-starred in the film The Pink Panther, playing the role of Xania, an international pop star, opposite Steve Martin, who plays Inspector Clouseau. The film was released on February 10, 2006, and was number one at the box office on its opening weekend. "Check on It", which was recorded for the film, became a huge success and gave Knowles her first number-one hit from a soundtrack. With Austin Powers in Goldmember and The Pink Panther, Knowles appeared in two films that opened at number one at the box office; the two films have grossed over $481,364,728 worldwide.

Knowles' latest film work is Dreamgirls, the film adaptation of the 1981 hit Broadway musical about a 1960s singing group loosely based on Motown all-female group The Supremes, as the Diana Ross-based character Deena Jones. The film received a limited release on December 15, 2006 and a wider release on December 25, 2006. On December 14, 2006, Knowles was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for the film Dreamgirls—"Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy" and "Best Original Song" for "Listen". The film opened at number three at the box office with an eight-million-dollar opening weekend. Knowles was quoted to say this was her first real acting film. Dreamgirls was nominated for eight 2007 Academy Awards—including "Best Original Song" for "Listen"—, of which it won two. The film has passed the $100 million dollar gross mark in the United States.

Controversy

Animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have criticized Knowles for wearing and using fur in her clothing line, House of Deréon. After winning an online eBay auction, offered by VH1 for the Save the Music Foundation, to dine with Knowles in June 2006, two PETA members confronted her at a restaurant in New York City because of their disapproval of her usage of fur. Knowles did not respond, and the PETA members were escorted out. PETA also wrote a letter of concern to Knowles about the treatment of baby alligators in a photoshoot for B'Day.

In July 2005, Minnesota-based singer Jennifer Armour filed a lawsuit after accusing that Knowles copied lines and hooks from the former's song "Got a Little Bit of Love for You" to use them in her 2003 hit single "Baby Boy". However, the case was dismissed in 2006 after a federal judge in Houston found a substantial dissimilarity between the two songs. On October 4, 2007, Armour's attorney Dana Kirk told a three-judge appellate panel that the case should be resurrected since a jury hearing was not conducted.

Discography

Main article: Beyoncé Knowles discography

Albums

• 2003: Dangerously in Love
• 2006: B'Day
• 2008: Third studio album

• 2004: http://bestuff.com/http://bestuff.com/http://bestuff.com/True Star: A Private Performance
• 2007: http://bestuff.com/http://bestuff.com/http://bestuff.com/Green Light: Freemasons EP
• 2007: Irreemplazable

• 2007
  • "The Showstopper" — People's annual "10 Best Dressed Stars"
  • "Most Favorite" Grammy Moment!!! (nominated) — My Night at the GRAMMYs
  • AskMen.com's "Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2007" (first place)

• House of Deréon — her clothing line, named after her maternal grandmother, is sold in most major U.S. department stores.
• Pepsi
• L'Oréal
• Wal-Mart — Christmas Celebration Sale of 2005 with Destiny's Child.
• Tommy Hilfiger fragrances
  • True Star (2004)
  • True Star Gold (2005)
• Emporio Armani fragrances
  • Diamonds (2007)
• Got Milk? campaign
• McDonald's (as part of the Destiny's Child farewell tour, Destiny Fulfilled ... And Lovin' It)
• Samantha Thavasa (Japan)
• Ford[39]
• Walt Disney Theme Parks — appeared in an advertisement dressed as Alice from Alice in Wonderland.
• Samsung
  • Ultra Music SGH-F300 cell phone
• B' Phone — Beyoncé Special Edition B'Phone is a limited edition handset and update to the popular UpStage. The B'Phone showcases a dual-sided design to optimize music capabilities with the look of an MP3 player on one side and a phone on the other.
• American Express — "Are You a Card Member?"
• DirecTV HD television