BEYONCE

American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and mode, Beyoncé Knowles was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and first emerged as a highly talented singer and dancer as a child – before rising to fame as one-third of R&B trio Destiny’s Child. 

In 2003, Knowles took a  break out from Destiny’s Child to release Dangerously In Love, a debut which became one of the most successful albums of that year, peaking at number one in the UK chart. Destiny’s Child became no more in 2005 and Knowles forged ahead with a career which had begun to branch out into acting and modelling too. Her second solo album B’Day followed in 2006, with her third I Am… Sasha Fierce released in 2008. 

Knowles’ transition from pop diva to fully fledged creative legend was firmly cemented when she won 10 Grammy Awards nominations, resulting in six outright wins in January 2010 – a new high for most Grammies awards won by a female artist in one night; she previously held the record of five awards with 5 other artists.