Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter (born September 4, 1981) is an American R&B singer and actress. Beyoncé became known as the lead member of Destiny's Child, the best-selling girl group in history.
After a series of successes with Destiny's Child, Knowles released her first solo album, Dangerously In Love, in 2003. The album became one of the biggest commercial successes of the year, topping charts worldwide. It includes some of Beyoncé's most successful songs: "Crazy in Love", "Naughty Girl", and "Baby Boy", earning her five Grammy Awards in a single night in 2004.
Her second album was released on September 4, 2006, the day she turned 25. "Déjà Vu", the album's first single, reached number one on the UK charts, while "Irreplaceable" stayed at the top of the US charts for ten weeks. With this album, Beyoncé won her seventh solo Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album. B'Day was re-released on April 3, 2007, as a deluxe edition including all tracks from the original album, the duet with Shakira, "Beautiful Liar", additional previously unreleased songs, and several tracks in Spanish. Together with Destiny's Child, she has sold over 150 million records worldwide.
Beyoncé has been in a romantic relationship with American rapper Jay-Z since 2002. After much speculation in the media, the couple married on April 4, 2008.
