Beyoncé has been at the very top of her game in recent years. Every time we think she’s reached her highest peak, she proves she can go higher, brighter, and even bigger. Today, we all know Beyoncé as one of the most prolific and loved entertainers of her time. But who was Beyoncé before she could drop surprise albums and stop the world? Here’s a peek at her journey to superstardom:
1) 1981
Born in 1981 in Houston, Texas, Beyoncé began performing at a young age- singing in school talent shows (where she apparently beat out 16 and 17 year olds when she was only seven!) and as a soloist in her church choir in high school. Beyoncé traces her musical inspirations to Michael Jackson and the first time she ever saw him perform when she was only five years old.
2) 1993
When Beyoncé was 12, her, Kelly Rowland, LaTavia Roberson and three other girls formed an all-girls group called Girl’s Tyme. They found their way onto a popular talent search show at the time, Star Search, and competed on national television. Despite their best efforts, Girl’s Tyme lost to a band called Skeleton Crew, a formative moment in Beyonce’s life that she never forgot. A decade later, she explained how the loss affected her outlook on success: “At that time, you don’t realize you could work super hard and give everything you have – and lose.” Her 2013 track, “***Flawless”, celebrates her success and growth as an artist and is bookended by sound bites from the show.
3) 1997-2005
Girl’s Tyme was cut to four members and became Destiny’s Child in 1997. Throughout the years the group would experience internal strife and see members like LaTavia Roberson, LeToya Luckett, and Farrah Franklin leave the group. What remained was the most famous and most recognized line-up of Beyonce, Michelle Williams, and Kelly Rowland. They released their first self-titled album in 1998 and got their first hit, “No, No, No,” which marked the beginning of their success. In 1999, their second album “The Writing’s on the Wall,” saw songs like “Say My Name” and “Jumpin, Jumpin” reach number one, Destiny’s Child received their first Grammy. They sold 60 million records worldwide in total until they officially disbanded in 2005 after pursuing solo careers.
Two years before Destiny’s Child’s disbandment, Beyonce released her first solo album, Dangerously in Love, and garnered five number-one hit songs and five Grammy nominations because of the album’s success. She also debuted as an actress in Dreamgirls alongside Jennifer Hudson.
4) 2005-2010
Beyonce’s success snowballed into superstardom with every album and hit song. She married Jay-Z in 2008 after years of dating rumors and went full throttle into her music career. All five of her albums, Dangerously in Love, B’Day, I Am…Sasha Fierce, 4, and Beyoncé have debuted at number one, making her the first female artist to have her first five albums reach number one spots consecutively. In the 2000s she became the female artist with the most top-ten hits, among them “Crazy in Love,” “Irreplaceable,” “Single Ladies,” “Run the World (Girls),” “Diva,” and “Halo.” Her 2013 Super Bowl performance (which was rumored to have caused a blackout in the stadium) became the second-most tweeted about event in history and is widely considered one of the best Super Bowl performances of all time. Beyoncé also set a new record when she won six Grammys in one night in 2010.
5) 2011-2015
Beyoncé shocked her fans and the world in 2011 when she announced at the MTV Video Music Awards that she was pregnant with her first daughter, Blue Ivy Carter. After Blue was born in January of 2012, Beyoncé laid low for a bit to spend time with her child and find her footing as a new mother. This is one of the reasons Beyoncé rocked the world in December of 2013 with the surprise release of her fifth and self-titled album on iTunes. Despite a lack of advertisements, announcements, or any general hint that she was going to release an album at all, Beyoncé saw sales of more than one million copies worldwide in only six days. Armed with a different, edgier sound that explores darker aspects of motherhood, relationships, and fame, the album set off yet another era of innovation and extreme fame. After the release of Beyoncé, she carefully approached the label of “feminist,” making her voice loud and clear in her fifth album and fully backed “the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.” The extent of her album’s success and influence was such that Kanye almost interrupted someone again when her album, nominated for Album of the Year, lost to Beck’s album in 2014.
6) 2016
The day before 2016’s Super Bowl, Beyoncé released an unannounced new single, “Formation”, on the music service TIDAL, which is endorsed by her husband Jay-Z. The YouTube music video currently has 28 million views, and the next day Beyoncé performed the song live alongside Coldplay and Bruno Mars in the Super Bowl halftime show. Seconds after the show concluded, she announced her new worldwide tour, The Formation World Tour, and anticipation for her sixth album has her dedicated Bey Hive in a frenzy.
Beyonce’s rise to the top wasn’t clean or clear-cut, but her resilience, talent and unending energy has taken her where almost no celebrity has gone before. At only 34, she is a legend among legends. Wherever she goes from here, we will follow.