Beyoncé – Pretty Hurts

Beyoncé is an incredible dancer, producer, songwriter, singer, and multi-talented global superstar. The Houstonian became well-known as the lead singer for pop-R&B group Destiny’s Child in the late 1990s. In the decade that followed, she began her current run of number one solo studio albums with Dangerously in Love (2003), the album that gave rise to her first number one pop hit, the joyous “Crazy in Love.” Beyoncé’s popularity was elevated in the 2000s by nearly ubiquitous singles including the classy disdainful “Irreplaceable” (2006) and the upbeat “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” (2008), as well as by sold-out world tours and Grammy Awards. She was crowned female artist of the decade by Billboard and named top-selling artist by the RIAA with 64 gold and platinum awards. Throughout the 2010s, Beyoncé kept expanding her repertoire with her visual albums Lemonade (2016) and Beyoncé (2013). She also worked on the 2019 Lion King remake and the Jay-Z collaboration Everything Is Love (2018). The soundtrack for The Lion King: The Gift, which was executive produced by Beyoncé—who also wrote and directed the musical Black Is King (2020)—expanded the latter production. With Renaissance (2022), a global dancefloor celebration that ties together gospel, disco, house, bounce, and Afrobeats with references to ballroom culture, Beyoncé has since become the most honored artist in Grammy history. Beyoncé entered the country music scene with Cowboy Carter (2024), the second act in that series, who also dominated the pop, country, and folk charts.

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles was born in Houston and started performing when she was seven years old. She excelled in dance and vocals and won more than thirty local competitions. She formed an adolescent vocal ensemble with her cousin Kelly Rowland, peers LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson. Beyoncé’s father and Rowland’s legal guardian, Mathew Knowles, agreed to manage the girls and eventually left his full-time work to concentrate on their endeavors. In the end, this circumstance would give rise to Destiny’s Child, one of the most well-known female R&B groups ever.

Throughout the 1990s, Destiny’s Child grew in popularity. Before signing with Columbia in 1997, they endured multiple lineup changes after making their Star Search debut in 1992 (then going by the name Girls Tyme). Despite lawsuits from former members Roberson and Luckett, the group officially became the best-selling female group of all time after four studio albums. Hits like “Jumpin’ Jumpin’,” “Bills, Bills, Bills,” “Say My Name,” and “Survivor” helped the young ladies gain momentum. Beyoncé, Rowland, and Michelle Williams, who joined the trio as a substitute, gave themselves permission to leave in 2001 in order to pursue separate solo careers. Beyoncé became the first Black female artist and the second woman in history to receive the ASCAP Pop Songwriter of the Year Award before going on to snag other movie roles. She soon made an appearance in the MTV drama Carmen: A Hip Hopera, but her breakthrough performance as a Hollywood star came in 2002 when she played Foxxy Cleopatra in Austin Powers in Goldmember.

Achievement of Destiny
Her contribution to the soundtrack of the film, “Work It Out,” was a Top Ten hit in the United Kingdom but failed to chart in the United States. Dangerously in Love, Beyoncé’s full-length solo debut, released in 2003, achieved multi-platinum success. With collaborations from Jay-Z, Missy Elliott, Sean Paul, Big Boi of OutKast, and romantic partner Jay-Z, the album produced four Top Ten hits in total and won the singer five Grammys. The following year, Destiny’s Child reunited to record Destiny Fulfilled; after wrapping up the tour, the band released one last album, a greatest-hits collection called #1’s, and then broke up. Beyoncé focused entirely on her developing solo career. In September 2006, she published B’day, and three months later, she won an award for her portrayal in the Dreamgirls movie musical. After that, the singer started the Beyoncé Experience concert tour, and in November 2007, a live DVD was made available.

Cadillac Records
Beyoncé’s next year was even busier than the last, as she was cast as Etta James in Cadillac Records, a musical biography that chronicled the height of Chicago’s Chess label. In February 2008, filming got underway, with Beyoncé functioning as a co-executive producer. The singer’s third studio album, I Am…Sasha Fierce, was released one month before to the film’s December release. The two-disc set highlighted Beyoncé’s two unique personas and gave her the freedom to experiment with both contemporary music and classic R&B sounds. There were a few live releases after. I Am…Yours, a 2009 CD/DVD collection, was recorded live in August 2009 at the Wynn Las Vegas; I Am…World Tour (2010), recorded live at London’s much larger O2 Arena (a few months after the Vegas program), was released in separate audio and video formats. With 2011’s 4, which opened at the top of the Billboard 200, she followed eleven Grammy nominations. “Love on Top” went on to win a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance, while the lead single, “Run the World (Girls),” was one of her most upbeat and inspirational songs.

She didn’t slow down after giving birth to Blue Ivy Carter in January 2012. She was performing in Atlantic City in a matter of months, and she went on to attend President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams were with her as the main performers at the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show. After the HBO documentary Life Is But a Dream debuted in February 2013, Rowland, the Dream, and Jay-Z all made appearances on albums. Unofficial releases of previously unreleased material, including “Bow Down” and “Standing on the Sun,” occurred. Then, on December 13, Beyoncé dropped her self-titled visual album—a full-length studio recording that came with a music video for every song—without making any prior notice. Drake, Frank Ocean, novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (through a TED presentation excerpt), and her spouse and daughter all made cameo appearances. With help from producers and writers like Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Miguel, Hit-Boy, and others, Beyoncé co-wrote and co-produced most of the album’s songs. It debuted at number one and swiftly achieved platinum status in the United States, much like Beyoncé’s four prior solo albums. She and Jay-Z started the On the Run Tour, which traveled through June to September 2014 across the United States, Canada, and France, three months after she wrapped up the Mrs. Carter Show world tour. She received three Grammy Award nominations the following February, including Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance for “Drunk in Love.” She was nominated for six Grammy Awards overall. She didn’t release any new music in 2015, however she did co-write and feature on Naughty Boy’s Top Five U.K. pop song “Runnin’ (Lose It All),” and she sang backup vocals on Coldplay’s “Hymn for the Weekend.”

Her new song, “Formation,” and its scathing music video were released in February 2016, right before her half-time show at Super Bowl 50. Another visually stunning album, Lemonade, debuted on HBO that April and its audio was later made accessible for download and streaming. A few of the album’s direct and frank lyrics stoked rumors regarding Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s romantic situation. Among the co-producers were Just Blaze, Mike Dean, Diplo, and featured musicians Kendrick Lamar, Jack White, James Blake, and the Weeknd. Days later, the album earned her sixth consecutive number one studio album, and the Formation World Tour got underway. Following the conclusion of that six-month journey, Coachella revealed that Beyoncé would be the main attraction for the 2017 edition of the event. Though the birth of her twins ultimately forced the cancellation of that concert, she would triumphantly return to the desert stage a year later. Beyoncé, the first Black female headlining the festival, closed both Coachella weekends in 2018 with historic performances that celebrated Black culture and featured guest appearances by Jay-Z, Solange, and a reunited Destiny’s Child. She was supported by a bleacher pyramid and over two hundred backing artists.

A few months later, in June 2018, Beyoncé and Jay-Z launched Everything Is Love, a collaborative full-length album credited to the Carters, when they were in the middle of their co-headlining On the Run II tour. Pharrell Williams, Quavo, and Offset contributed to the first track “Apeshit,” which helped the album just miss the top place on the Billboard 200. On the Run II, which concluded at the end of the year, was the third-highest grossing tour of 2018.

Returning Home: The Live Recording
As expected, Beyoncé released the Grammy-winning Homecoming live album as a surprise in April 2019. The set included a cover of Maze’s “Before I Let Go” and captured her 2018 Coachella performance, matched with a film of the same name. Later that year, she co-curated The Lion King: The Gift soundtrack in addition to playing Nala in the photorealistic remake of The Lion King. A plethora of African musicians collaborated alongside artists such as Jay-Z, Pharrell Williams, Kendrick Lamar, Tierra Whack, and co-star Donald Glover on the album, which also featured her track “Spirit,” which went on to win nominations for both the Grammy and Oscar. In May 2020, Beyoncé made a comeback to the top of the Hot 100 chart when she was featured on Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage Remix.” Two months later, she was the director of her third visual album, Black Is King, a musical. At the next Grammy ceremony, she won four prizes: Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance (for “Savage”), Best R&B Performance (for the Juneteenth charity hit “Black Parade”), and Best Music Video (“Brown Skin Girl”). “Be Alive,” another soundtrack music, was released in May 2021 in conjunction with the tennis movie King Richard.

As the lead single from her seventh studio album, Beyoncé debuted “Break My Soul,” a house song co-written by Tricky Stewart and the-Dream from “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” in June 2022. Before Renaissance, the song’s parent release, arrived in late July, the single peaked at number 20 on the Hot 100. Renaissance, a colorful and fast-paced compilation partly influenced by Black and gay dance music from the post-1970s, debuted at number one and won Beyoncé four more Grammy Awards in the early months of 2023, making her the most honored artist in the history of the organization. After the successful Renaissance World Tour, Beyoncé released Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, a documentary concert film that she wrote, directed, and produced. “My House,” a brand-new song, was also released concurrently.

The next phase of Beyoncé’s career was unveiled in February 2024 during Super Bowl LVIII. It featured hits like “Texas Hold ‘Em,” which peaked at number one on the country chart, marking the first time a Black woman had achieved that feat, and “16 Carriages,” which is a song from the country-tinged second act of her album trilogy, which she dubbed Cowboy Carter. With the assistance of guests like Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Linda Martell, the broad 27-song compilation cemented her place in the genre, while newer Black country musicians such as Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, and Shaboozey represented the genre. Cowboy Carter made a deeply personal statement at number one on the pop, country, and folk charts about legacy, belonging, and reclamation.