Beyonce Giselle Knowles (born September 4, 1981 in Houston, Texas, USA) is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She performs under the stage name Beyoncé.

Knowles rose to stardom in the late 1990s as a founding member and the lead singer of Destiny's Child. After a series of commercially successful records with the group, she released her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love (2003), which spawned her biggest song Crazy in Love and topped both the R&B and Billboard 200 charts in the U.S. and the main album charts in Canada and the United Kingdom.

Knowles released her second solo album B'Day on September 4, 2006 around the world and September 5, 2006 in the United States, coinciding the event with the celebration of her 25th birthday. The release spawned the UK #1 singles Deja Vu and Beautiful Liar, and the worldwide hit Irreplaceable, with the latter remaining at the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for ten consecutive weeks, making it the second best-selling single in her solo career after "Crazy in Love".

A special 2-CD re-release of the album - B’Day (deluxe edition) - was released April 3, 2007, with new Spanish tracks such as Beautiful Liar (Bello Embustero) featuring Shakira, and Irreplaceable (Irreemplazable), which reached the #4 spot on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart.

To promote B'Day, Knowles embarked on her lengthy The Beyoncé Experience concert tour, visiting over 90 venues worldwide including stops in Japan, Australia, and the US. She began the tour in Japan on April 10, 2007 and concluded it on December 30, 2007 in Las Vegas.

Knowles' third solo album titled I Am...Sasha Fierce was released on November 18, 2008. The first single from the album, If I Were a Boy, reached #1 in eight charts, including the UK. It reached #3 in the US. The second single, Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), climbed to the top of the charts in the Billboard Hot 100. Rolling Stone also named it as #1 Single of the Year for 2008. In late December 2008, Knowles released the next two videos from I Am... Sasha Fierce, Diva and Halo, with a worldwide premiere on iTunes. They are expected to be released to purchase in January 2009.

Knowles will kick off a worldwide tour in April 2009 to support I Am...Sasha Fierce. The tour, entitled "Beyoncé's I Am... Tour", will have 110 dates, currently only 26 have been confirmed, all in Europe.

Knowles has won nine Grammy Awards - six for her solo work, and three as a member of Destiny's Child. In 2004, she also won a BRIT Award for International Female Solo Artist. She has a successful film career and co-starred with Austin Powers in Goldmember, one of the highest-grossing films of 2002. More recently, she starred in the 2006 comedy film The Pink Panther and in that same year scored the main role in the film adaptation of the 1981 Broadway musical Dreamgirls, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination.

Knowles has been with boyfriend Jay-Z since 2002, though they maintain a discreet relationship. After much speculation, they married on April 4, 2008.

Official websites:
www.beyonce.com
www.beyonceonline.com (Columbia Records)