Beyonce Knowles

Beyonce Giselle Knowles was born in the city of Houston in the state of Texas on the 4th September 1981. She is 1.70 metres tall, or just over 5 feet six inches if you prefer. In any case, she's gorgeous! Let me tell you a little more about this singing, and now acting, sensation.

From as early as age 7 Beyonce has been performing. She attended dance school and sang in her local church choir and she went to a lot of singing and dancing competitions, most of which she won!

A few years later she started a singing group with her best friend Kelly Rowlands and two other girls, LaTavia and LeToya. Their name was Girl's Tyme. They decided to enter a TV talent contest called Star Search, but unfortunately they didn't win. However, they did have a lot of talent and so Beyonce's father decided to give up his job and concentrate on looking after the girls and helping them to become stars. By the way, other singers who didn't win the same talent contest include Christina Aguilera, Alanis Morissette, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake!

After a lot of hard work (and a change of name to Destiny's Child) the group signed a deal in 1996 with Columbia Records to make an album. This album became a huge success in 1998, although LeToya and LeTavia left the group and Michelle Williams joined to make Destiny's Child a trio. The girls had a Number One hit from this album.

The second album was released in 1999 and was called The Writing's on the Wall. The group had two Number One hits from this album. So far it has sold 13 million copies and the song Say My Name won two Grammy awards. The next album was called Survivor, released in 2001. This also had 2 Number One hits and also features the theme song for the film Charlie's Angels.

It was around this time that the girls also decided to follow solo projects. Beyonce sang with rapper Jay-Z, legendary soul singer Luther Vandross and eventually released her first solo album in 2003, called Dangerously in Love. Since then she has become one of the best selling solo artists in America and worldwide. She has won many Grammy awards and sells out her tours and shows in no time at all.

Not only that, but she acts too. Her debut was in 2002 in the comedy film Austin Powers. Another notable film was The Pink Panther with Steve Martin. In 2006 she made the musical film, Dreamgirls and was nominated for 2 Golden Globes.

The girls came back together in 2004 to make a fourth album called Destiny Fulfilled. They then went on a world tour and played concerts in 70 cities!

I wonder where the future of this beautiful, talented woman lies - with acting or singing? Hopefully both! I could watch and listen to her all day.