Billboard Names Beyonce As 'Woman Of The Year'

Billboard names Beyonce as its 'Woman Of The Year' for its annual Women in Music event.

Past "Woman of the Year" honorees were Ciara and Reba McEntire.

Beyonce will be accepting her award at the Oct. 2 event in New York City. It's been yet another big year for the entertainer. She had the smash hit "Single Ladies," sang at President Obama's inauguration, had a No. 1 movie with "Obsessed" and embarked on an arena tour.


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Beyonce, Lady Gaga top MTV music award nominees

Pop stars Beyonce and Lady Gaga on Tuesday each earned nine nominations for next month's MTV Video Music Awards, more than any other artist, while Britney Spears continued her musical comeback with seven nods.

All three will compete for the honor of video of the year, with Beyonce earning a bid for "Single Ladies , Lady Gaga for "Poker Face" and Britney Spears for "Womanizer."

They square off against rappers Kanye West with "Love Lockdown" and Eminem for "We Made You" in the video of the year race. Honors will be given out at New York's Radio City Music Hall on September 13 in a show hosted by British prankster Russell Brand.


Beyonce has enjoyed a hugely successful solo career since leaving the all-female group "Destiny's Child." Her third solo album, "I Am ... Sasha Fierce," had the No. 1 hit "Single Ladies ."

"I've been blessed this year to have 'Single Ladies' become a video people really connected with and responded to," Beyonce said in a statement released by MTV.

The annual awards are one of the cable TV channel's most-watched programs, as much for the celebrity antics and performances as the awards themselves.

At the height of Spears' early career in 2003, she and Madonna famously kissed on the show. Later her personal life veered out of control and her father took control of her business affairs. But recently she has rebounded.

Spears is currently on tour and her video for the song "Circus" was nominated for best choreography.

New Yorker Lady Gaga's 2008 debut album, "The Fame," included the hit single "Just Dance" and was among the top five CDs in countries including the United States, Britain and Germany.

"Poker Face" earned Lady Gaga not only a video of the year nomination but also a nod for best female video, a category that pits her against Katy Perry with "Hot N Cold," Beyonce with "Single Ladies ," Kelly Clarkson with "My Life Would Suck Without You," Taylor Swift with "You Belong With Me" and Pink with "So What."

Lady Gaga thanked MTV "for being our video flagship, and for supporting this bunch of inspired kids, who love to get wasted and make art, together."

Eminem with his "Live Your Life" and Ne-Yo with "Miss Independent."

First-time nominees include U.S. rockers Kings of Leon as well as rappers Drake and Asher Roth. Both rappers were nominated in the best new artist category.

Other categories include best hip hop video, best pop video and best rock video.

Source: http://www.yahoo.com

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Beyonce Knowles Photos in FHM Magazine March 2009

She was the hot cover of FHM France March 2009 Issue.




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Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z

Since 2002, she has been in a relationship with rapper Jay-Z, with whom she has collaborated several times. Rumors began to circulate about their relationship after she was featured on "'03 Bonnie and Clyde". In spite of persistent rumors about their relationship, they remained discreet about it. In 2005, rumors began to spread about the marriage of the couple.She closed the speculation stating that she and Jay-Z were not even engaged. When asked again about the subject in September 2007, Jay-Z replied, "One day soon—let's leave it at that." Laura Schreffler, senior writer for OK! magazine, said, "They are intensely private people".

On April 4, 2008, she and Jay-Z were married in New York City. It became a matter of public record on April 22, 2008, but Knowles did not publicly debut her wedding ring until the Fashion Rocks concert on September 5, 2008 in New York City. She finally revealed their marriage during an opening montage video at the listening party for I Am... Sasha Fierce in Manhattan's Sony Club.

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Beyonce Knowles Products and Endorsements

She signed with Pepsi in 2002 for a promotional deal, which included appearances on TV commercials, as well as radio and Internet advertisements. She was included by the company as endorser to help accomplish wider demographic coverage. A 2004 Pepsi TV commercial in the theme of "Gladiators" featured Knowles and singers Britney Spears, Pink, and Enrique Iglesias, and the following year with Jennifer Lopez and David Beckham entitled "Samurai".

Her range of commercial deals and products also includes beauty care products and perfumes. She signed with cosmetics company L'Oréal in 2003, earning her about $1 million. She launched her own fragrance called True Star, a Tommy Hilfiger scent, in 2004. As part of her contributions to the product, she sang a cover version of "Wishing on a Star" for the True Star commercials, for which she earned $250,000. She also launched Hilfiger's True Star Gold in 2005 and Emporio Armani's Diamonds in 2007. Forbes magazine reported that she earned $80 million between June 2007 and June 2008, combined with her album, tour, fashion business, and promotional deals. It made her the world's second best-paid music personality for this span of time. In the period from June 2008 through June 2009, Beyoncé earned $87 million according to Forbes, putting her in fourth place on the 2009 Forbes Celebrity 100 list.

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Beyonce Knowles Career Development as Solo Performer

In 2000, she signed a three-album deal with Columbia Records. While she was with Destiny's Child, she made solo appearances. She made a duet with label mate Marc Nelson on the song "After All Is Said and Done" for the soundtrack to the 1999 film The Best Man, and featured on the 2000 single "I Got That" by rapper Amil. In early 2001, while Destiny's Child was completing Survivor, she landed a major role in the MTV made-for-television film, Carmen: A Hip Hopera, starring alongside American actor Mekhi Phifer. Set in Philadelphia, the film is a modern interpretation of the 19th century opera Carmen by French composer Georges Bizet.

In 2002, she co-starred in the comedy film Austin Powers in Goldmember, playing Foxxy Cleopatra opposite Mike Myers. She recorded her first solo single, "Work It Out", for the film's soundtrack. The following year, Knowles starred opposite Cuba Gooding, Jr. in the romantic comedy film The Fighting Temptations, and recorded "Fighting Temptation", alongside female rappers Missy Elliott, MC Lyte, and Free for its soundtrack.

That same year, she was featured on her then-boyfriend Jay-Z's hit single "'03 Bonnie & Clyde". She also recorded a version of 50 Cent's "In Da Club" and released it in March 2003. Luther Vandross and her remade the duet "The Closer I Get to You", which was originally recorded by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway in 1977. Their version won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals the following year, and Vandross' "Dance with My Father", which also features her, won for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.

In 2003, she released her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love. Featuring many musical collaborators, the album contains a combination of uptempo and slow jam songs. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at number one, selling 317,000 copies in its first week. Certified 4x platinum on August 5, 2004 by the Recording Industry Association of America, the album has sold 4.2 million copies to date in the United States.

She won five awards at the 2004 Grammy Awards for her solo effort, which included the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Dangerously in Love 2", Best R&B Song for "Crazy in Love", and the Best Contemporary R&B Album. She shares this distinction with four other female artists: Lauryn Hill (1999), Alicia Keys (2002) Norah Jones (2003) and Amy Winehouse (2008).

In 2004, she won a BRIT Award for International Female Solo Artist. At the same year, she planned to release a follow-up to Dangerously in Love, which would feature some of the left-over recordings. However, her musical aspirations were put on hiatus due to conflicting schedules, including her recording with Destiny's Child for what would be their final album. Early in that year, she performed the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl XXXVIII at Reliant Stadium in Houston; she admitted it fulfilled a childhood dream. After a three-year journey that involved concentration on individual solo projects, she rejoined Rowland and Williams for Destiny Fulfilled, released in November 2004.

In 2005, they released a compilation album, entitled #1's, including all of Destiny's Child's number-one hits and most of their well-known songs. The greatest hits collection also includes three new tracks, including "Stand Up for Love". Destiny's Child was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in March 2006. In late 2005, she again put her second album on hold after she landed a role in Dreamgirls, the film adaptation of the 1981 hit Broadway musical about a 1960s singing group loosely based on Motown all-female group The Supremes. In the film, she portrays the Diana Ross-based character Deena Jones.

In 2006 and 2007, she was starring in the film The Pink Panther, playing the role of Xania, an international pop star, opposite Steve Martin, who plays Inspector Clouseau. The film was released on February 10, 2006, and debuted at number one at the box office, doing $21.7 million in ticket sales in its first week. She recorded "Check on It" for the soundtrack to the film, featuring Slim Thug, and reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100. She co-wrote and co-produced nearly all songs included in the album, which was completed in three weeks.B'Day was released worldwide on September 4, 2006 and on September 5, 2006 in the United States to coincide with the celebration of her twenty-fifth birthday. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling more than 541,000 copies in the first week, her highest first-week sales mark as a solo artist.

In 2008 up to the present, she released her third studio album, I Am… Sasha Fierce, on November 18, 2008. she says that the name Sasha Fierce is the name of the persona she adopts when she performs onstage. She won the Outstanding Female Artist at the 2009 NAACP Image Awards. She performed on January 18, 2009 at the Lincoln Memorial festivities in honor of the inauguration of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States. Knowles also sang her cover of the R&B classic most famously sang by Etta James, "At Last", as President Obama and his wife Michelle had their first dance as President and First lady of America, on January 20, 2009 at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball.



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Beyonce Knowles as Member of Destiny's Child

Destiny's Child was an R&B girl group in which she was the lead singer alongside with Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. They achieved four major studio albums and four US number-one singles, and sold over 50 million records worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling recording artists in the U.S. According to the World Music Awards, they are the world's best-selling female group of all time. Billboard magazine ranks the group as one of the greatest musical trios of all time, and inducted the group in 2008 into the All time Hot 100 Artist.

Formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas, Destiny's Child members began their musical endeavors in their pre-teens under the name Girls' Tyme, comprising Beyonce, Rowland, LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett. After years of performing underground, they signed to Columbia Records and changed their name. Destiny's Child was launched into mainstream recognition following the release of their best-selling second album, The Writing's on the Wall, which contained the number-one singles "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "Say My Name". Despite critical and commercial success, the group was plagued by internal conflict and legal turmoil, as Roberson and Luckett attempted to split off the group's manager Matthew Knowles. They were soon replaced with Williams and Farrah Franklin; however, in 2000, Franklin also parted with the group, and they continued as a trio.

Their third album, Survivor, which contains themes the public interpreted as a channel to the group's experience, contains the worldwide hits "Independent Women", "Survivor" and "Bootylicious". In 2002, Destiny's Child announced a hiatus, allowing its members to attain individual success. They re-united with 2004's Destiny Fulfilled, and a year later during their world tour, announced that the group would disband and its members would pursue solo careers.

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Career Beginnings of Beyonce Knowles

At the age of eight, she met LaTavia Roberson while in an audition for a girl group. Along with her friend Kelly Rowland, were placed into a group that performed rapping and dancing. Originally named Girl's Tyme, they were eventually cut down to six members. With her and Rowland, Girl's Tyme attracted audience nationally. West coast R&B producer, Arne Frager, flew into Houston to see them. He eventually brought them to his studio - The Plant Recording Studios - in Northern California, with her vocals being featured because Frager thought she had personality and the ability to sing. As part of efforts to sign Girl's Tyme to a major label record deal, Frager's strategy was to debut them in Star Search, the biggest talent show on national TV that time. Girl's Tyme participated in the competition but lost it because the song they performed was not good, she herself admitted. She had her first "professional setback" after that defeat, but regained confidence after learning that pop stars Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake had also the same experience.

To manage the group, her father (who was at that time a medical-equipment salesman) resigned in 1995 from his job. He dedicated his time and established a "boot camp" for their training. The move reduced her family's income by half and her parents separated because of the pressure. Not long after the inclusion of Rowland, Mathew cut the original lineup to four, with LeToya Luckett joining in 1993. Rehearsing in Tina's Headliners Salon and their backyards, the group continued performing as an opening act for other established R&B girl groups of the time; Tina contributed to the cause by designing their costumes, which she continued to do throughout the Destiny's Child era. With the continued support of Mathew, they auditioned before record labels and were finally signed to Elektra Records, only to be dropped months later before they could release an album.

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Beyonce Knowles Profile

She was born on September 4, 1981 in Houston, Texas. Best known mononymously as Beyoncé, is an American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and model.

The daughter of Mathew Knowles, a successful record manager, and Tina Beyincé, a costume designer and hair stylist. Her father is African American and her mother is of Creole (African American, Native American, and French) descent. She was baptized after her mother's maiden name, as a tribute to her mother and to prevent the name from becoming obsolete, since only a few of the Beyincé males carry the name. Her maternal grandparents, Lumis Albert Beyincé and Agnéz Deréon, were French-speaking Louisiana Creoles. She is the elder sister of Solange, a singer-songwriter and actress.

She was schooled at St. Mary's Elementary School in Texas, where she enrolled in dance classes, including ballet and jazz. Her talent in singing was discovered when her dance instructor began humming a song and she finished it, hitting the high-pitched notes. Although a shy girl, as her mother considered her, her interest in music and performing began unexpectedly after participating in a school talent show. Once she had a moment on the stage, she overcame her shyness and wanted to become a singer and performer. By age seven, she had entered her first talent show, singing John Lennon's "Imagine". She won the contest and was honored with a standing ovation. At the same age, she started gaining attention from the press, having mentioned in Houston Chronicle as a nominee for the local performing arts award The Sammy.

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