In this post, you’ll find the ultimate list of interesting facts about Beyoncé Knowles, a world-famous American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer.
Did you know all of these?
1. What is Beyoncé’s real name?
Beyoncé was born as Beyoncé Giselle Knowles. However, since her marriage with equally famous rapper Jay-Z, her name is Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter.
2. Where was Beyoncé born?
Beyoncé was born and raised in Houston, Texas on September 4, 1981. She is named after her mother’s maiden name which is “Beyincé.”
3. What are Beyonce’s astrological signs?
Beyoncé’s sun sign is in Virgo, Her moon is in Scorpio and her ascendant is in Libra.
4. Who are Beyoncé’s parents?
Beyoncé’s mother is Celestine “Tina” Knowles (maiden name: Beyincé), a hairdresser and salon owner. She is of African, Native American, and French descent. Her father’s name is Mathew Knowles, a Xerox sales manager who is African American.
5. Beyoné’s mother has a famous ancestor.
One of the ancestors of Beyoncé’s mother was a leader of the Acadian people named Joseph Broussard. The Acadians lived in “New France” in Eastern Northern America what is now called “Nova Scotia” and parts of “Quebec” in the 18th century. They eventually moved from that area to Louisiana.
6. When did Beyoncé start singing?
Beyoncé has an undeniable talent for singing, and this manifested from early on. at age 7, she was a soloist in her church’s choir and she participated in multiple singing contests as a child.
7. She got teased as a kid.
In grade school, kids were pretty mean to her as she was teased about her ears. She can rationalize this today though as she jokingly claims herself that they were actually bigger than her head.
8. Beyoncé has a famous younger sister
With Beyoncé being such a superstar, you would almost forget that she has a pretty famous sister as well. Her sister’s name is Solange and she’s also a singer. An interesting fact about Beyoncé’s sister is that they both had number 1 albums.
9. Beyoncé and her sister hold a record.
Beyoncé’s sister’s full name is Solange Piaget Knowles and she and her famous older sister hold a nice record. As they both had number 1 albums, they are the first sisters to ever achieve this.
10. Who discovered Beyoncé’s singing talent?
It appears that Beyoncé was a very shy girl. She was taking dancing classes as a little girl and when her dancing teacher named Darlette Johnson sung a song (pretty bad), Beyoncé suddenly started finishing it, singing a really high note. Much to the surprise of her dancing teacher who was instantly impressed and most probably the first non-family member to hear Beyoncé’s angelic voice.
11. Beyoncé won her first singing contest at age 7.
She won a singing contest competing with 15 and 16-year-olds when she was just 7 years old. The song she sang during the competition? “Imagine” by John Lennon.
12. Beyoncé was in a group named “Girl’s Tyme.”
She and her best friend Kelly Rowland met LaTavia Roberson when they were just 8 years old. Together they formed a group named Girl’s Tyme and went on to compete in multiple talent shows.
13. Beyoncé’s father managed the group.
But that didn’t go too well initially. he actually quit his job to manage the group full-time. This caused some financial problems which forced her parents to move into separate apartments.
14. The group had some other names.
Beyoncé got her big breakthrough when her group Destiny’s Child achieved massive successes. But before that, the group was also called Girl’s Tyme, the Dolls, and Cliché.
15. How was the group’s name chosen?
Beyoncé’s family are devout Christians. They were going through the Book of Isaiah when trying to figure out a new name for the group. Suddenly a page with the name “Destiny” popped up. They saw it as a sign, and when they found out “Destiny” was taken her mother came up with the name “Destiny’s Child.”
16. The group was a serious business.
There weren’t any handouts when it came to claiming a spot in the group. Apparently, LaTavia Roberson, who was with the group since she was 8 years old, didn’t like the way Matthew managed the group. She was fired from the group shortly after.
17. More members were kicked out.
The same faith awaited Farrah Franklin. She claimed to have been sick with flu which caused her to miss a couple of important performances. She was kicked out by Matthew Subsequently. This left the group with just Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams.
18. Beyoncé got depressed during her Destiny’s Child Years.
Because of the frequent changes in the group’s members and dubious decisions like the firing of Farrah Franklin and LaTavia Roberson, the media was jumping on this trying to blame people. Beyoncé felt as if she was targeted and suffered from a depression that lasted a couple of years.
19. Who helped her get through?
There’s just one person who was able to make her feel better, and that was her mother.
20. Beyoncé holds a pretty astounding record.
She is the first female artist of which her first 6 studio albums held a number one position.
21. What’s Beyoncé Favorite TV-show?
While enjoying a relaxing afternoon on the couch, she enjoys watching Jersey Shore the most.
22. Beyoncé became an actress as well.
She made her film debut playing Foxxy Cleopatra alongside Mike Myers in the comedy film “Austin Powers in Goldmember.” The movie came out in 2002 and grossed almost USD 300 worldwide.
23. Destiny’s Child went solo.
By 2003, all 3 remaining members of Destiny’s Child were making music as solo artists and their first albums came out that same year.
24. Who is Beyoncé’s favorite singer?
She absolutely loves Stevie Wonder! Back in 2015, she did an amazing Stevie Wonder tribute together with Ed Sheeran and Gary Clark Jr.
25. How much did she earn on her first tour?
In her very first solo tour in 2007 called “The Beyonce Experience,” she visited 97 venues and earned a gross revenue of USD 24 million!
26. Could her second tour do any better?
To reverse the words of Will Smith’s famous line, “Aww Hell Yes!” Her 2009 “I Am… World Tour” grossed almost $120 million! Let’s assume the first shows were such a huge success that just about everybody wanted to see the second one.
27. The last Destiny’s Child album had a great name.
It was called “Destiny Fulfilled” and came out in 2004. The group permanently broke up the year after.
28. Beyoncé only had one boyfriend.
Before she got married to Jay-Z, Beyoncé only had one boyfriend in her entire life. His name is Lyndall Locke and she was just 13 when she became his girlfriend. Unfortunately for him, he cheated on her and they broke up when she was 17, something he clearly regrets now (and who wouldn’t!)
29. She was embarrassed by her rap skills.
Beyoncé rapped the first verse of the song “Partition” without even writing it down and actually was a little embarrassed afterward. Why? Because she feared her mother would be mad at her because of it!
30. What word did Beyoncé invent?
Yes, that’s right, she actually invented a word that got added to the “Oxford English Dictionary.” So what’s that world? “bootylicious,” an adjective which officially means “a sexually attractive woman.”
31. Beyoncé has an alter ego.
Beyoncé created an alter ego who she named “Sasha Fierce.” She claims that Sahsa Fierce was conceived during the making of her single “Crazy in Love” in 2003.
32. Why did she create an alter ego?
Ever noticed how sexy and seductive she is on stage? She claims to be the total opposite in real life and therefore created an alter ego that represents the person she is while performing on stage.
33. When did Beyoncé meet Jay-Z?
It’s believed that their first meeting was on the set of the “03 Bonnie And Clyde” single they recorded in 2003. Remarkably, this was actually Beyoncés first top 10 hits outside of Destiny”s Child.
34. When did Beyoncé get married?
She married fellow superstar Jay-Z on April 4, 2008. The wedding was attended by mother Tina Knowles, her father/manager Mathew, her sister Solange, her Destiny’s Child pals Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, and the couple’s friend Gwyneth Paltrow.
35. Beyoncé was an entrepreneur as a child.
She definitely had an eye for business as a child. Whenever she would perform in the house, she would charge her family and friends $5 to watch her sing.
36. But she is extremely generous as well.
In 2008 she played the role of “Etta James” in the biographical drama film “Cadillac Records.” She actually donated the entire salary she earned for her performance to the “Phoenix House” which is an organization that manages rehabilitation centers for heroin addicts.
37. She has a star in Hollywood.
Since 2006, Beyoncé’s former group Destiny’s Child has been a permanent star on the Hollywood walk of fame.
38. Tragedy struck her in 2010.
Beyoncé suffered a miscarriage around this period and refers to it as the saddest thing she ever experienced.
39. This was followed by a moment of intense joy.
On January 7, 2012, Beyoncé gave birth to a daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
40. The announcement of her pregnancy went viral.
In August of 2011, Beyoncé and Jay-Z attended the MTV video music awards. She actually performed “Love on Top” and made the announcement right after. It became one of the most-watched MTV broadcast in history pulling in 12.4 million viewers.
But not just that, it achieved an official Guinness World Record for “most tweets during a single event per second.” So what’s the record? 8,868 tweets per second!
41. Beyoncé loves to paint.
Since she was 17 years old, Beyoncé has loved to paint. She especially loves the paintings of Vincent van Gogh, the famous Dutch painter. She even tries to copy his style, but still needs a lot of practice. Let’s just see this as a hobby Bey, singing is your talent!
42. What was one of Beyonce’s most amazing experiences?
Beyoncé once visited the Vatican Museum and the final monument on the tour is the Sistine Chapel. This chapel’s ceiling is covered with amazing paintings by world-famous painter Michaelangelo. She described it as “one of the most amazing experiences she ever had.”
43. Beyonce is the mother of twins
On June 13, 2017, she gave birth to twins and the names are Rumi and Sir Carter. Remarkably, the pregnancy announcement was the most liked picture ever posted on Instagram, the first picture of her and her twins the second most liked on the social network at that time.
44. She performed for the Obamas, twice.
Her first performance was during the presidential inauguration in 2009 singing “America the Beautiful” and “At Last” during the inauguration ball two days later. The second time was yet again during the inauguration of Barack Obama in 2013 when she performed the American National anthem.
45. Beyoncé made history at Glastonbury.
She was the first female artist to make the headline of the UK’s most popular music festival in over 20 years. It was an amazing show, that’s for sure.
46. What is Beyoncé’s favorite number?
She has a special relationship with the number 4, so that’s her favorite number. Her own birthday is on September 4, her mother’s birthday is on January 4, and her husband’s birthday is on December 4. Finally, one of the most important days in her life, her wedding day, was on April 4.
47. She loves playing cards.
She plays card games online and interacts with everybody. It must be so much fun to be anonymous as nobody she plays with knows they are playing with one of the most famous singers of all time!
48. This was a pretty awkward moment.
Early on in her career, she had a pretty awkward moment during a photoshoot with photographer David LaChapelle. Surely he liked the idea of taking pictures of Beyoncé naked covered in honey, Beyoncé however didn’t and stormed off the set. Who can blame her?
49. What is Beyoncé favorite time?
She loves touring. On the day of the show, she has the entire day off so she can do whatever she wants. Sleeping long, watching cartoons, visiting museums and other amazing places, everything goes!
50. Being famous isn’t always that great.
So you’re a multi-millionaire, loved by millions of people around the world, ultra-talented, and married with kids. What more can you expect from life right? Well, being anonymous!
If she had the chance not to be recognized by just about everything she comes across, she would walk around the Times Square area in New York, something she simply isn’t able to do because of her fame.
51. She once threw away $250,000.
So you were earrings worth $250,000 and you just throw them away as if it’s a piece of garbage. That’s exactly what happened to Beyoncé during a VH1 Divas performance in 2004. She was pretty devastated when she realized it later on. The person that found them? Not so much…
52. She had a great idea for a certain video.
Remember the video of the song “Me, Myself and I” and how it plays backward? That was actually Beyoncé’s idea! Just to refresh your mind, here it is:
53. Beyoncé is a super professional.
You can’t become an absolute superstar if you aren’t dedicated to your work. When she’s on tour, she does have a job in the daytime. She watches her last performance, sees what can be improved, and have notes delivered to her entire team with advice for the next show. That’s how you win!
54. What’s Beyoncé’s favorite actor?
She probably likes “Forest Gump” as her favorite actor is Tom Hanks.
55. So this is the guy protecting her?
Beyoncé gets out of a car and is surrounded by an excited crowd. The guy trying to protect her from the masses, one of her bodyguards named Shortie, accidentally steps on her toe and breaks it. Quite ironic isn’t it?
56. She does a lot of good things.
Trying to make the world a better place is the thing to do if you’re in the position to do so. In 2010, she opened the Beyoncé Cosmetology Center at the Phoenix House in Brooklyn, New York. This allows men and women who suffer from addiction to learn cosmetology in a 7-month course.
57. Beyoncé and the Grammys.
The Grammys surely love Beyoncé. She is the most grammy-nominated female artist in history and holds the record for winning 6 Grammys in one night.
58. That’s how you get back at Target.
Target, one of the largest retailers in the United States, refused to put Beyoncé’s self-titled album on their shelves because she promised a week-long exclusivity to iTunes. So what did she do?
She went to a Walmart in Massachusetts (one of Target’s biggest competitors) and gave away $50 gift cards to everybody in the store as a free promo stunt.
59. Beyoncé’s daughter holds a remarkable record.
Blue Ivy was actually on one of the songs Jay-Z was recording named “Glory.” She was just a few days old at the moment. The song appeared on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Billboard chart. That makes Blue Ivy the youngest person in history to achieve that! Is this a sign of the future?
60. What’s Beyoncés favorite food?
She loves pizza and Sunday is her pizza day. It’s doubtful she indulges in pizza every Sunday though.
61. Here you can see Beyoncé today!
Want to see Beyoncé today? You can! She has wax sculptures that are exactly her size in Madame Tussauds Museums all around the world. The cities you can see her statue include New York, Orlando, Washington D.C., Amsterdam, Bangkok, Hollywood, and Sydney.
