Beyoncé’s dazzling story in 20 facts: Always aiming for the top

Beyoncé turned 45 this week, and her second solo album, B’Day, reached its 20th anniversary. Released on Sept. 4, 2006, her 25th birthday, the album sold more than 541,000 copies in its first week. A special edition now marks the milestone.

Born Beyoncé Giselle Knowles in Houston, Texas, on Sept. 4, 1981, she was described by her mother, Tina Knowles, as a very shy child. A dance class at age seven changed the course of her life and her family’s. Her mother later designed costumes for Destiny’s Child and founded the House of Deréon fashion brand with her daughter, while her father, Mathew Knowles, managed her career for a time.

Her name comes from Tina Knowles’s maiden name, Beyincé. The number four also holds a special place in the family: Beyoncé was born on Sept. 4, Jay-Z on Dec. 4, and the couple married on April 4. Both wear “IV” tattoos on their ring fingers. A short recording of Jay-Z’s grandmother, Hattie White, appears at the end of Beyoncé’s song “Freedom” on the album Lemonade.

Beyoncé was nine when she joined Girl’s Tyme, a six-member rap and dance group formed in Texas in 1990. The group continued despite changes to its lineup and became Destiny’s Child in 1996. Destiny’s Child released its first studio album in 1998, and “No, No, No” became its first major international hit. The group broke up in 2005, but Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams have continued to appear together, including during the final night of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour.

Beyoncé began her solo career with Dangerously in Love in 2003, followed by the hit “Crazy in Love.” After winning her first three Grammys with Destiny’s Child, she took five awards as a solo artist at the 46th Grammy Awards. The article identifies her as the most awarded and nominated artist in Grammy history, with 99 nominations and 35 wins.