On September 4, 1981, Mathew and Tina Knowles brought a daughter into this world; and little did they know that she would be famous worldwide in the years to come. Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter is a singer and actress from Houston, Texas. Her unique name comes from her mother's maiden name, Beyincé. Alongside Beyoncé is her younger sister Solange, who is also a singer and actress. In 2008, she married long-time friend, Shawn Carter; more widely known by his stage name, Jay-Z. A few years later at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, after finishing her performance of her single "Love On Top", Beyonce dropped the microphone and unbuttoned her jacket to reveal her baby bump- officially announcing that the Carter's were expecting their first child. On January 7, 2012, their baby girl, Blue Ivy Carter, was born. .
From a very young age, Beyoncé has been in engaged in the musical life. Her talent has been recognized since she was at the age of seven, winning a talent show among teenagers with her performance of "Imagine" by John Lennon. Throughout her childhood, she was continually enrolled in schools focused on the musical arts. As Beyoncé was always involved with music and knew she wanted a life filled with it, she auditioned for an all-girl singing group with her childhood friend, Kelly Rowland. Through this process they met Lavia Roberson; and soon, they were joined along with three other young girls to form the hip-hop rapping group, Girl's Tyme. After some performances, the group was placed on the popular talent show Star Search. Unfortunately, they lost this show; however, that failed to stop them from rising to fame. In 1995, Beyoncé father, Mathew, quit his job as a Xerox sales manager and began to manage his daughter's singing group. The change cut the group down to four girls who performed as opening acts for other popular groups.
