Today is Beyoncé’s birthday which the fans have dubbed #BeyDay, and just based off the hashtag alone; it’s hard to imagine right?
Can you imagine it? Me either. I mean how else would we know where to point (to the left) when getting rid of an ex, or how good a grown woman can look in a leotard and still kill it better than a lot of younger people. Beyoncé has built this empire that is definitely going to last for years, and then some. Born 35 years ago today in Houston, Texas, Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter has racked up countless top 10 hits as a solo artists, as well as being a part of one of the best selling female group Destiny’s Child.
From Girls Tyme to Destiny’s Child; it was clear Beyoncé was going to be a star, especially having watched young home video clips of her in the Grown Woman video. Beyoncé is a global phenomenon that can get the hardest of hood dudes to bop their heads. With the release of six solo albums, Beyoncé has racked up 20 Grammys, 31 ASCAP awards, multiple BET and MTV awards, 6 AMA awards, Apple’s Artist of the Year (2014), 11 Soul Train Awards, 17 Billboard Awards, she won the Billboard Millennium Award in 2011, the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, the Fashion Icon Award at the CFDA Awards, and so much more!
The beginning of it all was Beyoncé’s solo debut album “Dangerously In Love” in 2003 with the number 1 hits “Crazy In Love” and “Baby Boy (Featuring Sean Paul)“. Dangerously In Love has sold over 11 Million copies worldwide, and that was the beginning of the #BeyHive. Then six years later, her second number one album “B’Day,” which was released 10 years ago today. With today being her birthday, of course she would receive love from fans all over the world, but today Beyoncé and her family is celebrating her birthday with President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and their family this Labor Day weekend at Camp David.
Beyoncé has set new standard for music and entertainment. The musical world would definitely be different without Queen Bey. She has broken many records musically, racially, and by gender. Beyoncé has the fastest selling album on iTunes (Beyoncé sold 617,000 in 3 days), she is the highest paid black artist, she won the most Grammys by any female artist in one night (6), she is the most Grammy nominated female artist, the first black female artist to appear on the cover of Vogue’s September issue(apparently one of the most important covers in the fashion industry), and many more.
“AT LEAST WITH MY CAREER, I’VE KIND OF BROKEN BARRIERS, AND I DON’T THINK PEOPLE THINK ABOUT MY RACE… I THINK THEY LOOK AT ME AS AN ENTERTAINER AND A MUSICIAN AND I’M VERY HAPPY THAT’S CHANGING BECAUSE THAT’S HOW I LOOK AT PEOPLE.”
Even with her new album “Lemonade,” the queen has broke more barriers, as well as bring attention to police brutality. Beyonce’s recent political activism is important due to recent activities by the law enforcement. Besides bringing attention to the matter, both Bey & Jay-Z have donated money to the Baltimore protesters to get them out of jail. I can’t imagine a world without Beyoncé or her music, she inspires so many people in the industry through her talent and worth ethic, dedication, humbleness, and just by the person she is. It will be funny 50 years from now watching some of us in this generation still jamming to Single Ladies.
Just a list of some of her accomplishments
- First female artist to have a number-one single and win a Grammy Awards in the same week twice (”Check on It” and “Irreplaceable”, consecutively).
- Most Grammy Nominated Woman
- All of her albums has gone #1
- Bey is the first woman to have 12 singles on the Billboard Top 100 Charts (All Lemonade Singles)
- In 2002, Beyoncé became the first African-American woman to win ASCAP’s Pop Songwriter of the Year Award.
- With the 2003 album “Dangerously in Love” and its single “Crazy in Love,” she became the first woman to have an album and a single simultaneously topping both the U.S. and U.K. charts.
- She won a writing award from the New York Association of Black Journalists for a June 2011 Essence cover story, “Eat, Play, Love,” about her global experiences during a nine-month career break in 2010.