“I'm a human being and I fall in love and sometimes I don't have control of every situation.” – Beyoncé Knowles.
Bow down to the Queen Bey. Beyoncé has earned her place amongst the greatest artists of all time, boasting a platinum career from Survivor to Crazy in Love. Here are our favorite facts about Queen Bey!
Beyoncé Knowles Facts
1. Thanks, dad
Before Destiny’s Child became famous, Beyoncé’s father Mathew made the girls jog while singing to build up stamina for performances.
2. On the miracle of life
Beyoncé said that giving birth is “the most powerful thing you can ever do in your life.” She added that is it was “the most beautiful experience of my life. It was amazing. I felt like God was giving me a chance to assist in a miracle. You’re playing a part in a much bigger show.”
3. Kids are mean, even to the Queen
In grade school, Beyoncé says she was teased about her ears, which she has jokingly claimed were bigger than her head.
4. A little switcheroo
Before Destiny’s Child settled on “Destiny’s Child,” they tried on a few other names, including Gyrl’s Time, the Dolls, and Cliché.
5. More help from pops
Her father Mathew also screened videos of great performers—Michael and Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, Madonna—and encouraged Beyoncé to study them “like football teams study their competitors’ tapes.”
6. Young and talented
When Beyoncé entered her first talent show at age 7, she sang “Imagine” by John Lennon and received a standing ovation. She beat 15 and 16-year-olds to win the competition.
Featureflash Photo Agency, Shutterstock
7. Always the entrepreneur
As a kid, Beyoncé would charge her parents and friends $5 each to watch her perform.
8. Art and inspiration
Beyoncé, a lifelong art enthusiast, started painting at 17. She says Vincent Van Gogh inspired her, and she tried to copy his style.
9. Experiencing beauty
Beyoncé stated that the first time she visited the Sistine Chapel and saw Michelangelo’s work was one of the most “spectacular experiences” of her life.
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
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10. Through adversity
In 2000, Beyoncé suffered a bout of depression after LaTivia Roberson and LeToya Luckett quit the Destiny’s Child and sued her father for mismanagement. “I didn’t eat,” she explained. “I stayed in my room. I was in a really bad place in life, going through that lonely period: ‘Who am I? Who are my friends?’ My life changed.”
11. The origin of Sasha Fierce
Beyoncé incented her fearless alter ego—Sasha Fierce—was invented on the set of the “Crazy in Love” music video in 2003.
12. Sasha and Beyoncé
In 2006, Beyoncé stated that she “wouldn’t like Sasha if I met her offstage,” claiming her alter ego was “too aggressive, too strong, too sassy, too sexy” to be friends with.
13. Becoming Sasha
Beyoncé stopped thinking of Sasha Fierce as an entirely separate person sometime around 2010. “I don’t need Sasha Fierce anymore, because I’ve grown, and I’m now able to merge the two. I want people to see me. I want people to see who I am.”
14. Queen of Spades?
Around the release of her third solo album, I Am… Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé played a lot of spades online. "I play with everybody, and they curse me out when I make mistakes, and kick me out of the room. I love it, it's really fun because no one knows it's me."
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15. A bit messy
According to Kelly Rowland, she’s a bit of a slob! Kelly said, “She’s got a lot on her brain. You can tell she’s got a lot going on.”
16. Saying “No.”
Early in her solo career, Beyoncé walked off the set of a photo shoot after photographer David LaChapelle asked her to get naked and pose smothered in honey.
17. No time for pain
In 2004, Beyoncé worked through wisdom teeth-related pain because she couldn’t fit two weeks of puffy-faced recovery time into her schedule.
18. Tour time is her time
Beyoncé loves touring because before the show she has the day off to do whatever she wants. “I can sleep until three o’clock. I can snuggle and watch cartoons all day. I can go to museums, restaurants and parks.”
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
19. A trip to Times Square
If Beyoncé had a day of total anonymity, she says she’d walk down Times Square, something she’s never been able to do.
Terabass, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
20. A little gift to her audience
The earrings Beyoncé threw during a VH1 Divas performance in 2004 cost $250,000. She was so overcome in the moment that she didn’t realize what she had done until much later!
21. Good call, Queen Bey
It was Beyoncé’s idea to re-edit the “Me, Myself and I” video so that the story unfolded backward.
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
22. Taking on 50 Cent
According to 50 Cent, Beyonce wasn’t afraid to throw-down when she thought there was bad blood between 50 Cent and her husband Jay Z. “One time she jumped off of a ledge and came running over cause she thought me and Jay had issues.”
23. Dedicated to success
When Beyoncé is on tour, she films her performances and watches them back before she goes to sleep, critiquing herself, her dancers, and her cameramen. Everyone then receives a round of notes in the morning.
24. Discovering material
Beyoncé discovered the Chimananda Ngozi Tedx talk featured in “**Flawless” while surfing YouTube late one night.
25. Yummy
After the Super Bowl, Beyoncé rewarded herself with a holiday filled with fried food.
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
26. Life on camera
In 2005, Beyoncé hired a visual director to film her every waking moment. She was inspired to hire her videographer after MTV wouldn’t let her use it’s footage shot while on the set of one of her music videos. She didn’t want to have to pay to use her own image. Now, when a network wants footage of Queen Bey, it has to borrow or license it from her personal archive.
27. Serious technology
All of this Beyoncé footage is stored in a “temperature-controlled digital-storage facility” in her New York office. It includes everything from professional photographs and videos to interviews and diary entries. The official Beyoncé database is loosely modeled on NBC’s archive.
28. Please, little Bacteria. You can’t touch the Queen
Beyoncé had a sinus infection when she recorded “XO.” That didn’t stop the song’s massive success: it has more than 116 million YouTube views. John Mayor had some high praise for the song: "The best thing about Beyoncé? The break in her voice on the first 'baby, love me lights out' in XO. Real and raw."
29. Girl power
Beyoncé’s live band is a 10-piece, all-woman ensemble that she formed in 2006. They’re called the Suga Mamas.
Larry Busacca, Getty Images
30. Helping those in need
In 2010, Beyoncé established the Beyoncé Cosmetology Center at the Phoenix House in Brooklyn, New York. The seven-month training program was established to help adult men and women recovering from addiction learn marketable skills.
31. Haters gonna hate
“Bow Down” was Beyoncé’s response to haters. “The reason I put down out ‘Bow Down’ is I woke up, I went to the studio, I had a chant in my head, it was aggressive, it was angry, it wasn’t the Beyoncé that wakes up every morning. It was the Beyoncé that was angry. It was the Beyoncé that felt the need to defend herself.”
32. A winning record
Beyoncé is the most Grammy-nominated woman in history. She’s also the first woman to win six Grammys in a single night.
Frederick M. Brown, Getty Images
33. Well done, Beyoncé
When Beyoncé performed “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” at the 2015 Grammys, she surrounded herself with men she felt “have lived, have struggled, cried, have a light and a spirit about them.” She wanted to “show the strength and vulnerability in Black men.”
Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images
34. Working on fashion
Before its launch, Beyoncé’s Topshop line, Ivy Park, was in development for almost two years.
Stuart C. Wilson, Getty Images
35. No one protests the Queen Bey!
After Beyoncé performed “Formation” at the Super Bowl, haters tried to organize a protest outside the NFL’s New York headquarters, but when the day came only three people showed up.
36. Keeping it secret
Keeping the surprise release of Beyoncé’s self-titled album in 2013 a secret required the use of code names for everything — songs, videos, and even the album itself.
37. Take that, Target!
When Target refused to stock her self-titled album because she gave the first-week exclusive to iTunes, Beyoncé went to a Walmart in Massachusetts and shopped for Christmas presents while handing out $50 gift cards to everyone in the store.
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38. Writing chops
Beyoncé wrote about her 2010 break from performing in a 2011 Essence cover story titled, ‘Eat, Play, Love.’ The piece won her an award from the New York Association of Black Journalists.
39. Crazy in Love?
‘Crazy in Love,’ Beyoncé’s breakout single, almost didn’t happen. She wasn’t fond of the horn-based sample created by producer Rich Harrison — it seemed too old school. Luckily, she warmed up to it.
40. A long courtship
Jay Z and Beyoncé didn’t hit things off immediately. The two spoke on the phone for a year before he worked up the nerve to ask her out.
41. Good eats
Pizza is her favorite indulgence, even though her figure suggests otherwise! Sunday is her pizza day.
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42. Ouch!
Her bodyguard Shortie once broke her toe during a shopping trip to Macy’s in New York City. He was trying to guard her from fans when he lost balance and stepped on her foot. The irony.
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43. The saddest thing…
Beyoncé suffered a miscarriage before Blue Ivy’s birth in January 2012. She describes it as, “the saddest thing I’ve ever been through.”
44. New life
Beyoncé announced on Wednesday, February 1st that she’s pregnant with twins. "We would like to share our love and happiness. We have been blessed two times over. We are incredibly grateful that our family will be growing by two, and we thank you for your well wishes.”
The world is thrilled to learn that the Queen Bey’s family is growing by two, and we all wish her much happiness and health.
Share this with your friends to celebrate the Queen Bey’s family and the miracle of life!
