Nestled between some of the United States' most historic monuments lies The National Mall, a large, open-area park in Washington, D.C. On January 21, 2013, this distinguished strip of land was crammed with eager onlookers, gathered to witness the swearing in of Barack Obama to his second term as our nation's president.

Wrapped in heavy winter coats, people stamped their feet on the cold, hard ground, stuffed frigid hands deep into their pockets, and directed their attention toward a U.S. Capitol building draped in American flags.

A lone figure quietly and gracefully took center stage. She opened her mouth and her voice rose, softly at first, like a child waking from slumber. Within seconds, it soared confidently, lifting above the marching drums, the trumpets, the violins. Then it descended, coming to rest upon a tree's high limb. The crowd erupted.

The power of song cannot be captured by words or symbols. It does not require explanation. A voice can travel directly to the core of our very beings.

There are few voices on the planet capable of moving us as swiftly and as deeply as the one that belongs to Beyonce Knowles.

The flight of the songbird known as Beyonce began in the fourth largest city in the United States—Houston, Texas, a city rich with diverse cultural influences. Nowhere is Houston's rich diversity more clearly demonstrated than in its music scene. From rock and blues to hip hop, country, and Tejano (also known as Texan-Mexican music), Houston is a musical melting pot.

Beyonce entered the Houston music scene when she joined the group Girl's Tyme. She was eight years old. It was as a member of this group that her incredible talent became apparent to her whole family and Beyonce's music career became the family's mission. After Girl's Tyme was defeated on the nationally televised talent show "Star Search," Beyonce's father quit his job in order to manage them. Her mother, a hair stylist and salon owner, volunteered her place of business as a rehearsal space. Needless to say, the family's investment in their daughter paid off.

By 1998 the group had changed their name to Destiny's Child and their debut self-titled album, Destiny's Child, had topped the charts. The group didn't slow down from there. With their second album, The Writing's on the Wall, they became one of the most successful music acts in the country. At the center of all the attention was Beyonce, a star that reminded many of two R&B legends that came before her.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1944, Diana Ross' career began at a time when only a few African-American females (such as Billie Holiday and Etta James) had found a path to success in the music business. Racism made a career in the public eye a tremendous mountain to climb.

Despite the odds, Ross rose from a department store clerk to Motown's brightest star. To this day, she is still recording music and touring the globe. In 2006, Beyonce garnered critical acclaim for her portrayal of a character based on a young Diana Ross in the hit film "Dreamgirls."

In 2009, the Guinness Book of World Records bestowed the title of "Most Awarded Female Act of All Time" to Whitney Houston. Like Beyonce, Whitney's music career began when she was very young. Cousin to Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick and honorary niece to legendary R&B and soul singer Aretha Franklin, Whitney began performing professionally when she was 14. In 1992, her career expanded to the silver screen with the smash hit "The Bodyguard." The soundtrack to the movie sold over a million copies in just one week, and Whitney's signature song, "I Will Always Love You," became the best-selling single by a female artist of all time.

Like those remarkable women, Beyonce knew that her talents as a solo vocalist and actress could take her places that Destiny's Child could not hope to go.

Beyonce needed space to spread her wings, to soar beyond the music industry and into the rarefied air of cultural idols.

In 2013, by the time the year was a mere 35 days old, Beyonce had sung at a presidential inauguration and performed at the Super Bowl. The little girl from Houston, Texas, who lit up stages as a member of Girl's Tyme had grown into the kind of superstar that only comes along once or twice in a generation.

But without Whitney and Diana, there would be no Beyonce. Without Etta James, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, and Nina Simone, there would have been no Whitney or Diana. Beyonce can only hope that history will one day place her beside the gifted and courageous women who paved the road for others to follow.