More Girls Who Rocked the World

Beyoncé

1981– SINGER UNITED STATES

Power’s not given to you. You have to take it.

—BEYONCé

Beyoncé and her friends waited for their cue. The twelve-year-old girls stood onstage at their marks, bathed in pink and purple lights. They were nervous but also confident they would win. After all, they’d been practicing for almost two years. And Star Search was a national TV show. Everyone they knew would be watching—rooting for them. If they won, they would get $100,000 and probably a record contract too. They would be famous!

This was their big break. They had to win.

When the defending champions, Skeleton Crew, finished their rock song, host Ed McMahon introduced the girls: “Your challenge is a young group from Houston. Welcome Beyoncé, LaTavia, Nina, Nikki, Kelly, and Ashley, the hip-hop-rappin’ Girl’s Tyme.”1 That was their cue!

The music started. All six girls did a high kick and launched into the routine they knew so well. Beyoncé, in a lime-green jacket, striped shorts, and sparkly high-tops, strutted to the front and belted out their song while the other five girls danced behind her. Her voice was strong and confident. She hit the high notes with ease and growled out fierce low notes.

At the end of the song, the girls huddled together, grins on their faces, while the audience clapped and hooted. They loved us! thought Beyoncé. We’re gonna win!

It was time for the scoring. McMahon announced the results as both bands smiled at the audience. “The judges give champions Skeleton Crew four stars. A perfect score!”

Uh-oh. Beyoncé didn’t think Skeleton Crew was that good. She did a quick prayer: Please let us win, please let us win.

“The challenger, Girl’s Tyme, receives . . . three stars.”

Beyoncé couldn’t believe it. They had lost! After all their hard work.

She wanted to cry, but she couldn’t. She had to keep smiling for the cameras.2

But this was a turning point for her. At age twelve, she realized for the first time that even if you work super hard and give it everything you’ve got, you can still lose. She decided then and there that she wouldn’t give up until she was a star.

images

Beyoncé was born in 1981 in Houston, Texas. Her dad sold medical equipment and her mom was a hair stylist. She knew from a very early age that she wanted to sing and perform—she entered her first talent show when she was just seven years old. She sang John Lennon’s “Imagine” against kids as old as sixteen—and she won!

When she was nine, she enrolled in a music school and she sang in the choir. She also auditioned for an all-girl group called Girl’s Tyme. She made the cut, along with five other girls, and began singing and dancing at talent shows all over Houston. In 1992, the group appeared on Star Search (an early version of American Idol and The Voice) but lost in the first round. The next year, three girls left the group, a new girl joined, and they renamed themselves. Supergroup Destiny’s Child was born.

When Beyoncé turned fourteen, the band became a family affair. Her dad quit his job to work as their manager, and her mom made the costumes and did their hair and makeup. The group began rehearsing every day, leaving Beyoncé little time for normal high school stuff, like having friends. They performed everywhere—churches, malls, and as openers for more popular bands.

Beyoncé was sixteen when Destiny’s Child finally got their big break. They signed a recording contract with Columbia Records in 1997 and released their first album, Destiny’s Child. Their song “Killing Time” made it onto the soundtrack for the blockbuster movie Men in Black starring Will Smith, and they won three Soul Train Awards that year, including Best R&B/Soul Album.

Over the next eight years, Destiny’s Child grew to be hugely popular, with plenty of number-one hits like “Bills Bills Bills,” “Say My Name,” and “Bootylicious.” They became the world’s top-selling female vocal group, winning countless awards (including several Grammys), and Billboard magazine ranked them one of the greatest trios of all time. That magazine described Destiny’s Child as “a combination of feisty female empowerment anthems, killer dance moves, and an enviable fashion sense.”3

While still in the band, Beyoncé released her first solo album, Dangerously in Love, in 2003. With hits like “Crazy in Love” and “Baby Boy,” the album went multiplatinum, selling millions of copies. Beyoncé won five Grammy Awards—the most of any artist that year—and Destiny’s Child officially broke up two years later.

Beyoncé’s solo career has been an even bigger success than her years with Destiny’s Child. So far, she’s released six albums, which have collectively sold over one hundred million records worldwide (that’s in addition to the sixty million Destiny’s Child albums), making her one of the bestselling music artists of all time. She has won twenty Grammy Awards and is the most nominated woman in Grammy history. Forbes named her one of “The Most Powerful Women in Entertainment 2015.” And President Barack Obama asked her to sing at not one but two of his inauguration ceremonies.

In 2008, Beyoncé married rap mogul Jay Z in a super-secret wedding. The two have made many songs together, including “Crazy in Love, “That’s How You Like It,” and “Upgrade U.” The two had a daughter in 2012 and named her Blue Ivy Carter. Blue Ivy should be all set for college: in 2014, her mom became the highest-paid black musician in history. In 2016, Beyoncé’s net worth was estimated at $265 million, landing her on “Forbes’ 2016 List of America’s Richest Self-Made Women,” right behind Oprah!4

As if the singing talent and money aren’t enough, Beyoncé is also a talented actress. Since her first role in 2001, she’s starred in films like Austin Powers: Goldmember, Dreamgirls, and Cadillac Records. She also loves fashion and launched a clothing line with her mom in 2004 called House of Deréon. The brand is named for Beyoncé’s grandmother, Agnez Deréon, who worked as a seamstress.

But even cooler than Beyoncé’s creative and financial success is what she’s doing to make the world a better place. As a modern-day feminist, she is showing girls how to be true to themselves and go after their dreams, like she did. From songs like “Flawless” to “Pretty Hurts” to “Formation,” Beyoncé’s lyrics are full of empowering messages for girls and women. At the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, she performed in front of an enormous neon sign reading “FEMINIST.” She is also part of the Ban Bossy campaign, which encourages girls to be leaders.

Beyoncé believes in giving back. She works with Feeding America, which stocks food banks for hungry kids and families; she has raised over $1 million for hubby Jay Z’s Shawn Carter Foundation, which sends low-income kids to college; and after Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans, she created the Survivor Foundation to provide housing for victims.

Beyoncé may have lost on Star Search, but she won in the end. She didn’t let that failure stop her and continued working hard until she achieved her dreams. She believes you shouldn’t avoid failing, because failures can be the best teachers in life: “If everything was perfect, you would never learn and you would never grow.”⁵

HOW WILL YOU ROCK THE WORLD?

I will rock the world with my voice, my creativity, and my taste. My passions are singing, making art, and baking, and I want all girls to be confident and pursue their dreams.

CHLOE JOHNPOLL images AGE 13