To be the biggest female pop act in the world and have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame usually takes years, but for Beyoncé Knowles, one of that small number of performers identifiable by their first name alone, it seems to have taken seconds. She is 25 today but, after a ten-year career, is already surveying the world from the pinnacle of 50 million album sales, thanks to a solo release and being part of the R&B trio Destiny’s Child. There are also nine Grammy Awards and several film roles, including Foxxy Cleopatra in Austin Powers in Goldmember, to cement her entertainment industry status.
She grew up “shy but observant” in Houston, Texas, with a highly developed work ethic that seems to come from her father, a tough, wealthy corporate executive who manages her career. Today her second solo album is launched worldwide and she is travelling to three continents in two days to promote it.
The graft began at the age of 9, when Destiny’s Child was formed for the benefit of local talent shows, although Beyoncé says she was dreaming of stardom and emulating Michael Jackson at 4. The elder of two sisters, her first name is a tribute to the last name of her mother, Tina Beyince.
There is plenty of bling and glitz to go with the distinctive staccato fast-singing style, and possibly more to look forward to. There are rumours that she plans to marry the multimillionaire rapper Jay-Z on a Caribbean island in November after a four-year courtship only recently acknowledged publicly.
The path to success has been full of effort but largely scandal-free, despite relentless media attention. There were, naturally enough, ructions in the several incarnations of Destiny’s Child before an amicable recent split that looks permanent.
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Beyoncé has the life of the global star, travelling everywhere but somehow seeing nothing. At times the pressure is evidently wearing, although she has spoken of not losing herself to superstardom and collapsing under the pressure of constant schedules and attention.
As for so many celebrities surrounded by ministering assistants and blank-faced bodyguards, the chance to do small things alone assumes enormous significance. In her case the pleasure is grocery shopping, something that she describes as feeling like a romantic date or a holiday. “Usually I can shop for a certain amount of time, maybe 20 or 30 minutes. Word gets around and then I have to run for it.”
Happily, her apartment building in New York has a shop on the ground floor. “I can just go down in the elevator and then head back up.” Up is probably where she prefers.