[情報] Beyonce: The Billboard Cover Story
Beyonce: The Billboard Cover Story
by Gail Mitchell | OCT 01, 2009 4:30 EDT
Fans are still getting to know Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé's musical alter ego,
formally introduced on the singer's 2008 album, "I Am...Sasha Fierce."
Most probably don't know, however, that the singer/songwriter has been
friends with Fierce since elementary school.
Manager and father Mathew Knowles will never forget the moment he first met
Fierce. A 7-year-old Beyoncé was entered in a talent search open to Houston
elementary and middle school students. The song she sang? John Lennon's
"Imagine." "Beyoncé was the youngest," Knowles says. "She got up onstage and
when she was finished, she received a standing ovation. Her mother [Tina
Knowles] and I looked at each other and said, 'That can't be our Beyoncé.
She's shy and quiet.' "
Twenty-two years later, that simmering brew of shy, quiet talent peppered
with fierce determination and ambition is at a boiling point. The former
frontwoman of Destiny's Child has come into her own, enjoying one of the best
years of a still-evolving solo career.
On Oct. 2, Beyoncé will add one more honor to her array of accolades when
she accepts Billboard's Woman of the Year Award. The presentation will be
made at Billboard's Women in Music brunch in New York, recognizing the year's
top 30 women in the music business.
"Beyoncé is a multiplatinum artist and a multitalented woman who clearly
embodies the qualities of excellence and achievement that the Billboard Woman
of the Year Award was created to honor," Billboard editorial director Bill
Werde says. "She has not only influenced pop culture with her hit songs and
her signature dance moves, but has inspired women everywhere with her unique
style, business savvy and dedication to charitable causes."
In the past 12 months alone, Beyoncé has accomplished several career
milestones. She not only sang "American the Beautiful" during the opening
ceremony of the 2009 presidential inauguration, she also sang the Etta James
hit "At Last" as President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama danced
their first dance at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball.
In March Beyoncé launched her worldwide I Am...tour, which has grossed some
$53.5 million to date, according to Billboard Boxscore. She's also the star
and executive producer of the 2009 film "Obsessed," which opened at No. 1 and
has grossed more than $68.3 million in North America, according to Nielsen
EDI.
"I Am...Sasha Fierce" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 when it was
released by Columbia Records in November. The album, the singer's third solo
set, has spun off a string of Billboard Hot 100 hits: "If I Were a Boy,"
"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," "Halo," "Ego" and "Sweet Dreams."
After accepting MTV's video of the year award for her iconic "Single Ladies"
video a few weeks ago, Beyoncé gained a new level of fan and industry
respect at the Sept. 13 event when she unselfishly brought Taylor Swift back
onstage to complete the acceptance speech cut off by Kanye West's surprise
interruption.
Beyoncé also continued her commitment this year to ongoing philanthropic
projects and entrepreneurial activities from fashion to fragrances.
"She's incredibly creative," says Rob Stringer, chairman of Sony Music Label
Group. "She also works phenomenally hard to create the opportunities she has.
People tend to think there's always an image-maker behind female pop stars.
That's not the case with Beyoncé. There's no element of diva or difficulty
about her; she takes control of the process and makes it happen. She's grown
beautifully in that role."
Next: Beyoncé meets her Destiny.
Beyoncé's creative skills and hard work date back to that pivotal talent
show. Born Sept. 4, 1981, in Houston, the young artist-in-training grew up
listening to a variety of musical influences, including Tina Turner, Aretha
Franklin, Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross and Rachelle Ferrell. She and
friend LaTavia Roberson were only 9 years old when the group that led to
Destiny's Child was initially established in 1990 with Mathew Knowles as
manager. The duo expanded into a trio after Kelendria "Kelly" Rowland joined
in 1992. A year after that, the group became a quartet with the addition of
LeToya Luckett.
Throughout the course of several name changes -- Girls Time, the Dolls and
Cliché -- the group rehearsed and played everything from luncheons and
fashion shows to church gigs and Tina Knowles' hair salon. Those experiences
not only honed Beyoncé's talent and work ethic, they also planted the seeds
for the singer's future business acumen.
"I think we certainly played a part," Mathew Knowles says. "Tina had her own
salon and there were many nights when she came home Tuesday through Saturday
at 7 or 8. And I was working hard at Xerox. I think all of the girls saw that
drive. They saw our successes and also our failures."
The fledgling Destiny's Child experienced its share of disappointments before
grabbing the gold ring. The act competed on "Star Search" and lost. However,
the exposure led to a record/production deal through Elektra Records.
The relationship with Elektra ended after two years, without a record. But
things began clicking after Knowles approached an earlier suitor, Columbia
Records. Destiny's Child signed with the label in 1997.
Destiny's Child scored its first No. 1 when "No, No, No" -- the first single
from the act's 1998 self-titled debut album -- reached the pinnacle of
Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Two follow-up singles didn't fare as well. But the stage was set for a
platinum-certified future when Destiny's Child teamed with producer Kevin
"She'kspere" Briggs. The result was the group's first top five pop hit and
second R&B chart-topper in 1999: "Bills, Bills, Bills."
The act's second album, "The Writing's on the Wall," yielded two more hits
("Say My Name" and "Jumpin', Jumpin' "), opening the door to a storied career.
"There are moments that just stick out from working with the group in the
beginning," says Lisa Ellis, former president of Sony Urban Music. "Beyoncé
was always so brave and prepared to be the star she is today, even at 16 and
18 years old. She's always pushing the envelope and very competitive but with
humility and kindness; the epitome of a professional and human being."
The year after "Wall" brought a lineup change as well as a turning point in
Beyoncé's career. Destiny's Child now was a trio, with the departure of
original members Roberson and Luckett and the addition of Michelle Williams.
And the group exploded in popularity thanks to the 2000 release of its next
single, "Independent Women Part I."
The song, used as the theme in the film "Charlie's Angels," spent 11 weeks at
No. 1 on the Hot 100 and also marked Beyoncé's emergence as a songwriter.
She added production credits to her growing résumé with the group's third
album, "Survivor," released in 2001.
In 2004, the act released "Destiny Fulfilled" and, a year later, the trio
disbanded, closing a significant chapter in girl-group history. To date,
Destiny's Child has sold 16.9 million albums in the United States, according
to Nielsen SoundScan. (Worldwide, according to Sony, Destiny's Child and
Beyoncé cumulatively have sold 100 million units, including albums, physical
and digital singles, and music DVDs).
During the three-year hiatus between the "Survivor" and "Fulfilled" albums,
each of the members of Destiny's Child recorded solo albums.
Next: Beyoncé launches solo career, business empire.
Beyoncé's first solo set, "Dangerously in Love," arrived in 2003. Its
popularity was powered by her stiletto-heeled gyrations in the video for the
lead single, "Crazy in Love."
That first solo album extolled the joys of love, but the singer/songwriter's
second solo release, the 2006 set "B'Day," centered on the theme of female
empowerment. With her single "Irreplaceable," Beyoncé introduced into the
popular lexicon the memorable phrase, "To the left, to the left," which
translates to "I can find someone else. I don't have to stay in this dead-end
relationship."
"I have to commend Beyoncé's vision for doing that song and including it on
the record," says Mikkel S. Eriksen, one-half of the production duo Stargate.
"It was a big risk because the song sounded very different from what was
going on at the time and with the other material on the album. I don't think
any of us knew it would be one of the biggest records of her career."
Producer Rodney Jerkins, who worked with Destiny's Child on the hit "Say My
Name," witnessed Beyoncé's ability to multitask without dropping the ball
while recording the "B'Day" album.
The singer had four studio rooms going simultaneously during a recording
session in New York: Jerkins was in one while producers Sean Garrett and
Swizz Beatz were housed in two other rooms. Beyoncé was in a fourth room
cutting background vocals.
As Jerkins recalls, among the songs she was working on were "Déjà Vu,"
"Ring the Alarm" and "Upgrade You."
"It freaked me out," he recalls. "It wasn't the fact that she had four rooms
going but that she was able to pull off the personality and emotion on each
song, going from a ballad to a ghetto hood beat. Songs are like mini-movies
to me, and no one can act in four movies at a time. But if you listen to
those songs, you can hear the tonality and what she had to do to attack it.
Not too many people can wake up and do that -- and do that consistently."
"What people may not know about her is that besides being such an
accomplished performer, she's a great producer," adds Big Jon Platt,
president of West Coast creative for EMI Music Publishing. "She also has some
of the best A&R instincts I've ever come across."
Beyoncé's creative instincts and multitasking skills provide the
underpinnings for her other pursuits, including acting, business ventures and
philanthropy.
She made her acting debut in the 2001 made-for-TV production "Carmen: A Hip
Hopera" for MTV. That was followed in 2002 by her first feature film,
co-starring as Foxxy Cleopatra opposite Mike Myers in "Austin Powers in
Goldmember." Since then she's appeared in five more feature films: "The
Fighting Temptations" in 2003; "The Pink Panther" in 2006, with Steve Martin;
the hit musical "Dreamgirls" in 2006, with Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx and
Eddie Murphy; "Cadillac Records" in 2008, in the role of Etta James; and her
most recent, "Obsessed," released earlier this year.
On the latter two films, Beyoncé also served as executive producer through
her own company, Parkwood Films, named after the street she grew up on in
Houston.
Beyoncé previously displayed her business skills in 2004 when she and her
mother Tina established the production company Beyond Productions. A year
later, the pair launched their first fashion collection, named House of
Dereon in honor of the singer's maternal grandmother, Agnez Dereon. Since
then, two other collections have been spun off: the junior lifestyle line
called Dereon and the young girl's division Dereon Girls.
Beyoncé's endorsement opportunities include alliances with Pepsi and L'Oreal
along with Tommy Hilfiger's True Star fragrance and Emporio Armani's
Diamonds. Those fragrance forays set the stage for the development of Beyoncé
's own Coty fragrance, which will be unveiled in early 2010.
Next: Beyoncé gives back, paints on the side.
Beyond the music, acting and business ventures, philanthropy is one of
Beyoncé's passions.
The Survivor Foundation -- formed by Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland together with
the Knowles family -- has donated more than $2.5 million for transitional
housing for Hurricane Katrina victims and storm evacuees in the Houston area.
Among the foundation's additional initiatives is the Knowles-Rowland Center
for Youth in Houston.
On her current I Am...world tour, Beyoncé joined forces with the General
Mills brand Hamburger Helper and the charity Feeding America to help deliver
more than 3.5 million meals to local food banks through fan donations. The
singer also devotes time to the Make a Wish Foundation, meeting and talking
with children during her tour stops. She underscores her songs' female
empowerment themes through her work with GEMS (Girls Educational and
Mentoring Services).
Yet in all of her activities, Beyoncé is always in control, former Destiny's
Child member Williams says.
"An important lesson I learned from her is how to be firm and make sure your
yes means yes and your no means no," Williams says. "If she doesn't want to
do it, you can't manipulate the situation with her. It's about making
decisions that are right for you, that are right business-wise, that won't
take you where you [don't] want to go or hurt you five or 10 years from now."
Sony's Stringer adds, "Other artists pretend they have control over what they
do. Beyoncé really does. She's growing as an artist more rapidly than anyone
thought."
Already a veteran at the age of 28, Beyoncé tied the record for the most
Grammys won in a single year by a female artist when "Dangerously in Love"
earned her five statuettes in 2004, including best contemporary R&B album and
best R&B song for "Crazy in Love" featuring Jay-Z. Her "B'Day" also garnered
a best contemporary R&B Grammy in 2007. That same year, Beyoncé became the
first woman in the history of the American Music Awards to receive its
International Artist Award. Her 2007 concert DVD "The Beyoncé Experience
Live," featuring her all-female band, has been certified three-times platinum
by the RIAA.
This year, Forbes listed Beyoncé at No. 4 on its list of the 100 Most
Powerful and Influential Celebrities, No. 3 on its tally of the top-grossing
musicians and No. 1 on the countdown of top Best-Paid Celebrities Under 30,
estimating her earnings in 2008-09 at $87 million.
Soon back on the road for the next leg of her worldwide tour, Beyoncé shows
no signs of slowing down. And that will keep fans anticipating what the next
creative moves will be for Beyoncé/Sasha Fierce.
And in the view of her father, what does the future hold for Beyoncé?
"I can't predict," Knowles says. "But I hope she will be enjoying the fruits
of her labor with a continuing mix of music, film, corporate projects;
helping others as she does now; and moving into other endeavors like maybe
painting. Most people don't know this, but she's a really good painter.
Family is also important to her. I see her having a long-lasting career but
hopefully not working as hard as she is now."
Whatever Beyoncé does next, the one constant will be her passion.
"That's why she's able to do all of this," Knowles adds. "It's the talent,
drive, determination and passion. You can't successfully develop or fulfill
any strategies unless you have that."
http://0rz.tw/hLml5 (Billboard.com)
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