In this album, Beyoncé introduced her alter ego Sasha Fierce. This was not highly unusual in pop, as many artists in the pop had done it for many years. The album was also an opportunity to introduce a new clothing line for Sasha Fierce through House of Dereon and market these goods to a younger audience.
Beyoncé introduced her alter ego, Sasha Fierce, in her album I am… Sasha Fierce
Regarding Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé said, “Sasha Fierce is my alter ego and now she has a last name. I have someone else that takes over when it’s time for me to work and when I’m on stage, this alter ego that I’ve created that kind of protects me and who I really am. That’s why half the record, I am …, is about who I am underneath all the make-up, underneath the lights, and underneath all the exciting star drama. And Sasha Fierce is the fun, more sensual, more aggressive, more outspoken and more glamorous side that comes out when I’m working and when I’m on the stage. The double album allows me to take more risks and really step out of myself, or shall I say, step more into myself, and reveal a side of me that only people who know me see.”
Among the successful tracks in this album were If I Were a Boy and Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It). The former reached number one in the UK and number three on the US Billboard Hot 100. The single received multi-platinum certifications in the US and Canada. The latter, on the other hand, was more successful than If I Were a Boy. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 and certified quadruple-platinum by the RIAA for selling more than 4.8 million digital copies by mid-March 2012. In November 2009, the single had sold more than 6.1 million digital copies worldwide, thus making it one of the best-selling singles of all time worldwide. It also spent four weeks at the top spot.
Single Ladies won the Grammy Awards for the Song of the Year, Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. MTV News, Rolling Stone and other media outlets named the single of the best songs of 2008.
The single’s music video, directed by Jake Nava, is in black-and-white. It shows the J-Setting dance choreography inspired by “Mexican Breakfast,” a 1969 dance routine choreographed by Bob Fosse. The music video spawned the “first major dance craze” of the Internet age. The video won Video of the Year at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.
In December 2008, the film Cadillac Records was released where Beyoncé starred as Etta James. Beyoncé recorded songs for the film’s soundtrack, including a cover of Etta James’ At Last, which Beyoncé performed a month later at the inauguration ball of Barack Obama as he and his wife danced for the first time as President and First Lady.
Beyoncé played the role of Etta James in the 2008 film Cadillac Records
The single Halo from the album I Am… Sasha Fierce was released in the US in January 2009. Beyoncé’s emotional vocals and the single’s production received critical acclaim. It was nominated for Record of the Year and won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 52nd Grammy Awards. It also won Best Song at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards.
One of the co-writers of Halo, Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, conceptualized the idea for this song along the lines of the work of American troubadour Ray LaMontagne. He had written the song intended for Beyoncé. However, she was busy at the time, and so Tedder offered the song to Leona Lewis, the 2006 winner of the UK X Factor. And when Beyoncé recorded the song, X Factor supremo Simon Cowell was outraged.
Despite the controversy, Halo reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Beyoncé’s 12th Hot 100 top-ten single as a solo artist. This, in turn, enabled Beyoncé to achieve more top tens on the Hot 100 than any other female artist of the 2000s decade.
Beyoncé again embarked on six-week I Am… Tour in March 2009 to promote her latest album. The tour began in late-March 2009 in North America and officially commenced in late April 2009 in Croatia. The tour was very successful, and Beyoncé was reported to have earned $103.2 million for the 97 shows.
Beyoncé again starred alongside Ali Larter and Idris Elba in another movie in 2009, the thriller Obsessed. It featured a fight scene between the characters of Beyoncé and Larter, and their efforts won them the MTV Movide Award 2010 for Best Fight. On the first day of release, the movie grossed $11.1 million and ended its opening weekend at number one with $28.5 million. However, film critics gave the movie negative reviews.
In June 2009, Beyoncé was fourth on the list of Forbes’ “100 Most Powerful and Influential Celebrities in the World”, third on its list of the “Top-Grossing Musicians”, and first on the list of “Top Best-Paid Celebrities Under 30” with more than $52 million earnings between 2009 and 2010.
At the 52 Grammy Awards, Beyoncé set the record for the most Grammy awards won on a single night by a female artist when she took home six awards from ten nominations: Song of the Year, Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for Single Ladies, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for Halo, Best Contemporary R&B Album and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for At Last.
One of the most controversial and interesting events in the year 2009 was on September 13 at the annual MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York. 18-year-old country singer Taylor Swift won the Best Female Video category for her single You Belong With Me. She defeated Beyoncé’s Single Ladies video. It was clear that West would win the category. She was 18, and Beyoncé was 28. When Swift won, she collected her award and began thanking everyone. She was rudely interrupted when Kanye West walked onto the stage, took the microphone from Swift’s hand, and told her, “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’m gonna let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time … one of the best videos of all time.”
Beyoncé allowed 18-year-old Taylor Swift to finish her acceptance speech at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards
The audience was surprised. The camera showed Beyoncé in the audience who was there to perform Single Ladies (Put a ring on It). She was mouthing the words “Oh, Kanye” and was shocked and mortified. Swift left the stage while the audience booed. West was booed for the rest of the evening and had to be escorted out of the ceremony.
Later in the evening, Beyoncé won the award for Best Video. When she collected her award, Beyoncé took the matters into her hand for the ruckus early that evening. She told the audience, “I remember being 17 years old, up for my first MTV Award with Destiny’s Child, and it was one of the most exciting moments of my life, so I would like for Taylor to come out and have her moment.”
This showed a gracious side to Beyoncé. While West apologized to Swift on his blog, the story ran for the next few days.
At the start of year 2009, a persistent rumor had it that Beyoncé wanted to sever ties with Mathew as her manager and that Jay-Z’s management company, Roc Nation, was to take over. Music World Entertainment issued a statement: “Contrary to false rumors online, Beyoncé and her manager Mathew Knowles unequivocally have had and continue to have a close personal and business relationship. Mathew Knowles is the sole and exclusive manager of Beyoncé.”
The statement overshadowed the fragile relationship between father and daughter.
Independent Woman
It came not as a surprise in November 2009 when Tina Knowles filed for divorce against Mathew Knowles. There had been rumors about Mathew spending money on sex parties and having discreet affairs, including one with actress Alexsandra Wright. Reports had it that Tina and Mathew had been living apart since January of that year.
Mathew was cited in a paternity suit by Wright in October 2009. There were rumors before that Wright was pregnant with his child. After Wright’s son, Nixon, was born, she requested a paternity test from Mathew, who had admitted to having an affair with her. The paternity test was positive and Knowles was required to pay child support to Nixon and Wright.
Beyoncé was interviewed in January 2010 by USA Today and announced that she would take a break from music. “It’s definitely time to take a break, to recharge my batteries. I’d like to take about six months and not go into the studio. I need to just live life, to be inspired by th
ings again.”
The following month, Beyoncé was featured on Lady Gaga’s single Telephone. The track peaked at number one on the US Pop Songs and became the sixth number-one on the chart for both of the women. The single also received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 53rd Grammy Awards.
On March 29, 2011, Beyoncé indeed severed her ties with her father as her manager when it was announced that Mathew Knowles would no longer manage her career. She took it upon herself to be her own manager and hired a management team.
Beyoncé released her fourth studio album, 4, in June 2011. It was a success, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 310,000 copies in its first week. This became Beyoncé’s fourth consecutive number one album in the US and made her the second female artist and the third artist overall to have her four studio albums debut atop the Billboard 200.
4’s lead single, Run the World (Girls), reached number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it her lowest charting lead single as a solo artist. The album was certified platinum by the RIAA and had sold about 700,000 copies by August 2011. Since then, the album has sold more than 1 million copies in the United States and more than 2 million copies worldwide.
On November 30, 2011, Beyoncé again reaped nominations at the 54th Grammy Awards for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for Party and Best Long Form Music Video for I am… World Tour. Before the year 2011 ended, Beyoncé found her name listed on Forbes magazine as the fourth woman on its 2011 list of the Top Earning Women in Music for grossing $35 million.
At the 2012 Billboard Music Awards, Beyoncé received two nominations for Top R&B Artist and Top R&B Album for 4. She won the award in May 2012.
Chapter 10 – Single Lady No More
Following the release of the Destiny’s Child’s album, Survivor, Beyoncé let on that singleness was hard for her, partly because she was famous. There were times when she and the girls were doing shows when she would scan the crowd for cute guys. She had just finished a long-running relationship with a boyfriend whom she found out was a cheat. She was also burned after learning that her father had an affair with an actress and had a child with her.
Beyoncé had told W magazine, “The more successful I get, the more I want a boyfriend. But it’s hard. Where am I going to meet somebody? Maybe at an awards show? Or on tour?”
She also said during one interview, “It’s getting harder all the time. I really wish I had a guy who I could trust… I would like to find true love because I think without that, the money and the fame means nothing.”
Beyoncé Meets Jay-Z
Beyoncé found true love when she met her future husband, Shawn Corey Carter, more popularly known by his stage name Jay-Z, in October 2001 at The Concert for New York City. In 18 months, the two would be recording together and beginning a relationship.
Jay-Z had made a name, and fortune, for himself and became one of the most successful US rap stars ever with a net worth more than $450 million and 13 Grammy Awards under his belt. Some referred to him as rap mogul, and his life was a rags-to-riches dream. He admitted to having been an adolescent crack cocaine dealer and was charged and given three years’ probation for stabbing a rival rapper in a New York nightclub.
Beyoncé married Jay-Z in a very private ceremony in April 2008
Despite the differing backgrounds, Beyoncé and Jay-Z got on well, particularly when they made their first duet together, 03 Bonnie & Clyde’, a track included in Jay-Z’s 2002 album, The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse.
What Beyoncé and Jay-Z have in common is that both of them appreciate business and hard work. They soon began a relationship, and when news of it leaked out in the media, it became an irresistible topic for the press. Their relationship was interesting because of the fact that Jay-Z came from the wrong side and Beyoncé was this God-fearing girl.
The pair was absolutely discreet about their relationship, but theirs was an enduring love story and one that became among the most talked about relationships in popular culture.
In 2003, when asked about the relationship by Glamour magazine, Beyoncé replied, “I’ve learned that it’s better if I don’t talk about my personal life relationships. I once said that I needed a boyfriend and it was everywhere that I was lonely and desperate. People just take things and twist them up … We honestly did bond and glide together. I was really lucky to have him help me. All in all, he’s just a great person and he always has so many great ideas.”
Beyoncé continued to keep mum about the relationship, telling Rolling Stone in 2004, “I don’t say I’m single. I don’t deny anyone. I just don’t talk about it. People are like, ‘Why does she say that they’re just friends?’ I don’t say that. I just don’t talk about it. I see a lot of the actresses that have had successful relationships and I see that a lot of people don’t talk about it. I just wanna protect my private life.”
Even their wedding was very private. Beyoncé and Jay-Z took their vows on April 4, 2008. A friend of them said, “It happened earlier this evening. Jay wanted it to be a really private affair – close friends and family.”
The affair was an intimate event with the attendance of other Destiny’s Child girls and the couple’s close friend, Gwyneth Paltrow. The following day, Jay-Z returned to the recording studio while Beyoncé went back to work on her new film, Cadillac Records.
Before Beyoncé and Jay-Z married, the Time magazine named them as power couple on its list of 100 Most Influential People in 2006. In January 2009, the couple made it to the top of the list of Forbes’ Hollywood’s top-earning couple with a combined total of $162 million.
In October 2010, Beyoncé was recognized by Forbes as the ninth Most Powerful Woman in the World. She was also at the ninth place on Forbes’ Hollywood’s 20 Highest Earners of 2010 and became the only artist to make it to the top ten.
Becoming A Mother
One of the happiest moments in Beyoncé’s life came and she shared it with the world on August 28, 2011 at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. Wearing a purple Dolce & Gabbana tux, Beyoncé stole the show as she glowingly opened her jacket and rubbed her growing stomach. And on the red carpet, wearing a lose-fitting, one-shoulder gown, Beyoncé dropped the big baby news.
The Huffington Post confirmed that Beyoncé was 5 months pregnancy, and the announcement of her pregnancy broke the “most tweets per second recorded for a single event” Twitter record, receiving 8,868 tweets per second!
MTV also announced that the announcement of Beyoncé’s pregnancy and her performance of Love on Top helped the ceremony to become the most-watched broadcast in its history with viewership of 12.4 million. Also, Google announced that data from Google insights indicated that the most searched term from August to September 2011 was “Beyoncy pregnant” and reached ‘breakout’ levels, a term that Google uses to refer to a search with an increase of over 5,000 percent. Furthermore, the announcement of her pregnancy added sales of her records, particularly her most recent album, 4.
Beyoncé and her infant daughter out and about in New York
Beyoncé officially became a mother when she gave birth to her daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, on January 7, 2012, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. Just two days later, Blue Ivy’s proud daddy released Glory, a song dedicated to her, on his website. The baby’s cries were included at the end of the track and she was officially credited on the song as “B.I.C.”. Only 2 days old, she became the youngest person to appear on a Billboard chart when the song debuted at number 74 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
Public Perception
Beyoncé is a self-confessed Christian but it can hardly be believed if the only basis is how she dresses and behaves in her music videos and performances. Beyoncé explained herself, saying, “I like to dress sexy and I carry myself like a lady” but also stressed that the way she dresses on stage is “absolutely for the stage.”
Being fond of fashion, Beyoncé expertly combines its artistic elements with her music videos and performances. Italian fashion design
er Roberto Cavalli stated that Beyoncé uses different styles and harmonizes it with the music while performing.
In 2007, Beyoncé was recognized by People magazine as the best-dressed celebrity. Her mother, Tina, published a book titled Destiny’s style: Bootylicious Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle Secrets From Destiny’s Child. Tina accounted how fashion helped in Destiny’s Child’s success.
Beyoncé posed and graced the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2007, becoming the first non-athlete and non-model woman to appear on the issue. She also appeared on the cover of the March issue of L’Officiel in tribute to Nigerian musician Fela Kuti.
In 2012, Beyoncé was the World’s Most Beautiful Woman by People magazine. But it is not only Beyoncé’s beauty that makes headlines. She has proven time and again her raw talent, with Prefix magazine claiming that “What’s almost unbelievably insane is that not only can Beyoncé sing better than anybody else out there, but she can also dance better than anyone else out there, and unlike virtually every single performer, she can do both at the same time.”
While a lot of people are awed by the sheer talent of Beyoncé, she also serves as an inspiration to many contemporary artists. Check out what some of them say about Beyoncé:
Rihanna: “When she came out with Dangerously in Love … I was like ‘wow, I want to be just like that.’ She’s huge and just an inspiration and one of the artists that I admire a lot.
Alexandra Burke – she was inspired by Beyoncé, particularly her first headlining tour.
Leona Lewis: “Beyoncé is great, so lovely and down to earth and talented. She’s inspiring.”
Jessie J: She stated that she wanted to be as successful as Beyoncé.
Modern Divas Boxed Set Page 18