Breanna Zumbrunnen

Music 1040 Final Project

December 1, 2015
Final Project Music 1040
My final project in my music and culture 1040 class is to pick a
musician or composer who represents one of the music topics we have
learned this semester. When I found out about this presentation I was
extremely excited. I originally wanted to do this presentation on Destinys
Child because to this day they are my favorite artists and I prefer the old
fashion R&B and hip-hop. I decided to slim to group down and choose the
group member Beyonc.
Beyonc Giselle Knowles was born on September 4th 1981 in Houston,
Texas. Singer and actress, she started singing at an early age competing in
local talent shows and winning many of these events by impressing
audiences with her natural singing and dancing abilities. Beyonc first
captured the publics eye as lead vocalist of the R&B group Destinys Child.
She later established a solo career with her debut album Dangerously in
Love. My entire life I have grown up listening to Destinys Child as well as
Beyonc and to this day I still get chills listening to the same old songs by
this group that I have heard a million times.
Teaming up with her cousin, Kelly Rowland, and two classmates,
Beyonc formed an all-female singing group. Her father Matthew Knowles,
served as the band manager.
Beyonc became one of the musics top-selling artists with sold-out tours
and a slew of awards. Knowles has also starred in several films including
Dream Girls. She married hip-hop artist Jay-Z in 2008. In December 2013 she

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Music 1040 Final Project
December 1, 2015
surprised audiences by releasing her fifth studio album, self-titled Beyonc.
On her own, Beyonc continued to enjoy great success. Her second studio
album, 2006's B'Day featured such hits as "Irreplaceable" and "Beautiful
Liar." On the big screen, she starred opposite Jennifer Hudson, Jaime Foxx
and Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls. The film was adapted from the hit
Broadway musical of the same name. In addition to acting and

performing, Beyonc runs a clothing line called House of Dereon with her
mother. She also launched her own fragrance, Heat, in 2010. Throughout her
career, Beyonc has served as a spokesperson and model for several other
brands, including L'Oreal and Tommy Hilfiger.
Beyonc found herself under fire for after performing a private concert
for Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi on New Year's Eve in 2010. She later
donated her fee from the event to help victims of the Haitian earthquake.
According to some reports, Beyonc said that her father had been
responsible for arranging the Libyan concert. She decided to drop her father
as her manager in March 2011. Later that year, Beyonc reached the top of
the album charts with her latest solo release, 4.
Destinys Child was a mixture of R&B and hip-hop. Contemporary R&B,
also known as simply R&B, is a music genre that combines elements of
rhythm and blues, soul, funk, pop, hip hop and dance. The hip-hop Destinys
Child used is portrayed greatly throughout their music. Emotion plays a big
part of their style. They have several songs like Girl and Emotion that are

Breanna Zumbrunnen
Music 1040 Final Project
December 1, 2015
great examples.
Beyonc continues her solo career as one of the most popular music
artists today. After she married Jay Z in 2008, she later had a child (female)
Blue Ivy. In December 2013 she surprised audiences by releasing her fifth
studio album, self-titled Beyonc. On her own, Beyonc continued to enjoy
great success. Beyoncs music style consists of contemporary R&B, hiphop, and the blues. She uses emotion in a lot of her music helping listeners
to feel emotionally connected. Contemporary R&B, also known as simply
R&B, is a music genre that combines elements of rhythm and blues, soul,
funk, pop, hip hop and dance. Beyonc uses all of these elements in her
music.
The Third Ward is one of six historic wards in Houston and became the
center of the city's African-American community in the 1970s. Beyonc
portrayed a beauty-pageant queen from the neighborhood in the video for
"Pretty Hurts" from her 2013 self-titled album.Beyonc's name is a tribute to
Tina Knowles's maiden name of Beyonc. Through Tina, Beyonc is of
Louisiana Creole descent with African, Native American, French, and Irish
ancestry.
She is the 21st-century descendant of Joseph Broussard (also known as
Beausoleil), who was a leader of the Acadian people in the mid-1700s and is
considered a hero of the British resistance and French and Indian War. At 7
years old, Beyonc won her first talent show, beating 15- and 16-year-olds

Breanna Zumbrunnen
Music 1040 Final Project
December 1, 2015
and receiving a standing ovation. She sang John Lennon's "Imagine." She has
won 20 Grammys and is the most nominated woman in the award's history.
Her pregnancy announcement at the 2011 MTV VMAs earned the Guinness
World Book of Records title for "most tweets per second."
Beyonc officially announced her pregnancy at the end of her
performance of "Love on Top" during the 2011 show. It was listed in Guinness
World Records for "most tweets per second recorded for a single event" on
Twitter, receiving 8,868 tweets per second. Her 2013 surprise visual album
broke an iTunes record that was previously held by one of her friends.
In its first three days on iTunes, the Beyonc album sold 828,773 copies
worldwide and broke the record that was previously held by her collaborator
and friend Justin Timberlake. Beyonc's vocal range spans 3.6 octaves and is
classified as mezzo-soprano. Her biggest musical influence is Michael
Jackson.
Beyonc considers the late singer her ultimate influence. She went to a
Michael Jackson concert (her very first) at 5 years old and realized that she
wanted to be a performer. When she presented him with a tribute award at
the World Music Awards in 2006, she told the crowd, "If it wasn't for Michael
Jackson, I would never ever have performed."
On the fifth anniversary of his death in 2014, Beyonc shared a heartfelt
message to him on her website, writing, "Michael Jackson changed me, and
helped me to become the artist I am. Thank you Michael."

Breanna Zumbrunnen
Music 1040 Final Project
December 1, 2015

Stranger-Hall, Kathrin F., and David W. Hall. Beyonc Knowles:

Beyonc Knowles Bibliography. Plus ONE 6.10 (2011): 1-11. A&E
Television Network. Web. 7 Dec. 2015

Beyonc Knowles. Styles Magazine, 1 Sept 2009. Web. 24 Nov 2015.

Essert, Matt. Revisiting Beyonc. Vanity Fair. 15 Sept. 2014. Web. 24

Nov. 2015.

Breanna Zumbrunnen
Music 1040 Final Project
December 1, 2015