♪Fun, enthusiastic theme music♪
[Paige makes a lemon drop to the fun, Caribbean- themed music of "Hold Up" by Beyoncé]
Hello and welcome to Women Crush Winesday on a Monday, where I drink wine, or a Lemon drop,
and talk about women I like! Today is a very special day, because today is the Queen's birthday.
Beyoncé, First of her Name, Mother of Blue, Rumi, and Sir, Protector of Carefree Black
Women and Girls, Billionaire, Philanthropist, Artist, and Creator of Genres is 36.
Yes, on this day - September 4th - in 1981, Tina Knowles Lawson brought Beyoncé Giselle
Knowles into the world in Houston, Texas, and saved us all. [drinks]
When Beyoncé was young, she was actually quite shy and had few friends - besides her
cousin, Kelly Rowland, and her sister, Solange, who was born in 1986, of course.
To socialize Bey in a creative venue, her parents enrolled her in dance classes
which she flourished in. Beyoncé's singing abilities were discovered in her dance classes, when her instructor
was humming a tune and Lil' Bey just finished the song, hitting high notes with ease. [drinks]
At the age of 9, Beyoncé enrolled at Parker Elementary school, a music magnet school in
Houston, where she joined the choir. That same year, she and Kelly Rowland met LaTavia Roberson
at an audition for the girl's group, Girls Tyme. As is well known now, Girls Tyme was recruited to compete
on Star Search, which, at the time (1992) was the largest talent show on national television. [drinks]
In 1995, Mathew Knowles quit his corporate job to become the manager of his daughter's group.
They went through multiple name changes and were signed and dropped by multiple labels
within the next few years, but by 1997, they were signed
to Columbia Records under the moniker, Destiny's Child. [drinks]
Within the year, the group released their first album, which was self titled and received
praise from both audiences and critics alike. Destiny's Child released The Writing's On the Walls in 1999
- and that's the album that really skyrocketed Beyoncé, Kelly, and their rotating lineup into stardom.
Not only did this album feature "Say My Name" and "Bills, Bills, Bills," but the former
won the group two Grammys. However, this time was not quite as happy as it seemed.
LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson, two of the group's founding members, became
increasingly dissatisfied with Mathew Knowles' managerial style. They were replaced with
Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin, and Beyoncé was blamed for the split by the media.
Beyoncé took the criticism so hard that she fell into a depression where she would hide away in her room
and refuse to eat for days. She's said more recently that Tina, her mother, was her biggest supporter
and ally in fighting depression, and that she didn't come out and talk about her experiences
while she was experiencing them because she didn't think people would take her seriously.
This is why we need to de-stigmatize mental health. [drinks]
Before the next Destiny 's Child single was released, Farrah Franklin was dismissed, and the group
continued as Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams.
They recorded "Independent Women Pt. 1," which was featured on the Charlie's Angels soundtrack in 2000.
That same year, Beyoncé took more control of writing and producing music, and she also starred
in the MTV movie, Carmen: A Hip Hopera. In 2001, Destiny's Child released
what's probably their most popular album, Survivor. The title track, and honestly one of my favorite
Destiny's Child songs, won a Grammy in 2002. [drinks] Shortly after this success, the group announced a
hiatus so that the members could focus on their solo careers. That year, Beyoncé co-starred in
Austin Powers in Goldmember. Beyoncé is the only reason I would ever watch this movie again. [drinks]
2003 was the year that she released Dangerously In Love and changed the music world
for the first time a a solo artist. "Crazy in Love," which featured Jay-Z, became Beyoncé's first #1 solo hit.
Dangerously In Love earned Beyoncé a record-tying five awards at the Grammys that year.
Destiny's Child released their final album, Destiny Fulfilled in 2004,
and officially disbanded in June of 2005. Here's to the end of an era. [drinks]
Not only is today Bey's birthday, but also the 11th anniversary of her second solo album, B'Day.
This album features three of my favorite Beyoncé songs: "Deja Vu," "Ring the Alarm,"
and what is probably the best song on the album, "Irreplaceable." [drinks]
In 2006, The Queen co-starred along with Steve Martin in The Pink Panther, and then with
Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls. [drinks, humming "Listen" by Beyoncé]
Beyoncé spent most of 2007 touring and promoting her music, and on April 4th, 2008, she married
Jay-Z in a very private ceremony in New York. They didn't even reveal that they were married
until six months later, on October 22nd, at the release party for Beyoncé's third album, I Am...Sasha Fierce.
The album was generally received with mixed and lukewarm reviews, but it did feature some of
her biggest singles. You know, "Halo," "If I Were A Boy," "Diva," and I think most importantly,
"Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)." [drinks]
Later in the year, Beyoncé starred as Jazz icon Etta James in Cadillac Records with Adrien Brody.
She not only received critical acclaim and several award nominations for her performance,
but she also donated her entire salary from the film to the Phoenix House, an organization
of rehab centers for heroin addicts around the country. She's Queen for a reason! [drinks]
And in 2009, Beyoncé graced the First Couple's Inaugural Ball with a rendition of Etta James' "At Last"
for the first Black President and First Lady of the United States, Barack and Michelle Obama.
We were truly blessed, because that was also the year that Beyoncé played Idris Elba's
wife in Obsessed, even if the movie wasn't great.
At the 52nd Grammy Awards, Beyoncé broke the record she'd previously tied by winning six awards
for I Am...Sasha Fierce in a single night. [drinks]
In 2010, Beyoncé took a short hiatus from music. She just enjoyed being newly married and traveled.
Sometime between this trip and 2011, however, she suffered a miscarriage, which she's said is
"the saddest thing" has ever had to endure. It also later became the subject of a few of her songs.
In early 2011, she separated from her father professionally, and in April, she and Jay went
to Paris to do a photoshoot for her upcoming album, 4.
Apparently on this trip, she became unexpectedly pregnant, but didn't say anything
about it until August, when, at the MTV Video Music Awards, she performed "Love On Top" and at the end,
she opened her jacket and displayed her growing belly to the world! [drinks]
Not only was that arguably the cutest performance ever, but it also made that year's VMAs the
most-watched broadcast in MTV history, bringing in 12.4 million views.
Beyoncé's announcement was listed in Guinness World Records for "most tweets per second
recorded for a single event," garnering over 9,000 tweets per second!
Beyoncé and Blue were breaking the internet before Blue was even born. [drinks]
Speaking of the Princess's birth, Beyoncé brought Blue Ivy into the world on January
7th, 2012 in New York. In 2013, Beyoncé sang the national anthem at President Barack Obama's
second Inauguration, apparently to a pre-recorded track. This, for some reason, made people believe that
Beyoncé also pre-recorded the vocals synched, even though that's not in Beyoncé's repertoire.
Anyway, she went and performed at the Super Bowl that year with help from Michelle and
Kelly, reuniting Destiny's Child for the first time in 8 years. That year, she also won yet another Grammy
for "Love On Top." [drinks] In April, she set out on the Mrs. Carter World Tour, which ran for almost two years
and was one of the most successful world tours in history.
Then the day before my 20th birthday, Beyoncé changed the world for good.
Without any promotion what so ever, without even mentioning it on social media in any way,
she dropped her self-titled album and created an entirely new genre of music just because she felt like it.
She released 14 consecutive videos with overlapping themes, though each is distinct from the others.
Beyoncé - the album - debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart, earning the Queen her fifth consecutive
number-one album. That makes Beyoncé the first woman in the chart's history to accomplish that.
The album changed the game, selling over one million digital copies in six days.
It also got Bey three more Grammys.
We waited patiently, with bated breath for Beyoncé to release something between 2014 and 2015.
Mostly, she was enjoying getting to be a mother. And touring. And then, on February 6th, 2016
she gave the world "Formation." Literally the day after the single was released, Beyoncé performed
the song at the Super Bowl - which caused a little bit of controversy because the imagery,
especially in the costumes she and her dancers wore, referenced the anniversary of the Black Panther Party.
[shrug] I ain't mad. [drinks]
Two months later, the world stopped. I mean Lemonade dropped. Same thing.
HBO aired the film version of the album, which featured celebrities like Serena Williams,
Amandla Stenberg, Zendaya, Winnie Harlow, and Quvenzhané Wallis.
The album stands in part as a personal diary of sorts. It also lifts black women up into the spotlight,
especially when she features the mothers of black men who were killed by police And it transcends genre;
"Don't Hurt Yourself" features Jack White of The White Stripes, and Bey performed and released an alternate
version of "Daddy Lessons" (already a country song song) with country superstars The Dixie Chicks.
Lemonade made Beyoncé the first act in history to have six consecutive albums
debut at the top of the Billboard charts. She's the first female in history to have 12 or more consecutive
songs on the charts at the same time. [drinks] She won two more Grammy's that year, and Adele,
who won Album of the Year that year, agreed with anyone that has ever listened to Lemonade
and said that Beyoncé deserved it more. [drinks] That brings us to February 2017, when Beyoncé
posted a picture on her Instagram to reveal that she was very pregnant. With twins!
The picture got 6 million likes in under eight hours, breaking the world record for the most liked
image on Instagram. [drinks] And she performed pregnant at the Grammy's,
just 'cause she felt like she wanted to, I guess. Then almost two months ago, Bey posted
another picture to her Instagram, this time posing with the new babies.
Who knows what Beyoncé is going to do next? Beyoncé is an innovator, an entertainer, an activist,
an artist and a mother, and someone that I've wanted to talk about since I started this series a year ago.
I just had to wait for her birthday to come back around because there was no way
that I was gonna do this at any other point in the year. She's one of, if not the most successful black woman
in history, and she simultaneously won't let us forget it and also uses that to raise up other people.
What have we done to deserve her? [drinks]
Thank you so much for watching this video! If you liked it, please give it a thumbs up.
In the comments below, let me know what your favorite thing about Beyoncé is!
Don't forget to check out the poll in the cards to vote for the next Women Crush Winesday!
If you're not already subscribed to The Princess and the Scrivener, please do so down below, especially if
you'd like to see more videos on Disney, intersectional feminism, pop culture critiques,
Women Crush Winesday, and more! The Scrivener will see you next week!
"Today is a very big day, Pascal."
♪Ladies leave your man at home...♪ [mumbles the rest of "Jumpin' Jumpin'" by Destiny's Child]
♪It's 11:30 and the club is jumpin', jumpin.♪
[exaggerated] ♪A melody I start, but can't complete♪
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