Beyoncé Knowles

Following the 54th Grammy Awards, songwriter Ryan Tedder revealed during an interview with The Boombox that Knowles is working on two new albums. He said, "The conversations about her next album literally just started and there are two projects happening. All I can say is you kind of feed her the best that you have and she's this phenomenal filter and she takes it all in. She's not interested in 2012, interested in what's to sound good for 2013. Without question she steers the ship. With Beyoncé, you just let her go, she's ridiculous, she's the best." Knowles has also been working with The-Dream, Kanye West, Hit-Boy, Diane Warren and Missy Elliott. Read Less

Later that month, Forbes placed Knowles and Jay-Z at number one on the "World's Highest-Paid Celebrity Couples" list, for collectively earning $78 million in the past year. Read Less

Throughout Knowles' career, she has earned numerous awards and honors. As a solo artist, she has sold over 13 million albums in the United States and over 75 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Read Less

Knowles has stated: "I like to dress sexy and I carry myself like a lady," but she has said that the way she dresses on stage is "absolutely for the stage". The media often use the term "Bootylicious" (a portmanteau of the words booty and delicious), to describe Knowles because of her curves. The term was made widely known by the Destiny's Child single of the same name, and has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary. As someone who is fond of fashion, Knowles combines its artistic elements with her music videos and performances. According to Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli, she uses different styles and tries to harmonize it with the music while performing. The B'Day Anthology Video Album showed many instances of fashion-oriented footage, depicting classic to contemporary wardrobe styles. People magazine recognized Knowles as the best-dressed celebrity in 2007. Knowles' mother wrote a 2002-published book, titled Destiny's Style: Bootylicious Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle Secrets From Destiny's Child, an account of how fashion had an impact on Destiny's Child's success. As one of the most media-exposed black celebrities in the United States, Knowles has often received criticism that some believe is due to racism and sexism. Toure of Rolling Stone stated that since the release of Dangerously in Love (2003), "Beyoncé has become a crossover sex symbol a la Halle Berry " In 2006, the animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), had criticized Knowles for wearing fur coats and using fur in her clothing line House of Deréon. Read Less

The campaign, which launched on August 2, asked people around the world to pledge to help another person on World Humanitarian Day. The music video for "I Was Here" was directed by Kenzo Digital and Sophie Muller, and filmed in front of a live audience at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on August 10. On August 19, Knowles helped the campaign make social media history as more than one billion messages were shared at the same time in relation to the event. Read Less