Zing Tsjeng

A young girl, just nine years old, sweats under the sweltering Texas sun. She is running, her tiny feet are pounding the pavement along the edge of the Bayou River. Five other girls trail behind her. They're all singing at the top of their lungs, harmonizing as they go. But none of the girls are hitting the notes quite like our lead. Because this little girl is Beyonce, and she will leave everyone in the dust on her journey to becoming a billionaire.

Oh yeah, and probably the 20th century as well. I mean we are starting this season with a bang. Have you seen her life? I've seen her life. I've actually seen her life three times and I was trying to count how much money I've spent on Beyonce in the last 15 years.

And I love this. Her multi-purpose badass conglomerate. But really, this is a story about an artist who made money from making music. Which is pretty rare. And I like the multi-purpose badass conglomerate. Remember Jay-Z, who will feature in this story for obvious reasons. He said, I'm not a businessman. I'm a business, comma, man. So what does it take to make a billion and become Queen Bee? Let's travel back to find out. Queen Bee

Björnsi kasvoi ystävällisesti. Kaikki kuvaavat hänet, kun hän kasvoi ystävällisesti, kuin pysyvänä.

Her parents actually put Beyoncé in a dance class because she was too shy. And the story goes is that when Beyoncé was seven, her dance teacher, a woman called Darlette, noticed that she could sing and said, it blew me away. I told her to sing again. And because she was very shy, I promised her a dollar. And she sang it again. Interesting incentive for Beyoncé there. And Darlette then entered Beyoncé into a talent show. And when she got up, she absolutely commanded the stage. And her mum Tina, who will come up again in the story,

Exactly. So you might ask yourself, where did this work ethic come from? Beyonce credits her parents. She said, both were entrepreneurs. I watched them struggle working 18-hour days. They taught me that nothing worth having comes easily. And in particular, her dad, Matthew Knowles, stressed discipline. He was really tough on her. But Beyonce has said, I wasn't doing this because I didn't have a choice or to support the family. Important for child entertainers.

And they traveled to the west coast to record their first record, but tensions were already showing. So those involved have said that Beyonce's dad, Matthew, was trying to position her as the lead, although Matthew obviously disputes this portrayal of himself. It's worth noting that there were a lot of people involved at this point, all of whom were developing Girls' Time for months on end.

Se ei ole erittäin ongelmallista, kun puhutaan isojen bansseihin. Se on arvioitu, että silloin tämä olisi kostunut noin 100 000 dollaria, koska se on kalliikkaa, jos työskentelee paljon ihmisiä. Joten banssi tarvitsi ratkaisua, mutta heidän producenttinsa ostettiin rekordit maailmanlaajuisen jälkeen noin vuoden aikana. Heillä ei ollut onnistumista, ja heidän viimeinen toivomaan oli populari TV-talentshow Star Search, joka on melko erilaista X-Factorin tai Pop Idolin.

But lose they did. And this whole process of losing Star Search caused also a deep rift within the band. Ashley left. Soon the producers, songwriters also parted ways. And this left the stage clear for Matho Knowles. He quit his job to manage the band full time. This is a guy who's probably pretty high up. He just goes, I'm just going to quit to manage my daughter's band. Well, they must have been absolutely convinced that they had a star on their hands. Because as you say, it's not like this was their only hope. They had a very comfortable life. They both had good jobs. And to pack it in...

Tämä on kuin Jackson 5, eikö? Hienoa, ehkä ei niin kuitenkaan, mutta suuri vahva ympäristö.

Ja Destiny's Child in fact is her first signing. Their first single, No No No, which is an incredible song, by the way. Major hit peaking at number three on the US Billboard chart. But the album only made number 67. Now this failure probably was a blessing in a way. Beyonce has said the label didn't really believe we were pop stars. They underestimated us. And because of that, they allowed us to write our own songs, write our own video treatments.

Artistic Freedom, and they brought out an album which became critically acclaimed, something called The Writings on the Wall. Do you know any songs from this era? I think, am I right in saying that Say My Name is on this album? Absolutely. Oh, there we go! So, Say My Name, Jumping Jumping, Bills, Bills, Bills. Okay. Hugely influential pop songs, which actually...

So by the third album, there were just three members of Destiny's Child. The ones that we all know, Beyonce, Kelly, a new girl called Michelle. And their 2001 album, Survivor, was Beyonce's very first number one album. The title and the lyrics were actually about the band's turmoil. So there's a line in there that says, you thought I wouldn't sell without you, sold nine million. I always thought when I was growing up that that was about...

Hän oli vaarallinen vanhempi, joka ei uskonut Beyoncéä tai muista tyypiltä, mutta oikeastaan se oli koko tämän bändin sisällöstä. Ja myös sillä hetkellä, jolloin ei ollut välttämättä, että tämä oli Beyoncé-show. Hän oli yliopistossa. Hän oli myös saanut suurin osa kirjoituksista ja tuotantokriittejä albumissa.

jota me tiedämme Taylor Swiftin jaksosta, on niin tärkeää rahoittaa rahaa. Ja Survivor osti 10 miljoonaa, se on paljon, mutta se on aina haastavaa tutustua siitä, kuinka paljon rahaa taiteilijat tekevät musiikkiaan. Joo. Vuonna 2016 entertainment-sivuilta Jasmine-brandi osoitti original dealin perusteita.

Se on melko yksinkertainen. Kaikki rahaa, jonka järjestelmä piti sovittaa, olisi sovittanut Sonyn albumprofittiin. Emme tiedä, olivatko avaukset samanlaisia. Latavia ja Latoya sanoivat, että ne eivät olleet. Mutta on vaikea olla taustalla, jossa Beyoncé on itse asiassa tehnyt miljoonan.

In order to do that, Beyonce needs to go solo. So at the end of 2001, Destiny's Child announces a hiatus. She's only 21 at this stage. She's on her own. Beyonce releases a collaboration with a rapper, the man who would later on become her husband, Jay-Z. And according to Beyonce, she was not flush with cash at the beginning of their relationship. She says, we used calling cards and Skype when we were falling in love.

And then the big screen is Foxy Cleopatra in Austin Powers Gold Member. I don't remember that. I remember this. And she also did a song for it from memory. Did she? A song which is quite good, I think, but, you know, forgotten to the mists of time. But things are about to get really big for her.

Exactly. So things exploded in 2003 when she released her debut solo album Dangerously in Love. It debuted at number one in the States, it earned her five Grammy Awards, and it was a truly global hit. In fact, she became the first female artist and the fifth artist ever to simultaneously top both the singles charts and the album charts in the US and the UK. That is really, really difficult. And most importantly for Beyoncé's journey to a billion,

Dangerously in Love became one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century. So between this, the acting jobs, the Pepsi gig, it feels fair to say that Beyoncé is a millionaire in 2003 at the age of 22. Just 22.