Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ) (born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child, and rose to fame in the late 1990s as lead singer of R&B girl-group Destiny's Child. Managed by her father, Mathew Knowles, the group became one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. Their hiatus saw the release of Beyoncé's debut album, Dangerously in Love (2003), which established her as a solo artist worldwide, earned five Grammy Awards and featured the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy".

Beyoncé is the fifth studio album by American singer and songwriter Beyoncé, released on December 13, 2013, by Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records. Developed as a simultaneous audio-visual medium, Beyoncé's songs are accompanied by non-linear short films that illustrate the musical concepts conceived during production. Its dark, intimate subject material includes feminist themes of sex, monogamous love and relationship issues, inspired by Beyoncé's desire to assert her full creative freedom.