Beyonce Giselle Knowles (born September 4, 1981), commonly known as Beyonce , is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools, and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child. Knowles rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child, the best-selling girl group of all time.In June 2003, after a series of commercial successes with the group, Beyonc released her debut solo album, Dangerously In Love.The album became one of the most successful albums of that year, spawning the number-one singles "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy", and earned Knowles five Grammy Awards in a single night in 2004.