PENDING singer Beyoncé Knowles-Carter’s most recent jaunt – the commercially and critically successful Cowboy Carter Tour staged from April to July 2025 – a must have unofficial and unauthorized pocket book for the Beyhive (her fans) containing everything they need to know about their idol, was added onto the market.
An enabler to augment both followers and enthusiasts’ knowledge regarding the icon – the tome is a useful addition to the library of information on the most-awarded female artist of all time, and abounds with fascinating anecdotes about the singer’s biography and career.
For starters, the afore-mentioned Cowboy Carter Tour’s impact was akin to a comet (i.e., Beyoncé) streaking across Planet Earth, whilst it broke 40 venue records and became the highest-grossing country tour in history. An in-demand and sold-out all stadium (imagine huge arenas such as Paris’ Stade de France, London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, East Rutherford’s MetLife Stadium, et al) excursion – it comprised of 32 shows, 1.6 million tickets sold and revenue grossing over $400 million.
Perusing through the 128-pager, readers will, inter alia, discover that Beyoncé: inherited her name from her mom’s maiden surname because the matriarch, Tina – a hairdresser of Louisiana Creole descent – didn’t want it to become extinct; initially refined her vocal abilities and learnt the skill and discipline it takes to sing as part of a gospel choir at St John’s United Methodist Church whilst growing up in Houston, Texas.
Won her very first talent show at the age of 7 after her dance teacher deemed her to possess the “X Factor”, and went on to win the next 35 shows in a row; and her fledgling girl-group, Destiny’s Child had her dad Mathew Knowles as their manager from 1995 – with the then Xerox salesman quitting his job so as to assume the role.
Keeps more than 80 000 bees – enough to make hundreds of jars of honey – as the proud owner of two beehives; first met and began dating rapper Jay-Z in 1999 when she was 19 and went on to marry him in April 2008; and Jay-Z have three children, Blue Ivy and twins Rumi and Sir; announced her first pregnancy (with baby Blue Ivy) whilst performing at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2011; suffered a miscarriage in 2010, which she described as “the saddest thing” she had endured.
Remains married to Jay-Z despite his admission of infidelity during their union – with her being quoted in a 2009 interview thus: “What Jay and I have is real. It’s not about getting the right photo op. It’s real,” has collaborated with her spouse creatively on more than 50 songs to date, initially on Jay-Z’s ’03 Bonnie and Clyde’ (2002), 2003’s Crazy In Love, 2006’s Déja Vu, 2013’s ‘Drunk In Love’, 2014’s On the Run Tour, and 2018’s album, Everything Is Love – as well as, headlined the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg in December 2018.
And Jay-Z purchased the most expensive house ever sold in Malibu, California – a 11-bedroom mansion they named La Casa de Castille which cost a reported $200 million, in May 2023; confided to The Hollywood Reporter: “People see celebrities, and they have money and fame. But I’m a human being. I get scared and nervous just like everyone else.”
Counts as one of three prominent black American female singers to have performed the “Star-Spangled Banner” at US presidential inaugurations – along with Marian Anderson (who sang at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961) and Aretha Franklin (who sang at Obama’s first in 2009) – when she sang at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration in 2013; later gushed to Vogue magazine that, “Michele Obama told me she was very happy that her girls have someone like me to look up to . . .”
Has credited Tina Turner as a major inspiration and described Oprah Winfrey as “the definition of inspiration and a strong woman”; has made an impression on fellow songstresses such as megastar Taylor Swift, who called her a major influence; has been named the “World’s Most Beautiful Woman” by People magazine; debunked the myth that black people did not sell by appearing on the cover of Vogue magazine in 2018 which was also the first ever to be shot by an African-American photographer.
Remains The Queen Bey (her moniker) vested on a throne as one of the best-selling music artists of all time – with a solo haul of 200 million records worldwide (including 60 million with Destiny’s Child); holds the record of the most-awarded artist in Grammy history; most wins at the MTV Video Music Awards; is the eighth most followed celebrity, with 316 million Instagram followers in the world, among a roster which includes Lionel Messi and Kim Kardashian.
Is also a filmmaker who has directed eight films, as well as an actress whose voice of Nala the lioness featured along that of South African thespian Dr. John Kani’s Rafiki the wise mandrill’s, in the 2019 remake of The Lion King; curated and produced, The Lion King: The Gift – the accompanying album to the movie featuring African producers and incorporating gqom and Afrobeat genres to resonance with the film’s African setting.
Is estimated by Forbes to be $760 million plus wealthy; enacted the proverb “charity begins at home” when her BeyGOOD Foundation disbursed more than $12 million in support of victims of Hurricane Harvey, which in 2017 wreaked havoc in her hometown of Houston.
Has popularized phrases and terms which entered mainstream culture such as, “Bootylicious” (an adjective which was added into the Oxford English Dictionary in 2004) and quotes such as, “I’m not bossy, I’m the boss,” identifies as a “modern-day feminist” and aligns with Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s rallying call, “We should all be feminists”; declared: “I wanted to have my own empire and show other women – you do it yourself.”
To Queen Bey: Womandla!
A hardback, The Pocket Beyoncé is published by Gemini Books and distributed in South Africa by Jonathan Ball Publishers.
Available at leading bookstores countrywide, it retails for R240.
