Born September 4, 1981, in Houston, Texas. Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter was raised Methodist and attended St. John's United Methodist Church. She went to St. Mary's Montessori School in Houston, and enrolled in dance classes there. Her singing was discovered when dance instructor Darlette Johnson began humming a song and she finished it, able to hit the high-pitched notes. Beyoncé's interest in music and performing continued after winning a school talent show at age seven, singing John Lennon's "Imagine" to beat 15/16-year-olds. In the fall of 1990, Beyoncé enrolled in Parker Elementary School, a music magnet school in Houston, where she performed with the school's choir. She also attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and later Alief Elsik High School. Beyoncé was also a member of the choir at St. John's United Methodist Church where she sang her first solo and was a soloist for two years. When Beyoncé was eight, she met LaTavia Roberson at an audition for an all-girl entertainment group, they were placed into a group called Girl's Tyme with three other girls, and rapped and danced on the talent show circuit in Houston. After seeing the group, R&B producer Arne Frager brought them to his Northern California studio and placed them in Star Search, the largest talent show on national TV at the time. Girl's Tyme failed to win, and Beyoncé later said the song they performed was not good. On October 5, 1995, Dwayne Wiggins's Grass Roots Entertainment signed the group. In 1996, the girls began recording their debut album under an agreement with Sony Music, then the group changed their name to Destiny's Child in 1996, based upon a passage in the Book of Isaiah. After releasing their holiday album 8 Days of Christmas in October 2001, the group announced a hiatus to further pursue solo careers. Beyoncé's first solo recording was a feature on Jay-Z's song "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" that was released in October 2002, peaking at number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.
On June 14, 2003, Beyoncé premiered songs from her first solo album Dangerously in Love during her first solo concert and the pay-per-view television special, "Ford Presents Beyoncé Knowles, Friends & Family, Live From Ford's 100th Anniversary Celebration in Dearborn, Michigan”. Since then, Beyoncé became the first female artist to have their first seven studio albums debut at number one in the US.