While Knowles was with Destiny’s Child, she made appearances as solo artist. In 2000, Knowles was featured on “I Got That” by rapper Amil, which was released on the latter’s debut album, All Money Is Legal. In early 2001, while Destiny’s Child was completing Survivor, Knowles landed a major role in the MTV made-for-television film, Carmen: A Hip Hopera, starring alongside American actor Mekhi Phifer. Set in Philadelphia, the film is a modern interpretation of the 19th century opera Carmen by French composer Georges Bizet.

In 2002, Knowles co-starred in the comedy film Austin Powers in Goldmember, playing Foxxy Cleopatra opposite Mike Myers. The movie topped the box office, gaining $73.1 million on its first weekend. Knowles recorded her first solo single, “Work It Out”, for the film’s soundtrack. The following year, Knowles starred opposite Cuba Gooding, Jr. in the romantic comedy film The Fighting Temptations, and recorded “Fighting Temptation”, alongside female rappers Missy Elliott, MC Lyte, and Free for its soundtrack.

That same year, Knowles was featured on her then-boyfriend Jay-Z’s hit single “’03 Bonnie & Clyde”.[8] She also recorded a version of 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” and released it in March 2003. Luther Vandross and Knowles remade the duet “The Closer I Get to You”, which was originally recorded by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway in 1977.

Their version won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals the following year, and Vandross’ “Dance with My Father”, which also features Knowles, won for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.

After Williams and Rowland released their solo efforts, Knowles released her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love, in June 2003. Featuring many musical collaborators, the album contains a combination of uptempo and slow jam songs. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at number one, selling 317,000 copies in its first week.

Certified 4x platinum on August 5, 2004 by the Recording Industry Association of America, the album has sold 4.2 million copies to date in the United States.

The album yielded two number one singles. Crazy In Love featuring a guest rap verse from Jay-Z, was released as the album’s lead single remained on the Billboard Hot 100 for eight consecutive weeks and topping many charts worldwide. Knowles also successfully dominated the United Kingdom, simultaneously topping the singles and album charts there.

The album’s second single, “Baby Boy”, which features dancehall singer Sean Paul, also became one of the biggest hits of 2003, dominating U.S. radio airplay and spending nine weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100—one week longer than “Crazy in Love”. Unlike “Crazy in Love”, the final three singles attained more immediate commercial successes, propelling the album to the top of the charts and going a long way toward it being certified multi-platinum.

Knowles won five awards at the 2004 Grammy Awards for her solo effort, which included the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for “Dangerously in Love 2″, Best R&B Song for “Crazy in Love”, and the Best Contemporary R&B Album. She shares this distinction with four other female artists: Lauryn Hill (1999), Alicia Keys (2002) Norah Jones (2003) and Amy Winehouse (2008). In 2004, she won a BRIT Award for International Female Solo Artist.

In 2004, Knowles planned to release a follow-up to Dangerously in Love, which would feature some of the left-over recordings. However, her musical aspirations were put on hiatus due to conflicting schedules, including her recording with Destiny’s Child for what would be their final album. Early in that year, Knowles performed the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl XXXVIII at Reliant Stadium in Houston; she admitted it fulfilled a childhood dream.

After a three-year journey that involved concentration on individual solo projects, Knowles rejoined Rowland and Williams for Destiny Fulfilled, released in November 2004. The album hit number two on the Billboard 200, and spawned thre top forty hits including “Lose My Breath”, “Soldier”. In support of the album, Destiny’s Child embarked on the 2005 Destiny Fulfilled … And Lovin’ It world tour, which started in April and ran through September. On the Barcelona, Spain visit, the group announced their disbandment after the end of their final North American leg.

In October 2005, the group released a compilation album, entitled #1′s, including all of Destiny’s Child’s number-one hits and most of their well-known songs. The greatest hits collection also includes three new tracks, including “Stand Up for Love”. Destiny’s Child was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in March 2006.They were also recognized as the world’s best-selling female group of all time.

Continuing her film career, Knowles co-starred in the film The Pink Panther, playing the role of Xania, an international pop star, opposite Steve Martin, who plays Inspector Clouseau. The film was released on February 10, 2006, and debuted at number one at the box office, doing $21.7 million in ticket sales in its first week. Knowles recorded “Check on It” for the soundtrack to the film, featuring Slim Thug, and reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

In late 2005, Knowles again put her second album on hold after she landed a role in Dreamgirls, the film adaptation of the 1981 hit Broadway musical about a 1960s singing group loosely based on Motown all-female group The Supremes. In the film, she portrays the Diana Ross-based character Deena Jones.

Knowles told Billboard magazine: “I’m not going to write for the album until I finish doing the movie.” Released in December 2006, Dreamgirls stars Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, and Jennifer Hudson. Knowles recorded several songs for the film’s soundtrack, including the original song “Listen”. On December 14, 2006, Knowles was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for the film: Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and Best Original Song for “Listen”.

Inspired by her role in Dreamgirls, Knowles worked on her second album without any specific plan, telling MTV News, “[When filming ended] I had so many things bottled up, so many emotions, so many ideas”. Knowles worked with previous musical collaborators, including Rich Harrison, Rodney Jerkins and Sean Garrett, at the Sony Music Studios in New York City. She co-wrote and co-produced nearly all songs included in the album, which was completed in three weeks.

B’Day was released worldwide on September 4, 2006 and on September 5, 2006 in the United States to coincide with the celebration of her twenty-fifth birthday. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling more than 541,000 copies in the first week, her highest first-week sales mark as a solo artist.The album has been certified three-times platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America.

The album spawned the UK number-one single “Déjà Vu”, the album’s lead single, featuring Jay-Z.” “Irreplaceable” was released in October 2006 as the album’s second single worldwide and third single in the U.S. “Irreplaceable” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 consecutive weeks, giving Knowles her longest-running single to date. Although it was a commercial success, the relatively short-spanned production of the album was the subject of critical scrutiny.

Knowles re-released B’Day on April 3, 2007 as a deluxe edition, featuring five new tracks and Spanish-language versions of “Irreplaceable”, and “Listen”. Simultaneously, the B’Day Anthology was released featuring 10 music videos. In support of the album, Knowles embarked on her lengthy The Beyoncé Experience concert tour, visiting over ninety venues worldwide.

B’Day won the award for Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 2007 Grammy Awards. Knowles made history at the 35th Annual American Music Awards for being the first woman to win an International Artist Award.

Knowles released her third studio album, I Am… Sasha Fierce, on November 18, 2008. Knowles says that the name Sasha Fierce is the name of the persona she adopts when she performs onstage. “I have someone else that takes over when it’s time for me to work and when I’m on stage, this alter ego that I’ve created that kind of protects me and who I really am.”

In an interview with producer Rodney Jerkins, he said that the style of the album kept switching and was inspired by the musical biopic film, Cadillac Records, in which Knowles had been cast to play famed blues singer Etta James.] Knowles will also star opposite Ali Larter and Idris Elba in a thriller film called Obsessed, which has been in production since May 2008. This film is due in the United States in April 2009, with an international release slated in March 2009.

Knowles recorded a cover of Billy Joel’s “Honesty” which was included on a Matthew Knowles/Music World CD released only in Japan towards the end of June 2008 to celebrate the tenth-year anniversary of Destiny’s Child.

“If I Were a Boy” and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”, the first and second singles off I Am… Sasha Fierce, were released to radio on October 14, 2008, preceding the album’s release on November 18, 2008. While the single “If I Were a Boy” became Knowles’ fourth UK number-one single, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” went on to top the Hot 100 chart, for four non-consecutive weeks, giving Knowles her fifth number one single in the U.S. Knowles will tour around the world for most of 2009 starting in the Spring, visiting venues all over the world from the America’s, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Knowles will also include a week long stint of shows in Las Vegas. The tour will be named Beyoncé’s I Am… Tour.

On January 7, 2009, it was announced that she was nominated six times for five NAACP Image Awards: Outstanding Female Artist, Outstanding Music Video (“If I Were A Boy”), Outstanding Music Video (“Single Ladies”), Outstanding Song (“Single Ladies”), Outstanding Album (“I Am…Sasha Fierce”) and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (“Cadillac Records”). Knowles performed on January 18, 2009 at the Lincoln Memorial festivities in honor of the inauguration of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States.

Knowles also sang her cover of the R&B classic most famously sang by Etta James, “At Last”, as President Obama and his wife Michelle had their first dance as President and First lady of America, on January 20, 2009 at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball.

* Dangerously in Love (2003)
* B’Day (2006)
* I Am… Sasha Fierce (2008)

* Carmen: A Hip Hopera (2001)
* Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
* The Fighting Temptations (2003)
* The Pink Panther (2006)
* Dreamgirls (2006)
* Cadillac Records (2008)