Beyoncé

Singing and dancing in stilettos since the age of nine, Beyoncé Knowles has been well prepared for superstardom. The Texan triple-threat began as lead singer of the Grammy-winning Destiny’s Child, one of the biggest female groups of all time (40 million albums sold worldwide). Her 2003 solo debut, Dangerously In Love, featured her then-boyfriend Jay-Z on her first single, “Crazy In Love.” Beyoncé has since released three more solo albums, the most recent being 2011's 4,  with hits like “Irreplaceable” and “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”; collaborated with superstars like Shakira and Lady Gaga; starred in films like Dreamgirls and Cadillac Records; and sung the Etta James classic “At Last” while President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama danced following his 2008 inauguration. In addition to running the fashion label House of Deréon with her mother Tina, Beyoncé (a.k.a. Sasha Fierce) married rap mogul Jay-Z and turned the gossip world upside down when on January 7, 2012, they gave birth to their first child, Blue Ivy Carter.