Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter---- celebrity--- richest --- her life --must read

Beyoncé is the most nominated woman in Grammy history and has won 22 of the gold-plated gramophones (as a solo artist and with Destiny's Child) so far in her career.

Her biggest musical influence is Michael Jackson, whom she diligently studied and imitated as a young girl. "Michael Jackson changed me, and helped me to become the artist I am. Thank you Michael," she wrote on her website on the five-year anniversary of his death.

Growing up, kids in school made fun of her ears, claiming they were "bigger than her head."

Beyoncé's name is a tweaked version of her mother Tina's maiden name Beyincé. Through her mother's Louisiana Creole background, Beyoncé has a mix of African, French, Native American and Irish ancestry. She is also a descendant of Acadian leader Joseph Broussard who was considered a hero in the 18th-century French and Indian Wars.

In the early 2000s Beyoncé created her alter ego "Sasha Fierce" to remind herself that her stage persona is distinctly different from who she really is. But in 2010 she admitted she didn't need to make the distinctions anymore since she was older and had a stronger sense of herself. "I'm now able to merge the two," she stated.

In 2007 she appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue, making her the first non-supermodel and non-athlete to grace its coveted front page.