HOUSTON – Once upon a time, on Sept. 4, 1981, there was a baby girl born in Third Ward to two hardworking parents.
As that baby girl grew up, she was growing into a music sensation, traveling across the city of Houston alongside her friends and family while singing to anyone and everyone who would listen.
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From there, the queen of music herself, THEE Beyoncé was created.
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter got her start right in our backyard but many don’t know the details of her upbringing.
Did you know?
In 1990, Beyoncé was a student in Houston Independent School District and was enrolled in Parker Elementary School.
She later attended Welch Middle School of Fine Arts program, alongside her cousin and groupmate, Kelly Rowland, and then the High School for the Performing and Elsik High School in Alief.
Beyoncé debatably got her first true start at her mother’s Headliners Salon in Third Ward. She has said time and time again that she forced her mother’s clients to listen to her and her friends while they were being styled.
Over in Third Ward, the famous soul food restaurant, ‘This Is It’ has pictures of Beyoncé and her friends, along with their signatures. The folks over there said that the eatery was one of her FAVORITE places to stop while the girls were out on tour.
The original members of Destiny’s Child, Beyoncé, LaTavia Roberson, Kelly Rowland, and LeToya Luckett, were part of a KPRC 2 special when Texas became the first state to adopt the ‘Baby Moses’ law. The segment, broadcast on December 21, 1999, reports on a public education campaign about the new law led by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee and publicly supported by Destiny’s Child.
Destiny’s Child also made two appearances at the shuttered stadium during the Rodeo season in 2001 and 2002. The 2001 show was filmed for a pay-per-view TV event, which meant the crowd got to sit through multiple renditions of songs to get different camera angles.
Beyoncé's name came from her mother’s maiden last name. Tina Knowles, affectionately known as Mama Tina, was born Celestine Beyoncé.
“My name was Celestine Beyoncé, which at that time was not a cool thing to have that weird name,” she told the L.A. Times. “I wanted my name to be Linda Smith.”
As the youngest of seven children, Mama Tina said she and her brother Skip were the only members of her family to have the “Beyoncé” spelling.
“Why is my brother’s name spelled B-E-Y-I-N-C-E?” Tina recalled asking her mother.
She went on to say that her mom explained that the alternative spelling was “what they put on your birth certificate.” She continued by sharing that her mother, Agnéz Beyincé, once requested that the documents be corrected but was told, “Be happy that you’re getting a birth certificate.”