Beyoncé
Beyoncé in 2010, photo by kathclick/bigstock.com
Birth Name: Beyoncé Giselle Knowles
Place of Birth: Houston, Harris, Texas, U.S.
Date of Birth: September 4, 1981
Ethnicity:
*father – African-American
*mother – Louisiana Creole, including African, French, Acadian/French-Canadian, as well as distant Irish, Breton, and Belgian Walloon, remote Penobscot First Nations
Beyoncé, also known as Harmonies by The Hive, Queen Bey or Queen B, Third Ward Trill, Sasha Fierce, and Beyoncé Knowles, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, director, and businessperson. She was a member of R&B girl group Destiny’s Child, along with Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, and also, originally, LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson. As a solo artist, she has won the most Grammy Awards of any person, at 32, and has sold over 200 million records worldwide. Often exploring themes of feminism and womanism, her songs include “Crazy in Love,” “Baby Boy,” “Me, Myself and I,” “Check on It,” “Déjà Vu,” “Irreplaceable,” “Beautiful Liar,” “If I Were a Boy,” “Single Ladies,” “Halo,” “Run the World (Girls),” “Drunk in Love,” “Formation,” “Perfect Duet,” “Break My Soul,” “Cuff It,” “Texas Hold ‘Em,” and “II Most Wanted.” Beyoncé has starred in the films Carmen: A Hip Hopera, Austin Powers in Goldmember, The Fighting Temptations, The Pink Panther (2006), Dreamgirls, Cadillac Records, Obsessed (2009), Epic (2013), and Disney’s The Lion King (2019), the latter two in voice role. She co-directed her music films Life Is But a Dream, Lemonade, and Black Is King, which she also co-wrote; and directed and wrote her music films Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé and Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé.
Beyoncé is the daughter of Tina Knowles (born Célestine Ann Beyoncé), a fashion designer, and Mathew C. Knowles, a businessperson and talent manager. Her sister is singer and actress Solange Knowles. They are the first sisters to have each had No. 1 albums. She is married to rapper and music producer Jay-Z, with whom she has three children, including singer and dancer Blue Ivy Carter. Beyoncé and Jay-Z are in a musical superduo together, The Carters. Beyoncé is a step-sister of actress Bianca Lawson. Her mother is married to Bianca’s father, actor Richard Lawson. Beyoncé founded management company Parkwood Entertainment.
Beyoncé’s father is African-American. Beyoncé’s maternal grandparents were French-speaking Louisiana Creoles, with roots in New Iberia; their ancestry was mostly African and French, including French ancestors who lived in Canada. Through her mother’s line, Beyoncé is a great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Acadian leader Joseph Broussard, who led French-speaking Catholics from Nova Scotia, Canada to Louisiana in 1765. He was among the first 200 Acadians to arrive in Louisiana that year. She is also a descendant of French military officer Jean-Vincent d’Abbadie de Saint-Castin (born c. 1652 in Escout, France), and of his wife, Marie Mathilde Pidianske/Penobscot (born c. 1658), who was the daughter of Madockawando Abenaki, a chief of the Penobscot (Panawahpskek) people. Through Marie Mathilde, Beyoncé is of 1/1024 Indigenous descent. Beyoncé is also of approximately 1/32 Irish ancestry, and has distant Breton and Belgian Flemish roots on her mother’s side, the latter including her ancestor Albert de Cuir, from Hainaut Province, Wallonia. Her name, Beyoncé, is a tribute to her mother’s family name, Beyincé. Through her Broussard line, she is a third cousin of gospel singer and graphic artist Karen Showell.
Beyoncé has said that she has Nigerian ancestry. She may have discovered this through a DNA test.
Beyoncé’s parents Mathew and Tina, 2007, photo by bigstock.com
Beyoncé’s mother has also been described as having Cherokee and/or Choctaw Native American ancestry. It is not clear if this ancestry has been verified/documented. No Cherokee or Choctaw Native American ancestors appear on publicly available family trees of Beyoncé’s mother. One book biography, Crazy in Love: The Beyoncé Knowles Biography, also refers to Beyoncé’s mother having Spanish, Jewish, Chinese, and Indonesian ancestry. It is also not clear if this is accurate.
Beyoncé does not speak French or Spanish, but she has sung in Spanish before.
A picture of Beyoncé’s maternal grandparents can be seen here.
Beyoncé’s paternal grandfather was Matthew/Mathew Q. Knowles (the son of Taylor Knowles and Girlie/Gurlie/Gerlie Mae Miller). Matthew was born in Alabama. Taylor was the son of James Isaac Knowles and Sarah Elizabeth Dixon. Girlie was the daughter of Prophet Miller and Jane Hall.
Beyoncé’s paternal grandmother is Lou Helen Hogue (the daughter of Davis/Dave Hogue and Hester Moore). Lou was born in Alabama. Davis was the son of Jim Hogue and Rosetta Moore. Hester was the daughter of Pinkney Madison Moore and Arenia Goree.
Beyoncé’s maternal grandfather was Lumis/Lumas Albert Beyincé/Buyincé (the son of Alexandre/Alexon Beyincé/Buyincé and Mary Olevia). Lumis was born in Delcambre, Vermilion, Louisiana.
Beyoncé’s maternal grandmother was Agnès/Agnèz DeRouen/Deréon (the daughter of Eugène-Gustave DeRouen/Deréon/Derezen and Odelia/Odilia Broussard). Agnès was born in Louisiana, and was a prominent seamstress. Eugène-Gustave likely was the son of Eloi Jacques DeRouen. Odelia was the daughter of Éloi/Éloy-René Rosemond Broussard, who was white, of French descent, and of Celestine Joséphine Lessee/Lesse/Lesser/Lacy/Lacey/Lessassier, who was black/mixed-race black, and the daughter of a slave mother. Éloi and Joséphine had many children together, and possibly married. A picture of Beyoncé’s great-grandfather Eugène-Gustave can be seen here.
LOS ANGELES – FEB 10: Beyoncé arrives to the Grammy Awards on February 10, 2013 in Hollywood, CA photo by DFree/Bigstock.com
Sources: Genealogies of Beyoncé – http://www.geni.com
https://famouskin.com
Family histories of Beyoncé – https://www.hollywoodancestry.com
https://www.dailymail.co.uk
https://jack.canalplus.com
Family history of Beyoncé, by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak – http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Beyoncé’s paternal grandfather, Matthew/Mathew Q. Knowles, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Beyoncé’s paternal grandmother, Lou Helen Hogue, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Beyoncé’s maternal grandmother, Agnès/Agnèz DeRouen/Deréon, on 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Article about Beyoncé’s maternal great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Joseph Broussard – http://www.biographi.ca
QUEEN BEY!
She is black
I am African American but I look “white” as people say, so i look at my self an i do not look %100 African, i asked my mom and she told me my Grandmother was “white” and “Native American” so i fount out looks cant truly be hidden =),, by the way beyonce is a great singer and i can tell shes mixed. peace
its obvious shes mixed..
I ve seen a picture of her and mom next to a tanned white (german i think) south african friend of mine their skin tone look almost the same.. I dont know if thats natural..
Shes not a good singer at all.
hater you suck. Not a good singer AT ALL ? are you kidding ? can you sing ?
r u serious, she sold over 100+ million records worldwide, the numbers speak 4 itself.
Creole just means mixture of heritage. You can look black mixed or white etc.
I am from Sierra Leone I am black and look black not mixed but people in my family look different light skinned dark skinned. My granddad looked Indian. People often think my brother is Ethiopian or Somalian
I must make a comment about this Creole just means statement ! For all of you taking a stab at it and guessing this culture you need to be educated! I am of creole descent with ties to Luisiana Creole! Now the reason why this is of importance is because what most people don’t know is that the original creole are primarily of (Native American, African, French and Spanish)descent. The primary language is (French,Creole), Primary faith (Catholic-long generations of) We are known for our fine cuisine(Etoufee, Gumbo, boudin, dirty-rice) too many fine cuisines to mention them all here! Now what many people call creole is not what we know it to be! You see Louisiana now the state was at one point a country operating under the dictatorship of Napoleon Bonaparte!!!!! ( You should have known about the Louisiana Purchase) you have no excuse for not knowing this because there is a wealth of knowledge out there for those who want to educate themeselves. The term Creole is thrown around freely as if to suggest that all people who are mixed are creole. This is far from the truth!!! It is mainly due to the collaboration of the aforementioned groups of people is what primarily what is recognized as creole culture! If but for the fact that these groups did not mix creole culture would be practiculy non-existing! I am sad to know that some of you don’t know that this culture has been around dating back to the early 1600’s! Well before there was an America persay!!! We take pride in knowing that Creole culture represents at least geographically one of the orginal multiracial group of people!!!!!!! There is so much ground to cover I will not be able to do this in one blog! I also would like to state that I am appauled to hear that some of the people who are trying to define you are the ones who know little or nothing!!!! AMAZED!!!!! I would not ever be so bold as to make statements about ones race or culture unless I could actually go to bat! I marvel at the fact that when you speak to some AA people or other Americans in America at how they really r just ignorant about the creole culture! Some of them can talk to you at great lengths about some of the hispanic culture when creole culture is actually just as diverse if not more in its presence! I challenged one woman about finding out more about my creole roots and guess what she came back to me oneday last week and said she was in awe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She could not stop talking! I laughed so hard! She said and I quote “There is so much information and misunderstanding about this rich culture. She said I never am opposed to learning but I thoroughly enjoyed learning about your culture! I was pleasantly surprised. She said I am AA and I have truly learned this culture should not be taken for granted nor should it be compared to AA culture. She is a more mature women with a great talent for learning!!!! I could not believe that she took it upon herself to study this!!!
I am preparing for an Authentic Creole event and she had without hesitation volunteered her services!!!! She stated if anything this is rich and different! Oh another tid bit of info there we are the quiet culture!!! However we are bold in numbers! I still have many relatives living in these parts Texas, Louisiana and my little cousin explained to me that even in todays society there are many creole people who will not date nor marry outside of there culture ( Extremely prevalent in her geographical location). So encourage some of you to speak of what you know not of what you think!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RESEARCH PEOPLE! Its much too simple for you not to get! (FORMER EDUCATOR).
To Seba
I gave you a thumbs up,but I disagree with one thing you wrote.You stated the 1600’s,however going by (Garcilaso de la Vega) it was the 1500’s
The term Creole can create some difficulty in determining one’s actual race due to the origin of the word and different uses it has to describe race. The earliest recollection of the word creole comes in the early 16th century(1500’s) from Garcilaso de la Vega. In his book, “Royal Commentaries of the Incas and General History of Peru,” Garcilaso de la Vega tells us that the word criollos or criollas was first invented by the Negroes to mean a Negro born in the Indies. Its use was devised to distinguish between Negros born in the Indies compared to those that were born in the New World since the former were held in high honor since they were born in their own country. He later goes on to state that the Spanish copied the term from the Negroes to describe people born in the new world. This means that all people born in the New World, both Spaniards and Guinea Negroes, were now considered criollo.
The other origin of the word criollo comes from Father J. de Acosta in 1590. De Acosta decided that mixed breeds from the New World were neither Spanish, African on Indian, meaning that they had no race. De Acosta decided to identify them as criollos, which came from the Latin word crear, meaning create. From that time, and approximately the next 250 years, Creole (or criollo) referred to not a color or race, but a person that was born in the New World.
I just thought I should mention this,don’t get upset with me
Hello Fuzzybear! I am glad you made mention of the fact of the 1500’s regarding the use of the term creole! You are absolutely correct and I’m not going to say I did not know this! lol! However as time progressed the term creole has become one of multiple meaning. I primarily am speaking of the Louisiana
to Seba
I get you were talking about our shared Louisiana heritage.I was just mentioning where the term came from,because I was once debating a woman on here,who was insisting that the term had nothing to do with blacks people.That the white creoles were the ones who made the term for themselves,and black creoles later came and took it,so that’s all I was doing