Video will appear as you scroll through the story
Beyoncé · S1 E2
Mathew and Tina
A hairdresser, a Xerox salesman, and the daughter they built a dynasty around
The most recognized name in pop music is not a stage name. "Beyonce" is her mother's maiden name, a Creole surname passed down through generations in Galveston, Texas.
"Daddy Lessons" live at the CMAs with The Chicks (2016). One of Beyonce's rare appearances in a country music context, performing a song addressed directly to her father.
Daddy Lessons (2016)
"Daddy Lessons" is a country song from Lemonade, which is unusual for Beyonce, but the genre fits the subject. The lyrics address a father who is both protector and source of pain. In real life, Mathew's 2009 affair became public and led to Tina filing for divorce. Beyonce has never confirmed the song is autobiographical, but in the context of an album dealing with betrayal, the connection is hard to miss.
Mathew Knowles
Mathew grew up in Gadsden, Alabama during the Jim Crow era. He attended Fisk University in Nashville, one of America's historically Black colleges, where he played football before pivoting to business. He built a successful career at Xerox, eventually becoming one of the company's top-earning Black salesmen, pulling in roughly $200,000 a year by the late 1980s.
“Born Celestine Ann Beyonce in Galveston, Texas, Tina descended from a Creole family with roots in Louisiana. She ran a hair salon called Headliners in Houston, but she was also a skilled seamstress. When Destiny's Child could not afford professional stage outfits, Tina made them by hand, coordinating sequins and silhouettes so four girls in homemade clothes looked like they had a stylist and a budget.”
— Source: verified historical record
TAP TO REVEAL: Where does the name "Beyonce" come from?
The Knowles Family
Tina and Mathew married in January 1980. Beyonce was born September 4, 1981.
Solange, Beyonce's sister and an acclaimed artist in her own right, was born in 1986.
Mathew was earning roughly $200,000 a year at Xerox when he quit to manage the group full-time.
Love On Top (Beyonce)
From 4 (2011). A four-key-change celebration of devotion that Beyonce has called one of her favorite songs to perform live. The vocal precision required to land each modulation is a direct product of years watching her mother stay up until 3 a.m. perfecting every detail.
Beyonce's obsessive attention to costumes and visual presentation came most directly from which family member?
Mathew and Tina had a daughter with a voice that stopped rooms. But talent alone does not go anywhere. Next up: how a Houston dance teacher heard something the rest of the room missed, and what happened when a seven-year-old Beyonce walked onto a talent show stage for the first time.
0 XP earned this session