41 Years of Beyoncé: Celebrating Queen Bey By the Numbers from 1 to 41 (2024)

1: Beyoncé to Rule Them All

There's only one Beyoncé, and we all know that she's "Irreplaceable."

2: History-Making Coachella Performances

Dubbed "Beychella," the singer's epic headlining performances at 2018's Coachella music festival were memorialized in a live album and the Netflix documentary Homecoming.

Beyoncé's performance marked the first time a Black woman had headlined the music festival; her set paid tribute to historically black colleges and was full of surprise guest appearances, including her younger sister Solange and her former Destiny's Child groupmates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams.

3: Kids

The pop star is also a proud mom to three little ones with husband JAY-Z: daughter Blue Ivy, whom she welcomed in 2012, and twins Rumi and Sir, born in 2017.

4: Her Favorite Number

All real Bey stans know that the number four holds special significance to the singer: she's born on Sept. 4, while husband JAY-Z is born on Dec. 4. Their wedding anniversary is on the 4th of April (the fourth month of the year). 4 is the title of her fourth studio album, while JAY-Z also has an album called 4:44. The pair have matching tattoos of the Roman numeral for 4, IV, which prompted fans to speculate that their love for the number may have influenced the name of their eldest daughter Blue Ivy.

5: Live Albums

Looking for the next-best-thing to seeing Bey live in concert? Cue up one of Bey's five live albums, including 2004's Live at Wembley, 2007's The Beyoncé Experience Live, 2009's I Am… Yours: An Intimate Performance at Wynn Las Vegas, 2010's I Am… World Tour and 2019's Homecoming: The Live Album.

6: Streams, On Loop

What's that, you ask? Oh, just our scientifically-backed prescription for the required number of times to blast "Single Ladies" after a breakup.

7: Studio Albums

The singer's studio albums include her first-ever album, 2003's Dangerously in Love, as well as B'Day (2006), I Am… Sasha Fierce (2008), 4 (2011), Beyoncé (2013) and Lemonade (2016). Her latest, Renaissance, dropped in August 2022.

8: Billboard No. 1 Hits

Bey's been topping the charts for four decades, with eight of her songs peaking at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100: "Perfect" (with Ed Sheeran), "Irreplaceable," "Baby Boy" (feat. Sean Paul), "Check On It" (Feat. Slim Thug), "Sweet Dreams," "Savage" (with Megan Thee Stallion), "Crazy in Love" (with JAY-Z) and "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)."

9: Grammy Nominations in 2021

The singer was nominated for nine Grammy Awards in 2021, and ultimately won four — which prompted her to break the record for the most Grammys held by any woman artist in history (more on that later!).

10: The Number of Times We've Cried Listening to 'Listen'

If Bey's emotional Dreamgirls number doesn't get you, we don't know what will.

11: Years Since Beyoncé Fought for the Rights to Her Masters

After Beyoncé dismissed her manager (Mathew Knowles, who is also her father) in 2010, she took full control of her masters and recordings in 2011, via her entertainment company Parkwood Entertainment.

12: Years Since Sasha Fierce 'Died'

Beyoncé introduced the world to her alter ego in 2008, explaining that she channeled her when she needed extra confidence on stage.

But in a 2010 interview with Allure, she said she was ready to send Sasha Fierce into retirement. "I don't need Sasha Fierce anymore, because I've grown, and I'm now able to merge the two," she explained, according to PopSugar.

13: Minutes

How long we usually spend scrolling through Beyoncé's Instagram (don't judge!).

14: Years Since She Started Her Management Company

What initially began as a video and film production unit in 2008 grew into a full-fledged management and entertainment company, Parkwood Entertainment, by 2010.

15: Years Since Destiny's Child Disbanded

The ultra-popular girl group (best known with members Beyoncé, Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland) first gained fame with their debut album in 1998. In 2005, the group took a break before splitting the following year.

The trio has remained close and reunited on several occasions, including Beyoncé's headlining performances at Coachella and the 2013 Super Bowl Halftime Show.

16: Bey's Age When Destiny Child First Charted

Beyoncé and her bandmates — initially Kelly Rowland, LaTavia Roberson, and LeToya Luckett — got their first shot at stardom thanks to their track "Killing Time" being featured on 1997's Men in Black soundtrack. By 2000, Roberson and Luckett had been replaced by Farrah Franklin and Michelle Williams; shortly after, Franklin left the group, leaving the iconic trio we know today.

17: Self-Professed Celeb Fans in the Beyhive

We're quite confident the list of Bey's celebrity admirers could go on forever, but we've rounded up some of our favorites who are "Crazy in Love" with the singer here.

18: Her Age When She Met JAY-Z

"I was 18 when we first met, 19 when we first started dating," she told Seventeen. "There was no rush — no one expected me to run off and get married."

19: Years Since She Released her First Solo Album

Dangerously in Love dropped in 2003, and the entire album is still a bop. "Baby Boy" has truly stayed on my mind for nearly two decades.

20: Billboard Top 10 Hits

Beyoncé continues to top the charts year after year, with No. 1 songs in each of the past four decades.

21: Years Since Bey's Acting Debut

Sure, you may remember the star's stellar roles in Dreamgirls and Austin Powers in Goldmember or The Pink Panther — but real members of the Beyhive know that it all began with MTV's Carmen: A Hip Hopera, back in 2001.

22: The Nutrition Plan She Used to Prepare Her Body For Coachella

The singer credits her trainer and friend Marco Borges's #22Days plant-based program with helping her achieve her health goals between welcoming twins Rumi and Sir and headlining Coachella. Special access to the program is promoted on her website, Beyonce.com.

23: Times We Couldn't Tell Who Was Who

Bey and daughter Blue Ivy have given twins Rumi and Sur a run for their money with these lookalike outfits over the years.

24: Years Since Destiny's Child Dropped Their First Album

Let 1998 always be remembered as the year the group released their eponymous first album, Destiny's Child.

25: Multiplied By 10 Million Equals...

Roughly the amount of money that Bey and Jay raked in at their On the Run II stadium tour in 2018. The power couple earned $253.5 million from the tour, according to Billboard.

26: Her Age When She Got Married

Bey and Jay secretly tied the knot in 2008, when she was 26 years old. The longtime couple first got together in 2001.

27: The Date of the 2022 Oscars, Which She Opened

Bey kicked off what became a very memorable night in March of 2022 with a pre-taped performance of her hit "Be Alive" from King Richard. The video paid homage to Serena and Venus Williams and their hometown of Compton in several cool ways.

28: Grammy Awards

Told you we'd circle back to this! As of 2021, Beyoncé holds the record for the most-decorated female artist, and has been nominated for a Grammy a whopping 79 times.

29: Years Since She Competed on Star Search

She had initial success in early talent shows (pictured), but her appearance at age 12 on Star Search with her band Girls Tyme eventually ended in a loss.

30: Bey's Age When She Welcomed Her First Child

Beyoncé and JAY-Z welcomed their first child together, daughter Blue Ivy, in January 2012.

31: Years of Friendship

It's destiny! Beyoncé and former bandmate Kelly Rowland have been BFFs for 31 years, since they first met at age nine while auditioning for Girl's Tyme together, according to Marie Claire.

32: Bey's Age When She Received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award the

Beyoncé has earned an entire room of awards over the past three decades, including the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards.

33: Bey's Age During the 'On the Run' Tour

The Carters headlined their first tour together in 2014. They later followed up with a second tour, On the Run II, in 2018.

34: TikTok Likes

Well, times 100,000. When the queen dropped a Renaissance teaser on TikTok on July 29, 3.4 million followers lost their minds.

35: The Number of Local Talent Shows Bey Won As a Child

According to Rolling Stone, Bey won 35 — yes, you read that right — local talent shows in a row as a child, which prompted her dad to begin forming the group that would eventually become Destiny's Child.

36: Approximately the Number of Gasps Produced By This Photo

When royalty meets royalty. Bey and Jay met Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at The Lion King premiere in 2019.

37: Bey's Age When She Had Her Twins

After nearly breaking the internet with her pregnancy announcement, the singer welcomed twins Rumi and Sir in 2017. Her husband rapped about the new additions on "4:44," saying "Took for these natural twins to believe in miracles."

38: Number of Times We've Talked About This Photo

The Renaissance art is giving Elsa from Frozen and so many other great vibes.

39: The Steps We Would Climb to Get a Glimpse of This Look

Okay, fine — we would climb a lot more than 29 if we're being honest. Bey's beaded Givenchy look for the 2015 Met Gala still makes me "lose my breath."

40: The Number of Times We've Streamed 'Run the World' While Writing This Article

Honestly, is there any better motivation than singing "Who run the world? Girls!" to yourself in front of your computer? Just me?

41: Years of Gracing Us With Her Presence

Happy 41st Birthday, Beyoncé! Celebrating you is our "MOOD 4 EVA."