Solange Piaget Knowles (/soʊˈlɑːnʒ/; born June 24, 1986)[1][2][3] is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Knowles expressed an interest in music from an early age and had temporary stints as a backup dancer for Destiny's Child, which featured her older sister Beyoncé Knowles among its members, before signing with her father Mathew Knowles' Music World Entertainment label. At 16, Knowles released her first studio album Solo Star (2002). She also appeared in the films Johnson Family Vacation (2004), and Bring It On: All or Nothing (2006).
In 2007, Knowles began to record music again. Heavily influenced by Motown girl groups, her second studio album Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams (2008) deviated from the pop-oriented music of her debut to Motown-inspired sounds from the 60's and 70's. It peaked at number nine on the US Billboard 200 and received positive reviews from critics. She followed this up with the 1980s pop and R&B-inspired extended play True (2012) on Terrible Records and her imprint Saint Records. Her third studio album, A Seat at the Table (2016) was released to widespread critical acclaim and became her first number-one album in the United States. The album's lead single, "Cranes in the Sky" won the Grammy for Best R&B Performance. Her fourth studio album, When I Get Home, was released in March 2019 to further critical acclaim.
Knowles says that her first passion is songwriting. Frequently compared by the media to her sister Beyoncé, Knowles has claimed that they have different aspirations and are musically different. She has been ranked by Billboard as the 100th most successful dance artist of all time,[4] and in 2017 was honored with the "Impact Award" at the Billboard Women in Music event.[5] Her other ventures include an endorsement deal with Rimmel London and a line of hip-hop-oriented merchandise for young children.
Knowles has also ventured into performance art, working in several international museums and exhibitions, such as the Elbphilharmonie, the Venice Art Biennale and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. In 2022, Knowles became the third woman and first African American to compose a score for the New York City Ballet.
Solange Piaget Knowles was born on June 24, 1986, in Houston, Texas to Tina and Mathew Knowles. Her older sister is singer Beyoncé Knowles. Her father, originally from Alabama, is African American, and her mother, originally from Texas, is an African American of Louisiana Creole heritage.[6][7][8][9][10][11] Her maternal grandparents are Lumis Beyincé and Agnéz Deréon, a seamstress. She is also a descendant of Acadian leader Joseph Broussard.[12] Knowles was raised Catholic until the age of four, when her family became members of a Methodist church.[13][14][15] As a child, she studied dance and theater. At age five, she made her singing debut at Six Flags AstroWorld, a theme park in Houston. She began writing songs at the age of nine.[16] At 13, she decided to pursue recording, but her parents initially advised her to wait. During Destiny's Child's opening stint for Christina Aguilera's 2000 tour, Knowles temporarily replaced member Kelly Rowland after she broke her toes backstage during a costume change.[17] At 15, Knowles replaced a departed dancer and performed with the group on tour.[18]
Managed by her father Mathew, Knowles first ventured into the music business in 2001 as the lead singer, backed by Destiny's Child, on the title theme song for the animated television series The Proud Family.[19][20] She also was a featured performer on "Hey Goldmember" for the soundtrack to the 2002 film Austin Powers in Goldmember,[19] as well as a backup singer on the track "Little Drummer Boy" on Destiny's Child's 2001 holiday album 8 Days of Christmas.[21] In 2002, she was featured on Lil' Romeo's second studio album Game Time, singing portions of Luther Vandross-penned "So Amazing" on the single "True Love", and on Kelly Rowland's debut solo album Simply Deep, for which she also wrote the tracks "Simply Deep", "Beyond Imagination" and "Obsession". In 2001 she appeared as Lil' Bow Wow's date in the music video for his single "Puppy Love".[22] She also made an appearance on The Master of Disguise soundtrack and made cameos in Play's video for "M.A.S.T.E.R. (Part II)" featuring Lil' Fizz.
In 2002, she lent her voice to the character Chanel, the cousin of the protagonist Penny Proud, in an episode of the animated television series The Proud Family.[23] In June 2003, Mathew Knowles excitedly announced that he was considering adding Knowles to Destiny's Child when the group reunited in 2004, thus turning them into a quartet for the first time since short-lived member Farrah Franklin left in 2000. Mathew Knowles said he was testing the reactions, and, judging by what he had heard, "it seems like a good idea".[24] Later in August, however, Beyoncé said it was only a rumor and Destiny's Child would remain a trio. Rowland added, "She's a solo star", name-dropping Knowles's debut album.[25]
At age 14, Knowles started working on her debut album Solo Star,[26] which involved American producers such as Jermaine Dupri, the Neptunes, Linda Perry and Timbaland among others. She then recorded the album under her father's Music World Entertainment label with Columbia Records.[27] The album is primarily uptempo R&B, although Knowles said there are pop, rock, reggae and hip hop influences.[19][21] Knowles co-wrote and co-produced some of the 15 tracks in the album,[28] including its lead single, "Feelin' You (Part II)". The song failed to enter the Billboard Hot 100, but reached number three on both the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales and Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart.[29][30] Solo Star was released on January 21, 2003, in the United States, where it debuted at number 49 on the Billboard 200 and reached number 23 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.[31][32] Solo Star had a mixed critical reception: William Ruhlmann of AllMusic called it a "state-of-the-art contemporary R&B album", but deemed Knowles "lost somewhere in the mix".[33] By mid-2008, the album had sold 112,000 copies domestically according to Nielsen SoundScan.[32]
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After the release of her debut album, Knowles began acting in films, followed by a career break to start a family.[34] In 2004, she guest-starred in an episode titled "The Catch" on the sitcom One on One. Knowles appeared as a teenager in the 2004 comedy film Johnson Family Vacation, starring alongside American actors Cedric the Entertainer, Vanessa Williams and Bow Wow.[25] She provided a song, "Freedom", a collaboration with the Houston-based funk-jazz band Drop Trio, for its soundtrack. Although the reviews were generally negative, Knowles earned praise from Variety, which opined that she "is nearly as dazzling as big sister Beyoncé and does little more than smile winningly in her first bigscreen outing".[35]In 2006, she starred as a cheerleading captain in the film Bring It On: All or Nothing, the third installment of the Bring It On series, alongside American actress and singer Hayden Panettiere. What little critical reaction the low-budget, direct-to-DVD movie got was negative,[36] and Knowles was described as an "affordable young starlet".[37] Knowles uses her full name for acting, rather than just the first name she uses when singing; for Bring It On: All or Nothing, she was billed as Solange Knowles-Smith,[38] reflecting her married state at the time.
While she was married, her family moved to Idaho, and while staying there, she resumed writing songs including the singles "Get Me Bodied" and "Upgrade U" from her sister's second solo album, B'Day.[34][39] Knowles earned the R&B and Hip-Hop Song accolade for "Get Me Bodied" at the 2008 ASCAP Awards.[40] During this time, she had also written songs for Destiny's Child, and members Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams.[41] In 2004, while pregnant with her son, she made a cameo appearance in Destiny's Child's music video for "Soldier".[42]
After her divorce, Knowles returned to Houston to begin working on her second album. In 2007, Knowles renewed her management, signing a record deal with Geffen and a publishing deal with EMI.[43][44] Knowles finished working on her second studio album in 2008 and titled the project Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams. It includes production by CeeLo Green, Soulshock & Karlin and Mark Ronson as well as an appearance by Bilal. A collection of 1960s and 1970s influenced songs,[45] it is seen as a departure from her pop-oriented debut,[46][47] with what Billboard called "more of a modern twist on hip-hop and R&B flecked with tinges of blues and jazz".[32] The album was released on August 26, 2008, in the United States. By December 2008, the album had sold over 114,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan.[48] The album was positively received by critics,[49] with Ian Griffin of The Guardian considering it far better than her debut.[50] The album's lead single, "I Decided", was released in April 2008, and reached the top of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart;[48] Rolling Stone labelled it her breakthrough single.[51] In support of the album, Knowles began the Solange Presents Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams Tour in Britain in November 2008.[52]
Knowles announced via her blog that she would be releasing a series of mixtapes to coincide with the album. The first mixtape, I Can't Get Clearance..., includes the leaked track "Fuck the Industry (Signed Sincerely)". On this record, Knowles expressed her views on the current state of the music industry. The lyrics to the song name check some major artists such as Mary J. Blige, Ashanti, Keyshia Cole, and Beyoncé, although she made a point of stating that it does not have "a negative light to any of [them]".[53] The mixtape was never released, but Knowles released "Fuck the Industry (Signed Sincerely)" as a single in 2010.
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In an interview with MTV in 2009, Knowles revealed that she was determining the type of sound for the follow-up to Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams.[54] During this time, Knowles also parted ways with the Interscope-Geffen-A&M record label group. She would now release her third studio album independently.[55] Early in 2010, Knowles traveled to Australia to work with Australian rock band Midnight Juggernauts on her third studio album.[56] Knowles had planned to release the album in summer as revealed on her official Twitter account in 2009.[57] She also confirmed on Twitter that she rented a house in Santa Barbara, California to get into a certain state of mind while writing and making music.[58] On May 7, 2010, Knowles made a guest appearance on the popular children's show, Yo Gabba Gabba! for a "Mothers Day Special" where she performed an original song called "Momma Loves Baby".[59][60][61]
In an interview with Vibe on July 7, 2010, Knowles said she suffered "a little bit of a breakdown" while recording her new album: "I literally gave up my sanity for a while to do this record. [...] We literally were waking up in the morning and just making music all day and all night. [...] It just started to wear on me in so many different ways. I started having these crazy panic attacks." Knowles explained how she made sacrifices "mentally, emotionally and financially", and continued, "It's more than an album to me. It's a transitional time in my life." Regarding the musical direction of the album, she said the inspiration came from new wave and stated, "This is a dance record, but the lyrics can get pretty dark at times."[62]
In September 2012, Knowles released a teaser video for "Losing You", which was announced as the lead single from the EP True. This release marked Knowles's first release as a signee of the independent label Terrible Records.[63] The video was shot in Cape Town, South Africa in early September 2012. Knowles revealed in an interview that her mother Tina had paid for Knowles and her friends to fly out and record the video as her birthday gift. On October 24, 2012, Knowles held a listening party in New York City for her EP True, released for digital download on iTunes on November 27, 2012.[64] The CD and vinyl was made available on January 8, 2013. Following the EP's release, Knowles appeared on the cover of The Fader magazine's 84th issue.[65]
On May 14, 2013, Knowles announced that she had launched her own record label named Saint Records, which she would be using to release her third full-length album and future music projects distributed through Sony.[66] Saint Records was established to focus on not-yet mainstream hip-hop and R&B artists. She also collaborated with the Lonely Island on the song "Semicolon", which was showcased as part of YouTube's Comedy Week and is featured on the group's album, The Wack Album.[67] On November 11, 2013, Knowles's record label released its first compilation album, Saint Heron.[68]
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On May 15, 2015, Knowles performed "Rise" for the first time at an HBO-sponsored event, which was inspired by police killings of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray, and the subsequent protests in Ferguson and Baltimore.[69] In July 2015, Knowles announced that her third studio album was nearly complete. On her thirtieth birthday, June 24, 2016, she stated that she had completed A Seat at the Table three days before her birthday, on June 21.[70] The album was released on September 30, 2016, to universal critical acclaim.[71][72] It became her first number-one album in the United States.[73] This made her and Beyoncé the first sisters to have both had US number-one albums in a calendar year.[74] On October 3, 2016, Knowles released music videos for the songs "Don't Touch My Hair" and "Cranes in the Sky", both co-directed by herself and Alan Ferguson.[75]
In June 2017, Knowles performed at the