Solange Piaget Knowles is an American singer-songwriter, performance artist, and actress.
70 Facts About Solange Knowles
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At age 16, Solange Knowles released her first studio album Solo Star.
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Solange Knowles appeared in the films Johnson Family Vacation, and Bring It On: All or Nothing.
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Frequently compared by the media to her sister Beyonce, Solange Knowles has claimed that they have different aspirations and are musically different.
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Solange Knowles has been ranked by Billboard as the 100th most successful dance artist of all-time, and in 2017 was honored with the "Impact Award" at the Billboard Women in Music event.
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In 2022, Solange Knowles became the third woman and first African American to compose a score for the New York City Ballet.
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Solange Piaget Knowles was born on June 24,1986, in Houston, Texas, to Mathew Knowles and Tina Knowles.
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Solange Knowles's father, originally from Alabama, is African American, and her mother, originally from Texas, is an African American of Louisiana Creole heritage.
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Solange Knowles is a descendant of Acadian leader Joseph Broussard.
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Solange Knowles was raised Catholic until the age of four, when her family became members of a Methodist church.
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Solange Knowles began writing songs at the age of nine.
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At the age of 15, Solange Knowles replaced a departed dancer and performed with the group on tour.
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Solange Knowles was a featured performer on "Hey Goldmember" for the soundtrack to the 2002 film Austin Powers in Goldmember, as well as a backup singer on the track "Little Drummer Boy" on Destiny's Child's 2001 holiday album 8 Days of Christmas.
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In June 2003, Mathew Solange Knowles excitedly announced that he was considering adding Solange 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.
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Mathew Solange Knowles said he was testing the reactions, and, judging by what he had heard, "it seems like a good idea".
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At the age of 14, Solange Knowles started working on her debut album Solo Star, which involved American producers such as Jermaine Dupri, The Neptunes, Linda Perry and Timbaland among others.
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Solange Knowles then recorded the album under her father's Music World Entertainment label with Columbia Records.
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Solange Knowles co-wrote and co-produced some of the 15 tracks in the album, including its lead single, "Feelin' You ".
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Solange 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.
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Solange Knowles provided a song, "Freedom", a collaboration with the Houston-based funk-jazz band Drop Trio, for its soundtrack.
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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, reflecting her married state at the time.
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In 2007, Solange Knowles renewed her management, signing a record deal with Geffen and a publishing deal with EMI.
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Solange Knowles finished working on her second studio album in 2008 and titled the project Sol-Angel and the Hadley St Dreams.
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Solange Knowles announced via her blog that she would be releasing a series of mixtapes to coincide with the album.
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On this record, Solange Knowles expressed her views on the current state of the music industry.
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Early in 2010, Solange Knowles traveled to Australia to work with Australian rock band Midnight Juggernauts on her third studio album.
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Solange Knowles had planned to release the album in summer as revealed on her official Twitter account in 2009.
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Solange Knowles 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.
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In September 2012, Solange Knowles released a teaser video for "Losing You", which was announced as the lead single from the EP True.
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Solange Knowles revealed in an interview that her mother Tina had paid for Solange Knowles and her friends to fly out and record the video as her birthday gift.
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On October 24,2012, Solange Knowles held a listening party in New York City for her EP True, released for digital download on iTunes on November 27,2012.
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On May 14,2013, Solange 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.
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Solange Knowles 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.
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On May 15,2015, Solange Knowles performed "Rise" for the first time at an HBO-sponsored event, which was inspired by police killings in Ferguson and Baltimore and the subsequent protests.
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In July 2015, Solange Knowles announced that her third studio album was nearly complete.
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On October 3,2016, Solange 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.
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In 2019, Solange Knowles performed at the Bonnaroo Music Festival, the Parklife festival, and the Lovebox Festival.
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Solange Knowles previously teased the album by posting two video snippets on her Instagram and Twitter as well as a personal web page on the African-American social networking site BlackPlanet.
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On her debut album, Solange Knowles had no control over which kinds of music to produce, stating that "when you're 14, everyone else is older and more seasoned and you trust their decisions".
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Solange Knowles was more concerned with pleasing her record label by submitting to their desires.
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Outside her work of being a singer-songwriter, Solange Knowles has ventured into performance art.
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In November 2019, Solange Knowles directed and composed the art and music performance In Past Pupils and Smiles at the Venice Art Biennale.
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Solange Knowles has always been compared by the media to her sister, Beyonce, whom she considers one of her role models.
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Solange Knowles countered by saying, "It's good to have her advice, but we really have different goals".
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Solange Knowles has been photographed wearing Alexander Wang, Alexander McQueen, and Chanel.
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At the 2017 Glamour Women of the Year awards, Solange Knowles wore a yellow Jean-Paul Gaultier couture gown, with a blonde afro, and was named a Woman of the Year.
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Solange Knowles is an activist for the Black Lives Matter movement.
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In 2007, Solange Knowles began promoting Baby Jamz, a hip hop-styled toy line for pre-schoolers.
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Solange Knowles is the executive producer of the CD, composed of updated hip hop inspired nursery rhymes, which is featured in all of the toys.
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In 2008, Solange Knowles was named as ambassador for Giorgio Armani's younger diffusion line, Armani Jeans.
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Armani said Solange Knowles epitomizes the style, which is a "vision of a young, independent, casual lifestyle with a strong and cool, fashion sensibility".
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In 2009, Solange Knowles was featured in Ocean Pacific's "Summer of Music" and "OPen Campus" ad campaigns.
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Solange Knowles performed an original song "Momma Loves Baby" in the special episode titled "Baby".
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At the time, Solange Knowles was the face of Carol's Daughter.
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Solange Knowles stepped down from this position in 2012, amid criticism of her natural hair.
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In 2013, Solange Knowles was named art director and creative consultant at Puma.
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In 2017, Solange Knowles became the face of a Calvin Klein campaign.
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In 2018, Solange Knowles received the artist of the year award from the Harvard Foundation.
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Solange Knowles began a collaboration for interior design with IKEA.
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In 2020, Solange Knowles was the recipient of the inaugural Lena Horne Prize.
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In 2022, Solange Knowles was the star of LOUIS XIII's "Believe in Time" campaign.
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Solange Knowles was honored with the 2022 NYU Global Trailblazer Award.
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Solange Knowles helped launch Dereon, a junior apparel collection and sister line to House of Dereon.
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In 2013, Solange Knowles launched the digital platform Saint Heron as a music and cultural hub to amplify Black artistry.
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Solange Knowles married Daniel Smith in The Bahamas in February 2004, when she was 17 and he was 19.
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Solange Knowles married music video director Alan Ferguson at the Marigny Opera House in New Orleans on November 16,2014.
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That same year, Solange Knowles began dating experimental jazz artist Gio Escobar from the band Standing on the Corner, with whom she had previously collaborated on her studio album When I Get Home.
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Solange Knowles publicly acknowledged the relationship on Instagram in November 2020.
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On May 12,2014, TMZ released security video footage of Solange Knowles appearing to physically attack her brother-in-law, Jay-Z, and being restrained by a security guard in an elevator at The Standard, High Line in Manhattan.
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Solange Knowles has won several other awards including a BET Award, a Soul Train Music Award, and a Webby Award.