Few celebrities have risen to Beyoncé Knowles’s level of stardom—nor shone so bright once they got there. From her early days in Destiny’s Child to her current status as the most-awarded artist in Grammys history (she’s won 35 Grammys out of 99 nominations), Queen Bey has dominated the industry for decades—and, 23 years after her first solo album, Dangerously in Love, she shows no signs of slowing down (although rumors still abound that her and Jay-Z are contemplating a move to the Cotswolds—near Harry and Meghan, perhaps?).
It’s been a busy couple of years. The powerhouse completed her blockbuster Cowboy Carter tour, she became the face of Levi’s, she won her long-overdue album of the year Grammy for Cowboy Carter in 2025, and she returned to the Met Gala after a ten-year absence in 2026—among other accolades too numerous to mention. But before all of that—before she was the billionaire Mrs. Carter, haircare mogul, and mom of three—she was just Beyoncé Knowles. As the artist turns 45, revisit 45 throwback pictures of a young Bey in her earlier eras.