Success Story of

Beyonce Knowles
1. Read quickly the text about Beyonce. Then match
a title to each paragraph.
A. Beyonce, an actress
B. Solo career
C. How it all started
D. Other business

1. 3.

Beyonce was born on the 4th September
1981 in Texas.
In 1990 she teamed up with Kelly
Rowland and they formed a band. Three
years later they named
the band Destinys Child. In In 1998
1998 the
the
group released their first album
Destinys Child. This album had a huge
Destinys
success. In 2005, however, the band
split.
Beyonce has a successful singing
career, but she has also appeared in
several movies.
She has played in comedies such
as Austin Powers and Pink Panther,
but also in a drama Dreamgirls.
She has worked with many famous
actors such as Steve Martin, Mike
Myers or Eddie Murphy.

2. 4.

In 2003, Beyonce released Beyonce is a famous singer and a

her first solo album Dangerously in
Love. The album won
Grammy Award for best R&B album
in 2004. Beyonce released her
second solo album in 2008.
The first track of the album
If I Were A Boy went on to top
the UK singles chart.
successful actress, but thats still not
enough for her. Together with her
mother she has started to design
clothes for women. Because of her
beauty and glamour, she has often
appeared in advertisements, we have
seen her in advertisements for Pepsi
or LOreal.

2. Decide whether these statements are true (T) or false (F).

1. Beyonce started to play in a band when she was 9. T F
2. The second track of her first solo album was If I were a boy. T F
3. Beyonce has appeared in a comedy Dreamgirls. T F
4. Her first solo album won Grammy Award. T F
5. Beyonce thinks that singing is enough for her. T F

3. Complete the chart with examples from the article about Beyonce.
We know exactly when it happened. We dont know when.
Beyonce was born on 4 Sept 1981. She has played in comedies.
Your Task
1. Read the text about another young and successful singer, Rihanna. Your task is to put
the verbs in brackets into the correct tense. You have to choose between past simple
and present perfect. Before you start look at the THINK BOX.

THINK BOX
We use past simple when we know exactly when something happened.
If we do not know when something happened in the past, present perfect can be used.

Few facts about

Rihanna
Rihanna, a talented young singer from Barbados,

was born on February 20, 1988. When she _______

(be) 15, she ___________ (meet) music producer

that was on vacation in Barbados. He _____________

(like) her singing so much that he ______________

(help) her with demos. Later Jay-Z

_______________ (hear) these demos and

_______________ (decide) to produce her album.

Her first hit, Pon de replay, ____________ (have) success. Soon she ____________ (release)

other hits, such as SOS or Umbrella. Rihanna _______________ (have) three number one

hits. She __________________ (win) several awards, for example the American Music

Award, the MTV Video Music Award or the Teen Choice Award. In 2008, she

_________________ (win) Grammy Award for her smash hit Umbrella.