Happy Birthday, Beyonce! How This Girl Came To Rule The Music World

Before she paid the "Bills, Bills, Bills," fell "Crazy In Love," and put a ring on it, Beyoncé Knowles was an aspiring singer stuck in Houston, Texas.

As a child, she forced her mother's hair salon clients to cough up a couple bucks to watch her and younger sister Solange perform song and dance routines. Then her father began managing Beyoncé and a group of girlfriends on the Southern talent show circuit.

Destiny's Child was born.

Now married to music mogul Jay Z, Beyoncé is the third most honored woman in Grammy Award history - claiming 17 wins - and a global symbol for female empowerment.

Her chart-topping solo singles include "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)", "Halo," "If I Were A Boy," "Irreplaceable," "Naughty Girl," and "Crazy In Love."

"The best thing is looking back and realizing how incredible life is," the Queen Bey said in her 2013 HBO documentary "Life Is but a Dream." "If you don't take the time to think about and analyze your life, you'll never realize all of the dots that are all connected."

In honor of the original Independent Woman's 32nd birthday, get to know Beyoncé as the daughter, wife, mother, superstar, businesswoman, and free spirit that defined a generation of R&B and pop.