Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter was born September 4, 1981and is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child, and rose to fame in the late 1990s as lead singer of R&B girl-group Destiny's Child.
Beyoncé's name is a tribute to Tina Knowles's maiden name of Beyincé. Through Tina, Beyoncé is of Louisiana Creole descent with African, Native American, French, and Irish ancestry. She is the 21st-century descendant of Joseph Broussard who was a leader of the Acadian people in the mid-1700s and is considered a hero of the British resistance and French and Indian War.
At 7 years old, Beyoncé won her first talent show, beating 15- and 16-year-olds and receiving a standing ovation. She sang John Lennon's "Imagine."
Beyoncé was born on Sept. 4. Her mother, Tina Knowles, was born on Jan. 4, and her husband, Jay Z, was born on Dec. 4. Jay Z and Beyoncé got married on April 4, 2008, and got matching "IV" tattoos on their ring fingers. In 2011, she released her fourth studio album, which was titled 4, and in 2012, she named her daughter Blue Ivy, a play on the Roman numeral four.
She has won 20 Grammys and is the most nominated woman in the award's history. Beyoncé's vocal range spans 3.6 octaves and is classified as mezzo-soprano. Her biggest musical influence is Michael Jackson.
She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in 2006's Dreamgirls.
Josephine Baker’s Banana Dance is probably one of the most famous dances during that era.
Originally from Missouri the French called Josephine the ‘Creole Goddess’ and she was first seen on the stage in Paris in 1927. She soon was being celebrated as a movie star and became the highest paid female performer in Europe as well as the most photographed woman in the world much like Beyonce herself.

The original Banana Skirt Girl?

Josephine Baker had a style all of her own.  Her unique beautiful and bold choreography are still studied today as important 20s and 30s jazz movements.  Not only is she an important figure in the singing and dancing world, but also her political significance. She was the first African American female to perform at a racially integrated American Concert Hall. She aided the French resistance in WWII which won her the military award of the Croix de Guerre and she is well noted for her contributions to the American Civil Rights movement in the 1970s.
Josephine Baker danced her way on to the Paris stage during the 1920s with a comic, but sensual appeal that took Europe by storm. Famous for barely there dresses and costumes and sensual dance routines admirers of all races regularly sent her gifts, including diamonds and cars, and she received approximately 1,500 marriage proposals in her life time from avid fans. She maintained her sensual dancing performances and celebrity status for 50 years until her death in 1975.
The cream of Celebrities such as Princess Grace of Monaco and Sophia Loren attended the 68-year-old Josephine’s  performace of her well loved routines from her 50 year career. Her reviews were even better than before however a few days later Josephine sadly slipped into a coma and never recovered. She died at 5.00am on April 12th.1975.

More than 20,000 people crowded the streets of Paris to watch the funeral procession on its way to the Church of the Madeleine. She was honoured by the French government with a 21-gun salute, making Josephine Baker the first American woman buried in France with military honours. Her gravesite is in the Cimetiére de Monaco in Monaco.
Josephine Baker has continued to intrigue and inspire people throughout the world including Beyonce who actually danced in a replica of the famed Banana skirt.

In her performance on Fashion Rocks Beyoncé delivered a Josephine Baker dance and when the curtain opens a projected drawing of Josephine Baker in the banana skirt is seen as the camera goes over the audience toward the stage. Beyoncé's name can be seen in large gothic script. The stage fills with smoke and Beyoncé comes on thrusting her hips with her arms above her head, wearing a similar version of Josephine Baker's banana skirt and performs her famous banana dance including the comic clicks of her neck from side to side. During Beyonce’s dance a screen comes up and reveals the image of Josephine Baker's face. It is very clear that Beyonce holds Josephine in high esteem as she dedicated her first performance of Fashion Rocks to her hero. I feel Josephine was very brave and a pioneer for Black women fighting for their rights much akin to Martin Luther King who spent his life trying to overcome prejudice. There was much love for her just like the love that Beyonce has got from all over the world.