--- description: Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Beyoncé: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt507eb2db60784b0d/698a0ae5db2987888a26501a/social-2014_Beyonce.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 2014: Beyoncé Knowles-Carter Mar 5, 2020 11:42 AM CUT  Buy the cover art→ Buy the cover art→Painting by Toyin Ojih Odutola for TIME by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:42 AM CUT When [Beyoncé Knowles-Carter](https://time.com/70716/beyonce-2014-time-100/ "undefined") debuted as a member of Destiny’s Child in the ’90s, no one could foresee that she would one day be the self-proclaimed “King Bey,” as big as Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson or Prince. By the time she released her first solo album in 2003, her star power was clear, but in the music industry, shooting stars often fizzle. Virgos, astrologers tell us, are perfectionists, and Knowles-Carter, born in September 1981, treated each album like an opportunity to build. Her work ethic is rivaled only by her supreme ability to keep us out of her business. When she dropped her eponymous fifth album near midnight in December 2013, with no indication it was coming, her legend status was clear. _Beyoncé_ was a visual album with sick beats and her signature girl-power anthems. But with “Flawless,” she went a step further, sampling a Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie speech and explicitly claiming [feminism for herself](https://time.com/1851/flawless-5-lessons-in-modern-feminism-from-beyonce/ "undefined"). Black feminists were beside themselves, with both excitement and disdain. Could a pop star really be down with smashing the patriarchy? Her performance in front of the word FEMINIST at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards was a helluva way to punctuate a point. [**Buy the cover art→**](https://fineartamerica.com/featured/beyonce-knowles-carter-2014-time.html "undefined") A few years later, her explosive “[Formation](https://time.com/4211888/beyonce-formation-activism/ "undefined")” let us know she was back, pro-black and unapologetic. The [_Lemonade_](https://time.com/4305890/beyonce-lemonade-album-review/ "undefined") album’s overtures to Black Lives Matter insisted she may be pop, but [she is also political](https://time.com/5572221/beyonce-homecoming-documentary-history/ "undefined"). It was a hat tip to her haters and a nod to her serious critics. She’s a woman of few words, but she’s listening. It’s this call-and-response between Beyoncé, the Bey-hivers and the Bey-haters that makes her a singular performer. Haters may hate, but she just gets better. —_Brittney Cooper_ _Cooper is the author of_ [Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower ](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250112885/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1250112885&linkId=b4a418a8f6cef64da468d62e1ecacfb2 "undefined")  Knowles-Carter performs at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards.Kevin Winter—Getty Images for MTV --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5793791/beyonce-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5793791/beyonce-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"2014: Beyoncé Knowles-Carter","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:42:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:22:08.215Z","description":"Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5793791/beyonce-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt507eb2db60784b0d/698a0ae5db2987888a26501a/social-2014_Beyonce.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt507eb2db60784b0d/698a0ae5db2987888a26501a/social-2014_Beyonce.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 2014 Beyonce","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5793791/beyonce-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"2014: Beyoncé Knowles-Carter"}}]}] ```