Beyoncé

To quote one of her hit songs, Beyoncé Knowles was an "Irreplaceable" artist, excelling as a vocalist, songwriter, fashion designer, model, actress and all around tabloid icon. The Texas-born Knowles, with her china doll beauty, athletic body and powerful pipes, became a true superstar in a very short time. Starting her career in the late-1990s as lead singer of the R&B group, Destiny's Child - one of the most successful girl groups of all time - and later, triumphing as a solo star in music and film, Knowles added award-winning songwriter and accomplished fashion designer to her résumé, giving similar entrepreneurial divas like Jennifer Lopez a run for their money. In the spring of 2007, Knowles even appeared on the coveted cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition - a first for a non-supermodel - as well as basked in the critical glow for her parts in films like "Dreamgirls" (2006) and "Cadillac Records" (2008). But it was her enormous success in music that truly set her apart with chart-topping solo efforts Dangerously in Love (2003), B'Day (2006) and the multi-Grammy winning I Am Sasha Fierce (2008). With such mountainous success, Knowles was often seen in the tabloid media, particularly in regard to her relationship and later marriage to rapper and record mogul, Jay Z. Whether it was her music, movies or product lines, there was no doubt that Knowles was one of the most commercially and critically successful artists of her day. Her surprise release of her 2013 self-titled album set a new industry standard for how albums could be released and promoted. The 2016 follow-up Lemonade went one further, by dealing with traumas both public (the police shootings of unarmed black youths) and private (repeated coded references to Jay Z's reported philandering) in her most personal and impassioned alum so far.