Special Collections
The Power of Beyoncé
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The Little Book of Queen Bey
by Various'I will always believe in the strength we have as women.' As the queen of pop music since the glory days of Destiny's Child to her incredible solo career, Beyoncé is one of the most inspiring and powerful women in music. The Little Book of Queen Bey is a collection of the most iconic quotes from a woman who needs no introduction. When it comes to self-love, empowerment and sisterhood, Beyoncé has more wisdom than anybody. From how to be an independent woman to positive affirmations that will give you hope, The Little Book of Queen Bey is the perfect gift for fans of the goddess of pop. Prepare to be inspired.
Women Who Rock
by Evelyn McDonnellA stellar and unprecedented celebration of 104 musical artists, WOMEN WHO ROCK is the most complete, up-to-date history of the evolution, influence, and importance of women in music. A gorgeous gift book, it includes a stunning, specially commissioned, full-color illustrated portrait of every musician and group.
From Bessie Smith and The Supremes to Joan Baez, Madonna, Beyonce, Amy Winehouse, Dolly Parton, Sleater-Kinney, Taylor Swift, and scores more, women have played an essential and undeniable role in the evolution of popular music including blues, rock and roll, country, folk, glam rock, punk, and hip hop. Today, in a world traditionally dominated by male artists, women have a stronger influence on popular music than ever before. Yet, not since the late nineteen-nineties has there been a major work that acknowledges and pays tribute to the female artists who have contributed to, defined, and continue to make inroads in music.
In WOMEN WHO ROCK, writer and professor of journalism Evelyn McDonnell leads a team of women rock writers and pundits in an all-out celebration of 104 of the greatest female musicians. Organized chronologically, the book profiles each artist and places her in the context of both her genre and the musical world at large. Sidebars throughout recall key moments that shaped both the trajectory of music and how those moments influenced or were influenced by women artists.
With full-color illustrated portraits by women artists, WOMEN WHO ROCK will be THE long-awaited gift book for every music fan, feminist, and female rocker, young and old musicians.
There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé
by Morgan ParkerThere Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé uses political and pop-cultural references as a framework to explore 21st century black American womanhood and its complexities: performance, depression, isolation, exoticism, racism, femininity, and politics.
The only thing more beautiful than Beyoncé is God, and God is a black woman sipping rosé and drawing a lavender bath, texting her mom, belly-laughing in the therapist’s office, feeling unloved, being on display, daring to survive. Morgan Parker stands at the intersections of vulnerability and performance, of desire and disgust, of tragedy and excellence. Unrelentingly feminist, tender, ruthless, and sequined, these poems are an altar to the complexities of black American womanhood in an age of non-indictments and deja vu, and a time of wars over bodies and power. These poems celebrate and mourn. They are a chorus chanting: You’re gonna give us the love we need.
Beyoncé
by Anna PointerAs a painfully shy six-year-old singing in her parents' kitchen back in the late eighties, it was impossible to imagine the meteoric rise that Beyoncé Knowles would go on to achieve. Fast forward 25 years and not only has she sold 75 million albums, making her one of the most successful recording artists of all time, but she is also an actress, fashion icon, producer and doting mother.
Beyoncé: Running The World is the full story of Houston born-and-bred Beyoncé's extraordinary life, which saw her join her first pop group at the age of nine before fronting the girl band Destiny's Child - the biggest-selling female group of all time. After embarking on a solo career in 2003, Beyoncé's status as a superstar was sealed and to date she has won more than 220 awards internationally and the hearts of millions of fans the world over. As the world's biggest star, Beyoncé continues to scale new heights and her latest album, Beyoncé, broke all records after hitting No.1 in more than 100 countries. Echoing the sentiment of her 2011 hit single, she really is running the music world right now.
The most definitive and up-to-date telling of Beyoncé's story ever written, this book provides an intimate close-up on both her professional and personal life, with the inside story on how she and rapper husband Jay-Z became the biggest power couple on earth. With reports that their marriage was crumbling before the world's eyes on their 2014 joint tour, On The Run, it pieces together the split rumours that plagued them at every turn and documents exactly how they coped with such intense public scrutiny. The book also analyses Beyoncé's role as a mother to young daughter Blue Ivy and explores the hidden heartbreaks of her past, including a tragic miscarriage, a lengthy battle with depression and an agonising rift with her manager father Mathew.
While celebrating Beyoncé's greatest triumphs Beyoncé: Running The World uncovers the truth behind the headlines, finding out exactly who 'Queen Bey' is and what really goes on behind the scenes...
The Ballad in American Popular Music
by David MetzerWhile ballads have been a cornerstone of popular music for decades, this is the first book to explore the history and appeal of these treasured songs. David Metzer investigates how and why the styles of ballads have changed over a period of more than seventy years, offering a definition of the genre and discussing the influences of celebrated performers including Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, and Whitney Houston. The emotional power of the ballad is strongly linked to the popular mood of the time, and consequently songs can tell us much about how events and emotions were felt and understood in wider culture at specific moments of recent American history. Tracing both the emotional and stylistic developments of the genre from the 1950s to the present day, this lively and engaging volume is as much a musical history as it is a history of emotional life in America.
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
by Bob StanleyAn addictively readable, encyclopedic history of pop music in chapters as short and adrenaline-fueled as the best pop songs themselves.
As much fun to argue with as to quote, Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! is a monumental work of musical history, tracing the story of pop music through individual songs, bands, musical scenes, and styles from Bill Haley and the Comets' "Rock around the Clock" (1954) to Beyoncé's first megahit, "Crazy in Love" (2003). It covers the birth of rock, soul, R&B, punk, hip hop, indie, house, techno, and more, and it will remind you why you fell in love with pop music in the first place.
Bob Stanley--musician, music critic, and unabashed fan--recounts the progression from the Beach Boys to the Pet Shop Boys to the Beastie Boys; explores what connects doo wop to the sock hop; and reveals how technological changes have affected pop production. Working with a broad definition of "pop"--one that includes country and metal, disco and Dylan, skiffle and glam--Stanley teases out the connections and tensions that animate the pop charts and argues that the charts are vital social history.
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! is like the world's best and most eclectic jukebox in book form. All the hits are here: the Monkees, Metallica, Patsy Cline, Patti Smith, new wave, New Order, "It's the Same Old Song," The Song Remains the Same, Aretha, Bowie, Madonna, Prince, Sgt. Pepper, A Tribe Called Quest, the Big Bopper, Fleetwood Mac, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," Bikini Kill, the Kinks, Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Jay-Z, and on and on and on. This book will have you reaching for your records (or CDs or MP3s) and discovering countless others.
For anyone who has ever thrilled to the opening chord of the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" or fallen crazy in love for Beyoncé, Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! is a vital guide to the rich soundtrack of the second half of the twentieth century.
Queen Bey
by Veronica ChambersFEATURED IN: The New York Times Book Review ("New and Noteworthy") •Essence • Newsweek•People • Bustle • PopSugar • Refinery 29 • HelloGiggles' • PureWow • Newsday• AMNewYorkThe Ultimate Beyoncé Collectible"Beyoncé fans will eat it up." —People"You don't need to be in the Beyhive to appreciate Queen Bey...Voices including culture critic Luvvie Ajayi and actress and producer Lena Waithe give us a fresh take on Beyoncé, who's arguably the biggest pop star of our time." —EssenceBeyoncé. Her name conjures more than music, it has come to be synonymous with beauty, glamour, power, creativity, love, and romance. Her performances are legendary, her album releases events. She is not even forty but she has already rewritten the Beyoncé playbook more than half a dozen times. She is consistently provocative, political and surprising. As a solo artist, she has sold more than 100 million records. She has won 22 Grammys and is the most-nominated woman artist in the history of Grammy awards. Her 2018 performance at Coachella wowed the world. The New York Times wrote: "There's not likely to be a more meaningful, absorbing, forceful and radical performance by an American musician this year or any year soon." Artist, business woman, mother, daughter, sister, wife, black feminist, Queen Bey is endlessly fascinating. Queen Bey features a diverse range of voices, from star academics to outspoken cultural critics to Hollywood and music stars. Essays include:"What Might a Black Girl Be in This World," an introduction by Veronica Chambers"Beychella is Proof That Beyoncé is the Greatest Performer Alive. I’m Not Arguing." by Luvvie Ajayi"On the Journey Together," by Lena Waithe"What Beyoncé Means to Everyone," by Meredith Broussard with visualizations by Andrew Harvard and Juan Carlos Mora"Jay-Z's Apology to Beyoncé Isn't Just Celebrity Gossip — It's a Political Act" by Brittney Cooper"All Her Single Ladies" by Kid Fury "The Elevator" by Ylonda Gault "The Art of Being Beyoncé" by Maria Brito"Getting, Giving and Leaving" by Melissa Harris Perry and Mankaprr Conteh"Beyoncé the Brave" by Reshma Saujani"Living into the Lemonade: Redefining Black Women’s Spirituality in the Age of Beyoncé" by Candice Benbow"Beyoncé’s Radical Ways" by Carmen Perez"Finding la Reina in Queen Bey" by Isabel Gonzalez Whitaker"Beyoncé, Influencer" by Elodie Maillet Storm"The King of Pop and the Queen of Everything" by Michael Eric Dyson"Style So Sacred" by Edward Enninful"The Beauty of Beyoncé" by Fatima Robinson "Because Beyoncé." by Ebro Darden"King Bey" by Treva B. Lindsey"Meridonial: Beyoncé’s Southern Roots and References" by Robin M. Boylorn"B & V: A Love Letter" by Caroline Clarke
Becoming Beyoncé
by J. Randy TaraborrelliA Billboard Must-Read Fall 2015 Music Book The first comprehensive biography ever published about America's favorite living pop icon, Beyoncé, from New York Times bestselling biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli.
Beyoncé Knowles is a woman who began her career at the age of eight performing in pageant shows and talent contests, honing her craft through her teenage years until, at the age of 16, she had her first number one record with Destiny's Child. That hit-making trio launched Beyoncé's successful solo career, catapulting her, as of 2014, to #1 on Forbes annual list of most wealthy celebrities--the same year she made the cover of Time.
BECOMING BEYONCÉ is not only the story of struggle, sacrifice, and what it takes to make it in the cut-throat record industry, it's the story of the great rewards of such success and the devastating toll it often takes on the human spirit.
The Beyonce Effect
by Adrienne Trier-Bieniek
Since her late-1990s debut as a member of the R&B trio Destiny's Child, Beyonce Knowles has garnered both praise and criticism. While some consider her an icon of female empowerment, others see her as detrimental to feminism and representing a negative image of women of color. Her music has a decidedly pop aesthetic, yet her power-house vocals and lyrics focused on issues like feminine independence, healthy sexuality and post-partum depression give her songs dimension and substance beyond typical pop fare.
This collection of new essays presents a detailed study of the music and persona of Beyonce--arguably the world's biggest pop star. Topics include the body politics of respectability; feminism, empowerment and gender in Beyonce's lyrics; black female pleasure; and the changing face of celebrity motherhood.
The Lemonade Reader
by Kinitra D. Brooks and Kameelah L. MartinThe Lemonade Reader is an interdisciplinary collection that explores the nuances of Beyoncé’s 2016 visual album, Lemonade. The essays and editorials present fresh, cutting-edge scholarship fueled by contemporary thoughts on film, material culture, religion, and black feminism. Envisioned as an educational tool to support and guide discussions of the visual album at postgraduate and undergraduate levels, The Lemonade Reader critiques Lemonade’s multiple Afrodiasporic influences, visual aesthetics, narrative arc of grief and healing, and ethnomusicological reach. The essays, written by both scholars and popular bloggers, reflects a broad yet uniquely specific black feminist investigation into constructions of race, gender, spirituality, and southern identity. The Lemonade Reader gathers a newer generation of black feminist scholars to engage in intellectual discourse and confront the emotional labor around the Lemonade phenomena. It is the premiere source for examining Lemonade, a text that will continue to have a lasting impact on black women’s studies and popular culture.
Beyonce
by Z. B. HillBeyonce Knowles is one of the most famous women in the world. The singing superstar has become one of the biggest artists in music since making her start with the group Destiny's Child years ago. Beyonce has sold millions of albums and won many awards in her career. And now she's married to rapper Jay-Z and has a new daughter, Blue Ivy. It seems Beyonce has it all! Beyonce tells the story of how one girl from Texas grew up to be an international star. Read about Beyonce's rise to fame from her days in Destiny's Child to her hit solo albums. Learn what it takes to be one of the world's biggest celebrities.
Beyonce
by Chuck BednarFrom the earliest moments of her childhood in Houston, Texas, it was clear that Beyoncé, of mixed African-American and Louisiana Creole descent, had a special gift when it came to performing in front of a crowd. At the age of seven, she dominated much older kids in a local talent show, and appeared on national television before she was even a teenager. She went on to become a part of the super group Destiny's Child and was one of the key reasons they eventually became one of the most popular female musical groups of all time. The road to success wasn't always easy, however, as Beyoncé managed to overcome many obstacles on the road to superstardom, and go on to find both success and happiness in her professional and private lives. Beyoncé is a multiple Grammy-award winning superstar, an incredibly talented and successful singer-songwriter, an accomplished actress, and a successful businesswoman. In short, Beyoncé is an extraordinary achiever.