Solange | Early Life, Career, Relationships & Latest Gossip

Solange

Solange is a multi-talented R&B singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and record producer. She is also known as the younger sister of Beyoncé, but that’s not what propelled her to the world of famous artists. It was her powerful voice and talent that she’s been gracing us with from a very young age. It’s also what helped her win a GRAMMY Award.

Take a sneak peek into her early life, career beginnings, relationships, and all the hot gossip about her.

Early Life

Born Solange Piaget Knowles in Houston, Texas, Solange has always been interested in music and performance on stage. She studied dance and theater as a little girl and had her first live performance when she was only five years old when she sang at an amusement park.

At the age of 9, she started putting songs on paper, and soon realized she wanted to be a record producer. Since she was only 13 at the time, and after discussing it with her parents, she decided to wait.

She soon started performing as a backup dancer on tour of her sister’s group, Destiny’s Child. Later, when the group was the opening act of Christina Aguilera’s tour, she replaced Kelly Rowland for a while, as she was injured in a backstage accident.

Not long after, Solange slowly started coming out of her sister’s shadow, thanks to her father and manager, Mathew Knowles.

Career

Solange professionally sang for the first time in 2001. She then sang the theme song for The Proud Family, an animated Disney Channel T.V. show, before officially being featured on Destiny’s Child album 8 Days of Christmas (2001). She appeared in the Lil’ Bow Wow’s music video for Puppy Love the same year.

In 2002, she sang for the soundtrack of Austin Powers in Goldmember. She then landed two more singing projects, including Lil’ Romeo’s Game Time album and Kelly Rowland’s Simply Deep album. She wrote two songs for Kelly Rowland’s album: Obsession and Beyond Imagination.

After signing to her father’s Music World Entertainment label, Solange debuted with the album Solo Star (2003). It reached number 49 on the Billboard 200 chart and number 23 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Unfortunately, Solo Star wasn’t very critically-acclaimed, but that only motivated Solange to keep pushing her creativity. She even started writing songs for Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams.

But she didn’t put her roots only in the singing and songwriting spheres. She started dipping her toes in the acting world as well, landing roles in the sitcom One on One, and comedy movies Johnson Family Vacation and Bring It On: All or Nothing.

After marrying Daniel Smith at the age of 17 and giving birth to their son, she continued writing songs for Destiny’s Child and the members’ solo albums.

After her divorce in 2007, Solange signed with Geffen Records and released her sophomore album, Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams (2008). Unfortunately, the album again wasn’t a very great success, although the critics deemed it much better than her debut.

The album featured the single I Decided, which was hit on the charts and considered by many her breakthrough hit.

She later launched her record label, Saint Records, and released an E.P. True (2012) while working hard on her third studio album. A Seat at the Table (2016) was an instant success, getting critical acclaim all around the world and reaching number 1 on the Billboard chart.

The album’s single Cranes in the Sky won her the Best R&B Performance GRAMMY.

Solange and her sister Beyoncé also modeled for House of Deréon, their family’s clothing line. Solange also launched a junior apparel clothing line Deréon, for which she and her sister also modeled.

Solange Relationships: Who Has She Dated?

Solange married Daniel Smith when she was 17 and soon gave birth to Daniel Julez J. Smith Jr. After the divorce, she had several brief relationships before she started dating music video director Alan Ferguson in 2008. They married in 2014 but separated in 2019.

She has been in relationships with:

Daniel Smith (1999-2007) (m. 2004 – div. 2007)

Lil’ Wayne (2006-2008)

J. R. Smith (2007)

Julius Peppers (2008)

Alan Ferguson (2008-2019) (m. 2014 – separated 2019)

In the News

Solange has just canceled the last two dates of her tour, Witness! She was supposed to have the two shows at the Sydney Opera House’s famous Concert Hall. She canceled the dates due to health concerns. The shows are, as they say, very physically demanding, and the singer has sought medical advice and needs rest.

If you want to keep up with the latest tea about Solange, be sure to stay tuned with The Shade Room!

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