New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Before there was a Beyhive, before she put a ring on it, before she was a wife and mother, and before she was
Queen Bey, there was Beyoncé Knowles. From her roots in Houston, Beyoncé got her first taste on stage in singing and dancing competitions and rose to lead one of the best-selling girl groups of all time, Destiny's Child.
Starting today, Nov. 15, a leading podcast producer WBEZ
Chicago explores these emergent years in Making Beyoncé. This three-part bio-podcast series takes an inside, detailed look at Beyoncé's early career to tell the story of how the biggest name in modern music became the biggest name in modern music.
WBEZ
Chicago was granted access to the Knowles' family archives of home video recordings that document Beyoncé's formative years. The podcast includes interviews with Mathew Knowles, Beyoncé's father and a record executive best known as manager of Destiny's Child, as well as key producers, dance instructors, and engineers who were there at the very beginning. The podcast also explores the conflicts and disappointments Beyoncé encountered on her journey to stardom.
Making Beyoncé is hosted by Jill Hopkins, singer, storyteller, self-proclaimed Beyoncé super fan, and host of The Morning AMp on Chicago's urban music alternative station, Vocalo.
"I've been a fan of Beyoncé's as long as
Destiny's Child has been on our radios. To be able to take people back to the time when she was a young girl, back to the 80s and 90s, is such a pleasure," said Hopkins. "We get to know her journey, and see that it wasn't all pre-determined. Beyoncé has been about talent, hard work, and dedication since most of us were just into Legos."
Making Beyoncé is the next documentary-style bio podcast from WBEZ Chicago's acclaimed Making series. Previous series included Making Obama and Making Oprah.
"Our Making series explore the relationships, the experiences and the pivotal years that shaped these cultural icons before they were the larger-than-life household names they are today," said
Kevin Dawson, managing director of content development for WBEZ
Chicago and executive producer of the podcast.
"Season one of Making told the story of how Oprah built a media empire. Our last season looked at President Obama's path to becoming the first African-American president. Making Beyoncé explores Beyoncé's first years on stage and how she emerged as one of the world's most significant entertainers," he added.
New episodes of Making Beyoncé will be released Fridays from Nov. 15 to Nov. 29, on WBEZ's website and app, Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, or wherever listeners get their podcasts. In addition to Hopkins and Dawson, the production team behind Making Beyoncé includes executive producer Brendan Banaszak and producer Joe DeCeault.
