Blue Ivy Carter (born January 7, 2012) is an American singer. As the first-born daughter of musicians Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Carter has lived her life in the spotlight from birth. Two days after her birth, Time dubbed Carter “the most famous baby in the world.” That same day, her vocals were featured on the song “Glory”, by her father Jay-Z, which earned her a Guinness World Record, for being the youngest person to have a charted song on any Billboard chart. She has been the subject of depictions in media, including impersonations on Saturday Night Live and RuPaul’s Drag Race.
In 2020, she was featured on “Brown Skin Girl”, a single by her mother Beyoncé, alongside Wizkid, and Saint Jhn. The song won her multiple accolades including an NAACP Image Award, and the BET Her Award, making her the youngest winner of a BET Award; as well as receiving a Grammy Award for Best Music Video for the same song, which earned her another Guinness World Record for being the youngest individually credited Grammy Award winner; and the second youngest overall.
Biography
Beyoncé’s pregnancy was announced during the performance of “Love On Top” at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28, 2011. She finished the performance by unbuttoning her blazer and rubbing her stomach to confirm her pregnancy. Blue Ivy Carter was born January 7, 2012, to Beyoncé and Jay-Z at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, New York. CBS wrote Carter was “Arguably the world’s most famous baby, aside from Prince George and North West”, the eldest child of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Two days after her birth, Time dubbed Carter “the most famous baby in the world.” Since her birth, her parents have “worked to secure trademarks of their daughter’s name for everything, including books, shampoos, video games, and more.” Beyoncé argued Carter is a “cultural icon” during the trademark process. Through her mother, Carter is a granddaughter of Tina Knowles and Mathew Knowles as well as a niece of singer Solange Knowles. Media attention has been focused on Carter from birth because of her famous parents and extended family. In 2018, Carter attended first grade at the Center for Early Education, a private school in West Hollywood, California.
Career
Dubbed the “New Princess of Pop” by Rolling Stone, Carter was featured gurgling and crying on her father’s single “Glory”, a song released two days after her birth celebrating her. Because of “Glory”, Carter is the youngest person to ever chart on the Billboard charts.
In 2015, Carter appeared as part of the choir on the Coldplay song “Up&Up” from their album A Head Full of Dreams.
In 2020, Carter sang on the track “Brown Skin Girl”, earning accolades and awards for the performance. She was the youngest recipient of a BET Award when she received the BET Her Award. She also was awarded the Soul Train Music Award for The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter’s Award, as well as the prize for Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration at the 2020 NAACP Image Award ceremony.
In November 2020, Carter narrated Matthew A. Cherry’s book Hair Love about an African American father doing his daughter’s hair for the first time. Variety posited “there’s a chance she could contend for a Grammy nomination for spoken word.”
Public image
In 2012, Hvar, Croatia, named Carter an honorary citizen. Before Carter’s birth, her parents had visited the town, where Beyoncé had first considered naming her Blue Ivy.
In August 2014, Carter joined her father Jay-Z onstage at the MTV Video Music Awards, where they presented Beyoncé with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. Carter has continued to attend music award ceremonies with her parents, including the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, where she made headlines for the cost of the clothing she wore (a $10,950 Mischka Aoki princess gown and $565 Giuseppe Zanotti high-top sneakers).
In January 2020, just before Carter’s eighth birthday, rapper Megan Thee Stallion posted photos to her Instagram and Twitter of her, Beyoncé, and Carter. Vanity Fair writer K. Austin Collins replied, “I have a feeling the jay z face genes are about to really hit Blue Ivy and I feel so sorry for her.” Harper’s Bazaar web editor Violet Lucca replied to Collins’ tweet, stating “They haven’t already? Or she’ll just get plastic surgery at 16 a la Kylie Jenner and we’ll all have to pretend that she always looked that way…I can’t allow myself to feel too sorry for the incredibly rich!” The two were slammed online, leading to an apology from both and the pair deleting their tweets.
Cultural depictions of Carter
In February 2012, Saturday Night Live parodied a baby Carter being sung to by Justin Timberlake playing Bon Iver. In January 2013, Saturday Night Live aired a parody of Carter and Beyoncé, where Carter’s crib was “lined with one of Diana Ross’s finest wigs.”
In 2018, Carter was the subject of an impersonation by drag queen The Vixen on the Snatch Game episode on Season 10 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Into stated the characterization rested on “brat… without pushing Blue into more nuanced territory.”
Writing about Carter
In 2012, Jaclyn Friedman came under fire for her piece, Unsolicited Advice For Blue Ivy, which was heavily criticized by African American women for alleged racist overtones. Friedman subsequently issued a public apology on her blog, and donated the fee she received for the piece to SisterSong, an activist group that primarily supports women of color.
Discography
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US |
US R&B |
US Rap |
CAN |
IRE |
LIT |
NLD |
NZ Hot |
SWE Heat. |
UK |
||||
| “Glory” (Jay-Z featuring B.I.C.) |
2012 | — | 63 | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| “Brown Skin Girl” (Beyoncé, Saint Jhn and Wizkid featuring Blue Ivy Carter) |
2019 | 76 | 27 | — | 60 | 50 | 67 | 82 | 6 | 6 | 42 |
|
The Lion King: The Gift |
| “—” denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. | |||||||||||||
Guest appearances
| Title | Year | Other artist | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Blue” | 2013 | Beyoncé | Beyoncé |
| “Up&Up” (Choir) | 2016 | Coldplay | A Head Full of Dreams |
| “Blue’s Freestyle / We Family” | 2017 | Jay-Z | 4:44 |
| “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” | 2019 | Beyoncé | Homecoming: The Live Album |
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Life Is But a Dream | Self | |
| 2016 | Beyoncé: Lemonade | ||
| 2019 | Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé | ||
| Beyoncé Presents: Making The Gift | |||
| 2020 | Black Is King |
Music videos
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Director(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| As artist | ||||
| “Blue” | 2013 | Beyoncé | Beyoncé, Ed Burke, Bill Kirstein | |
| “Glory” | 2015 | Jay-Z | — | |
| “Brown Skin Girl” | 2020 | Beyoncé, Saint Jhn, Wizkid | Jenn Nkiru | |
| Guest appearances | ||||
| “Formation” | 2016 | Beyoncé | Melina Matsoukas | |
| “All Night” | ||||
| “Family Feud” | 2017 | Jay-Z, Beyoncé | Ava DuVernay | |
| “Spirit” | 2019 | Beyoncé | Jake Nava, Jon Favreau | |
| “Bigger” (“Spirit” extended video) | — | |||
| “Bigger” (Black Is King video) | 2020 | |||
| “Find Your Way Back” | ||||
| “My Power” | Beyoncé, Nija, Yemi Alade, Busiswa, Tierra Whack, Moonchild Sanelly, DJ Lag | |||
Awards and nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Nominated work | Award | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Shorty Awards | Herself (with Beyoncé) | Instagram of the Year | Nominated | |
| 2019 | The Daily Californian Arts Awards | Brown Skin Girl | Best Song | Won | |
| Soul Train Music Awards | The Ashford & Simpsons Songwriter’s Award | Won | |||
| Best Collaboration | Nominated | ||||
| All Africa Music Awards | Best Collaboration | Nominated | |||
| 2020 | BET Awards | BET HER Award | Won | ||
| NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration | Won | |||
| Soul Train Music Awards | Video of the Year | Won | |||
| 2021 | AICP Post Awards | Color Grading: Music Video | Won | ||
| Cannes Lions Awards | Excellence in Music Video | Gold | |||
| Grammy Awards | Best Music Video | Won | |||
| NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Music Video/Visual Album | Won | |||
| MTV Video Music Awards | Best Cinematography | Won | |||
| Best R&B | Nominated | ||||
| UK Music Video Awards | Best R&B/Soul Video – International | Nominated | |||
| Best Wardrobe Styling in a Video | Nominated | ||||
| Voice Arts Awards | Hair Love | Best Voiceover – Children’s Audiobook award | Won |