This weekend on 92.9, we are bringing you the Top 10 Songs by Beyoncé!
Beyoncé is one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 100 million records worldwide. Her success during the 2000s was recognized with the Recording Industry Association of America's Top Certified Artist of the Decade, as well as Billboard magazine's Top Radio Songs Artist and the Top Female Artist of the Decade.
10.
Work it Out
Dangerously In Love (2002)
Beyoncé co-wrote the song with its producers, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. "Work It Out" is an R&B song which incorporates elements of 1960s and 1970s funk and post-disco. The song was generally well received by music critics, many of whom complimented its retro style and various influences. It has been credited as the beginning of Beyoncé's career as a successful solo artist, after finding success as the lead singer of Destiny's Child.
9.
Love on Top
4 (2011)
This mid-'80s R&B influenced tune finds Beyoncé singing about a man in her life who can do no wrong in her eyes. The song was penned by The-Dream, whose previous contributions for Beyoncé include her girl-power anthems "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" and "Run The World (Girls)." Beyoncé sings the chorus at the end four times in a row, changing keys each time until she's singing pretty darn high.
8.
Run the World
4 (2011)
Beyoncé's first single from her fourth solo album was this club track, which samples the martial drum beat from dancehall duo Major Lazer's 2009 track, "Pon de Floor."
Major Lazer main man Diplo recalled how he tried to convince Beyoncé that the sound was old. "When Beyoncé sampled 'Pon De Floor' it was already done in the clubs two years earlier and I told her that."
"She said to me, 'No, but people know this s---? So I was like, 'Fine, go ahead.' I don't care, I'm in my own world."
7.
If I Were a Boy
I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008)
This track represents a new sound for Beyoncé. The R&B singer explained "It's broad. But I had to try it, because I remember Aretha Franklin said a great singer can sing anything and make it her own." This was produced and co-written by New York based Toby Gad, whose other credits include "Big Girls Don't Cry" for Fergie and The Veronicas' Top 10 Australian hit "Take Me on the Floor."
6.
Check on it
#1's (2005)
This song takes place in a club, where Beyoncé is letting the male patrons know that they are welcome to come and look at her bootylicious body when she is dancing. Houston rapper Slim Thug does the male vocals and helped produce the track.
This was billed as a Beyoncé solo single, but it also appears on the Destiny's Child's hits album #1's. Beyoncé's Destiny's Child band mates Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland shared in production duties.
5.
Beautiful Liar
B'Day Deluxe Edition (2007)
This song finds Shakira and Beyoncé talking about how the same man told each of them that she was the one and only. Instead of starting a fight or plotting to get back at the guy, they decide he isn't worth it, and to ignore him. Beyoncé considers it a female-empowerment song. On the week of April 7, 2007 this made the biggest ever leap in the Billboard Hot 100 when it rose 91 positions to land at #3. It broke the previous record, which was the 95-7 jump of "Smack That" by Akon featuring Eminem on the chart dated October 14, 2006.
4.
Halo
I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008)
This song, which describes a love that is so phenomenal that it is heavenly, was written by OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder and Evan "Kidd" Bogart, a prolific songwriter and the son of Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart. This won the award for Best Song at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards, and it also won the 2009 Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
3.
Crazy in Love
Dangerously In Love (2002)
"Crazy In Love" is about as good as it gets in terms of samples, taking a killer section from a relatively obscure song and building around it to give it support. Jay-Z did the rap. He and Beyoncé were dating, which made it convenient for him to make many guest appearances performing his rap. When Beyoncé married the 12-years-older Jay-Z on April 4, 2008, the couple shared their first dance to "Crazy in Love."
2.
Irreplaceable
B'day (2006)
In this acoustic guitar-driven burner, Beyoncé sings from the standpoint of a woman who is addressing her lover, who has been cheating on her. She's telling him that he can be easily replaced. Ne-Yo wrote the lyrics for the girl power anthem, which were inspired by his aunt and her unfaithful lover. This stayed #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks, more than any other record in 2006, making it the most successful single of the year.
1.
Single Ladies
I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008)
In this song, Beyoncé urges all the single ladies to dump their boyfriends if they don't propose. Her man stepped up: After dating for two years, she and Jay-Z got married on April 4, 2008, about five months before this song was released. Beyoncé triumphed at the 2010 Grammys, winning six awards, a new record for the most Grammys won in a single year by a solo female performer. "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" won three of them: Song of the Year, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song.