Beyoncé spent her year-long breakup from Jay-Z building out her solo career

Beyoncé and Jay-Z are one of the world’s most popular and successful super couples, with multiple businesses, three adorable children, and a music empire that is unlike anything else. They still seem happy and in love, and pride themselves on keeping their relationship out of the public eye. Still, there was a time when the two experienced a troubling breakup. Rather than let the breakup get to her, Knowles used the time to build up her clout in the industry even further.

Beyoncé broke away from Destiny’s Child

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In the mid-nineties, Beyoncé Knowles rose to fame as a member of the girl group Destiny’s Child. Even as a young girl, Knowles evidenced incredible singing and dancing abilities, and the group, once founded, quickly rose to the top of the charts with songs like “Jumpin’ Jumpin.’” Still, Knowles was itching to work on her own and to allow her artistic abilities to truly breathe.

In late 2001, Destiny’s Child announced that they would be going on an indefinite hiatus, in order to allow all the group’s members to work on their own projects. Knowles wasted no time getting to work and began writing and recording her own music. It wasn’t long after the group split up that Knowles found herself occupied by something besides her work, however — and that was her budding relationship with the rapper Jay-Z. The two met sometime around the year 2000 when Knowles was only eighteen years old and began dating not long after.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s year-long breakup

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As Beyoncé Knowles later admitted in an interview, she and Jay-Z were friends for a while before beginning to date: “We were friends first for a year and a half before we went on any dates. We were on the phone for a year and a half, and that foundation is so important for a relationship,” according to People. Therefore, by the time they started dating, the two music superstars were hot and heavy. They managed to keep their romance out of the headlines for the first few years that they were dating, although speculation ran rampant.

Their romance hit a snag in 2005 when they reportedly broke up, Cosmopolitan reports. The reason for their breakup was never made public, but many speculated that the cheating rumors surrounding Jay-Z had something to do with it. Still, Knowles didn’t let the grass grow under her feet, and in the days following the split, she buckled down and focused on her career. She began production on the film Dreamgirls, which would ultimately go a long way toward earning the singer recognition as an actress.

Jay-Z and Beyoncé are now happily married

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During the time that she and Jay-Z were separated, Knowles worked on her solo album, her first real musical foray apart from Destiny’s Child. In spite of her hustle, it seems that she couldn’t really put Jay-Z out of her mind. Less than a year after they split, the two got back together — although, once again, they kept their reunion out of the tabloids. This time, it was to last, and in early 2008, Knowles and Jay-Z tied the knot in an ultra-private ceremony.

These days, the two have three children and an incredible empire. While they both have numerous solo projects that they continue to work on, it is when they get together that fans really go crazy, as evidenced by their wildly successful collabs. It is hard to speculate about what might have been, but it seems clear that if they hadn’t experienced the hard times in their relationship, Knowles and Jay-Z would never have been able to achieve what they have today.