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L-R: Beyoncé, ABC/Image Group LA; JAY-Z, ABC/Randy HolmesOne of music’s most powerful couples, JAY-Z and Beyoncé, surely had an exciting 2017.
Beyoncé kicked the year off in February with a surprise baby announcement photo on Instagram, revealing that she was expecting twins.
Of course, the exciting news ushered in a slew of congratulatory messages from celebrities and fans alike, but many fans were especially disappointed when Beyoncé decided to cancel her Coachella appearance, on the advice of her doctors.
Beyoncé also won two Grammys at the 59th Grammy Awards in February: one for Best Music Video for “Formation” and another for Best Urban Contemporary Album, for Lemonade.
Many believed Beyoncé was snubbed for not receiving the Album of the Year award, which Adele took home instead.
A new single from DJ Khaled featuring Bey and Jay, called “Shining,” was also unveiled following the Grammy Awards.
JAY-Z was announced as one of the year’s inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in February. He was officially inducted in June.
In April, the power duo celebrated their 9th wedding anniversary, with Beyoncé sharing intimate photos of their eighth wedding anniversary at the Grand Can on her official website, and a new studio version release of her 2015 song “Die With You” and accompanying music video.
Bey and Jay also landed in People‘s “Most Beautiful” issue that month, on the “In Sync” list of famous couples.
Bey was also among the top nominees for the year’s Billboard Music Awards, with eight in total, including one for Artist of the Year and another for Top Female Artist.
She won five at the awards ceremony, including Top Female Artist and Top Touring Artist.
Beyonce also won a prestigious Peabody Award in April for Lemonade and created a new scholarship program, called the Formation Scholars Award, for four incoming, current or graduate students attending four institutions of higher learning during the 2017-2018 school year.
She named her Formation Scholar winners in June.
Beyoncé led the year’s BET Awards nominations list, having earned seven nods in May, thanks to her blockbuster 2016 album, Lemonade.
She won five awards out of the seven, including one for Video of the Year, for “Sorry,” and another for Album of the Year, for Lemonade.
— In June, Beyoncé and JAY-Z maintained their power status as Forbes magazine’s highest-paid celebrity couple. They were the only married couple on the publication’s annual Celebrity 100 list, with combined earnings of $147 million within the past 12 months.
Both artists also made a splash on two separate Forbes lists.
Bey made the magazine’s America’s Richest Self-Made Women list this year, coming in at number 46, with an estimated fortune of $350 million, while Jay, made Forbes‘ Hip-Hop’s Wealthiest Artists of 2017 list at number 2two.
Forbes said he was worth $810 million.
Bey and Jay also welcomed twins Rumi and Sir in June, with tons more congratulatory messages from fans and celebrities following the news.
In July, the new mom shared the first photo of her then newborn babies on Instagram, while JAY-Z released his epic nine-minute music video for his song, “4:44.”
In addition, JAY-Z released his thirteenth studio album, 4:44.
On the disc, the rapper came clean about many subjects, including his relationship with former best friend Kanye West and suggesting that he was unfaithful in his marriage to Bey.
JAY followed up the release of 4:44 with the July announcement of a North American concert tour to support the disc.
The headlining tour was his first since his Magna Carter trek, which ran from 2013-2014.
Following that, he and Beyoncé co-headlined the On the Run tour.
JAY-Z also finally opened up about his infamous 2014 Met Gala elevator fight with Beyoncé’s sister, Solange.
In an August interview with rap blog Rap Radar, he said that the two had a rare disagreement, but hadn’t fought since.
Beyoncé and JAY also gave back to Hurricane Harvey victims, with Bey using her BeyGOOD Houston charity initiative to collect donations, and Jay having made plans to put on a TIDAL x Brooklyn charity concert at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY in October.
Beyoncé celebrated her 36th birthday in September with a visit to her hubby’s Made in America festival in Philadelphia as a spectator.
Bey and Jay also land on Variety‘s list of the 500 Most Influential Leaders in Entertainment.
With their expanded family, Bey and Jay also did some wheeling and dealing in the real estate market in October.
The couple sold their Manhattan condo for over $9 million and upgraded to a $26 million home in the Hamptons on Long Island, New York, and an $88 million mansion in LA’s Bel Air neighborhood.
Jay performed on Saturday Night Live’s season premiere in September, wearing a black custom Colin Kaepernick #7 jersey during his first song of the night, “Bam,” for which he brought out Damien Marley.
In November, the world finally caught a glimpse of babies Rumi and Sir at five months old.
JAY-Z also celebrated his 48th birthday, and Beyoncé joined the cast of Disney’s The Lion King in November as Nala, Simba’s childhood friend, who later becomes his wife. Forbes showed Beyoncé more love, having named her as the publication’s highest-paid woman in music.
In addition, JAY-Z scored a whopping eight nominations in November for the 60th annual Grammy awards, including Album of the Year for 4:44, Record of the Year for “The Story of O.J.,” and Song of the Year for “4:44.”
The 49th NAACP Image Award nominations were also announced, and JAY-Z was among the leading nominees. He earned five nods, with one for Entertainer of the Year.
— JAY-Z wrote an op-ed for the New York Times about the American criminal justice system and Meek Mill‘s two-to-four-year prison sentence for violating probation. He followed that article up with an confessional interview with the New York Times, in which he said that he and Beyoncé were working on a joint album. He also talked about his strained relationship with Kanye and mentioned his past infidelity and how that affected his marriage with Bey.
By the end of November, Beyoncé was enlisted by both Eminem and singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran for features on two separate songs: Em’s “Walk on Water” and Ed’s “Perfect” remix.
Thanks to the remix version of “Perfect,” Beyoncé scored her first #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in nine years.
In December, Beyoncé appeared as a surprise presenter at Sports Illustrated‘s Sportsperson of the Year event.
She presented NFL free agent and activist Colin Kaepernick with the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award.
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