Beyoncé may be an international sensation married to hip-hop star Jay Z, says Tom Horan in the London Daily Telegraph, but she had a remarkably sheltered upbringing. Raised in a middle-class suburb of Houston by strict parents, the 27-year-old singer-actress attended private school and rarely dated. “People would be surprised as to the lack of experiences I’ve had,” she says. “When I was 12, 13, I had my first boyfriend till I was 17. I went to his prom, but I had to be home early. We didn’t—you know. My mom and dad, they weren’t having it.” After Beyoncé achieved early success as a 19-year-old with the group Destiny’s Child, her parents made sure stardom didn’t go to her head. “We were in a record store, and my song was playing, and I started singing,” she recalls. “And there were some really cute guys talking to me and I was like, ‘Oh yeah! I’m hot!’ And my mom said, ‘I’m talking to you,’ but I kept singing. And so she slapped me in the face! My dad said, ‘What are you doing?’ My mom said, ‘She thinks she’s hot stuff ’cos her single is out. You are still my child. Now go and sit in the car.’ It was the best thing she could have ever done to me, because for the first time, I realized I was losing sight of what was important.”
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