Featured Photos: Beyonce at the Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA - Aug. 31, 2007

Considering R&B singer Beyonce's upbringing, success had an air of predestined inevitability. Both of her parents were perfectly poised to nurture her natural talents: her father a record manger and her mother a stylist and costume designer. The star's education began at a music magnet school and, at age seven, she had won her first talent show, singing John Lennon's "Imagine." After thriving at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in her hometown of Houston, she went on to great success in the group Destiny's Child.

These days Beyonce seems to be everywhere, recording music and staring in feature films. She will soon embark on a world tour in support of her latest album, "I am … Sasha Fierce." In 2007, she passed through Oakland, CA, as part of "The Beyonce Experience Tour" and SoundSpike's Tim Mosenfelder was there to take some photos.