Beyonce is hardly a woman who needs to prove her bootylicious credentials, but if any doubt remained about her status as one of the world's hottest sex symbols, it will be firmly extinguished by her latest photoshoot.
The chart-topping singer, who is rapidly earning her stripes as a star of the silver screen as well, appears in the coveted cover shot slot of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. By doing so she follows in the footsteps of the some of the modelling game's most celebrated stars, including Petra Nemcova, Heidi Klum and Elle Macpherson.
Appearing at the launch party in Los Angeles, the 25-year-old confessed she'd been very nervous when she donned her bikini for the pictures. "It takes a lot of guts - I'm really a shy person," she explained. "But in my everyday world, as a musical performer, I'm playing a character. I had to tap that same character."
Until now the Dreamgirls star has always refused to pose in swimwear or lingerie. She decided to make an exception on this occasion, though, for which she models designs from her own House Of Dereon label.