Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has not only built a powerhouse brand for herself, but has also invested in the careers of a select few artists through her music label and company, Parkwood Entertainment.
Originally founded in 2008 as a video and film production venture, Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment company evolved into a full entertainment and management company by 2010. In 2015, news broke that the Grammy-winning singer had signed her first (and only) publicly known group of artists to the company: pop singer and former “X Factor” contestant Sophie Beem, Houston-bred rapper and songwriter Ingrid, and R&B duo Chloe x Halle Bailey.
Beem, who was a teenager at the time, was signed under a two-year development deal but has been relatively quiet in the years that followed, taking up studies at the USC Thornton School of Music, releasing a few singles on streaming platforms, and keeping a private Instagram account. For her part, Ingrid, who was in her 20s when she joined Parkwood, continued her existing DJ and songwriting career. After co-writing Beyoncé’s “Love Drought” from the 2016 album “Lemonade,” Ingrid went on to co-write the track “BLAST!” on the studio album “BLOOM” by Durand Bernarr, which won Best Progressive R&B Album at the Grammys in February 2026.
Meanwhile, Chloe and Halle, who were also teenagers when they signed with Parkwood, had already begun building an audience online by the time Beyoncé discovered them. The superstar found the sisters by seeing their cover of her song “Pretty Hurts,” which had amassed over 11 million views on YouTube. In 2003, Chloe met Beyoncé on the set of “Fighting Temptations” as she played a younger version of Beyoncé, but 2015 was when the “Halo” singer really took notice of the up-and-coming performer.
“It’s exciting, but having the power to make every final decision and being accountable for them is definitely a burden and a blessing,” Beyoncé told Elle in 2016 about signing the artists. “I want to take all my resources and give these artists the support of the best, to nurture them and allow them to be who they really are.”
These three acts are the only known artists ever to sign with the music label. Beem’s deal likely expired, since Ingrid is also no longer on the label’s active roster. As of 2025, the rapper Ingrid shared on Instagram that she received nearly 400 million streams across platforms. She is still spinning and making music.
Chloe and Halle, however, have continued to evolve under the company. As of 2026, they are the only artists currently signed to the label beyond Beyoncé herself. The sisters first emerged as a duo and eventually launched solo careers spanning music, film and television—a path that echoes Beyoncé’s own career trajectory.
How Beyoncé’s film career compares to Chloe and Halle in movies
Beyoncé’s film career took shape largely in her 20s, when she already had roughly a decade of professional experience performing. She balanced music with major screen roles including “Carmen: A Hip Hopera” at 19, followed by major films like “Austin Powers in Goldmember,” “The Fighting Temptations,” “Dreamgirls,” “Cadillac Records,” and “Obsessed.” Her later screen work increasingly became intertwined with her music and visual storytelling, including “Epic,” “Lemonade,” “Homecoming,” “Black Is King” and, later, “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé.”
Meanwhile, Chloe and Halle appeared on screen from a young age, long before signing with Parkwood, with Chloe appearing in “The Fighting Temptations” and Halle in “Last Holiday.” However, their later film and television careers developed alongside their music. The sisters released their debut album, “The Kids Are Alright” in 2018, followed by their sophomore album “Ungodly Hour” in 2020. As they entered adulthood, their individual screen careers began to expand as well: both starring in the sitcom “Grown-ish” in their late teens and early 20s. They went on to land blockbuster roles on-screen, including Halle as Ariel in Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” and “The Color Purple” in 2023, among other roles.
Separately, Chloe has starred in major films and TV shows such as “Swarm” and the musical comedy “Praise This,” both in 2023. Most recently, Halle took the lead role in the 2026 romantic comedy “You, Me & Tuscany,” while Chloe took on the lead role in the psychological film “Strung.” Now, the Grammy-nominated sisters have recently shared in a Complex interview that they are preparing to reunite for new music together.
‘There’s a hands-off approach and there’s an invisible hand approach’
Professor of ethnomusicology at University of South Carolina, Birgitta Johnson, says there are obvious parallels that connect the sisters’ career to Beyoncé’s journey.
“When you look back, they remind me of how when Beyoncé went solo she had an identity as a member of Destiny’s Child. And then, when you see her step out as a solo artist, she has another identity. She was very much in tune with being in a group and harmonies and affirming girl power and empowerment,” Johnson says. “She’s a little older when she becomes a solo artist and then she kind of starts to stretch sonically.”
Johnson also noted parallels between the sisters’ music and film careers and Beyoncé’s own crossover.
“Being the multi-hyphenate is almost a requirement,” Johnson says, speaking to the broader evolution of the entertainment industry. “So you see them gradually picking things that help to enhance those other aspects of their talents.”
Johnson added that she sees the Parkwood approach as offering a unique opportunity for the young performers to decide what kinds of careers they actually want.
“I think with Parkwood, there’s two things happening. There’s a hands-off approach and there’s an invisible hand approach. I think the hands-off approach is closer to what Prince was doing with his artists he mentored,” says Johnson. “It seems like they were definitely way more curated with Parkwood than you would see with other young [artists], particularly young female artists and young Black female artists … In other places and spaces if it doesn’t hit in the first five seconds, they get dropped. And you see over at Parkwood, Chloe and Halle having more time to marinate into what they want to be and develop their own identities.”
Like many others, Johnson has followed Chloe and Halle’s careers from their earliest days online, before they were signed to Parkwood. And she has noticed a distinct impact since the sisters began working with the “Cowboy Carter” creator. Namely, they are able to experiment and evolve as singers, songwriters, producers and instrumentalists.
The ‘Parkwood influence’ on Chloe and Halle, from YouTube fame to long-term success
“They’re in that YouTube early era,” Johnson says. “[Fans] saw them develop as artists and singer-songwriters and play all these different instruments … I think Chloe and Halle are that generation of artists where you got to see part of the process in, like, the drafts.”
She also pointed to Parkwood’s role in giving the sisters room to grow, including acting roles like the TV drama series “Grown-ish,” which offered another way the sisters’ careers have complemented each other.
“I think that’s why I say the ‘Parkwood influence.’ When they picked ‘Grown-ish,’ it was almost like the perfect catalyst to introduce us to young adult Chloe and Halle whereas a lot of young actors and young musicians have that trouble transitioning into adulthood,” says Johnson. “If they’re in a film, they’re going to be on the film soundtrack. If they’re in a television show, they might be singing the theme song. And so those are very smart moves.”
Johnson added that selective placement has also been key, allowing the duo to build their visibility organically without oversaturating the market.
Chloe and Halle have appeared in select projects with the “Ya Ya” singer herself over the years, but they are not synonymous with Beyoncé’s brand. The duo performed as an opening act for Beyoncé on the European trek of the Beyoncé’s Formation World Tour in 2016 and for Beyoncé and Jay-Z on their On the Run II Tour in 2018.
“Sometimes it does look like post-Beyoncé, Destiny’s Child era where you’re having these moments at the Super Bowl or an opening on a particular tour or showing up in this film or this TV show,” she says. “They’re not trying to cram the duo down our throat. And so you get to see them just continue on their journey.”
Beyond those touring performances, Johnson says their affiliation with Parkwood has also placed them at the center of notable cultural moments as they gained notoriety, including the Super Bowl in 2019, where the duo sang “America the Beautiful.”
Despite the similarities, Johnson says it’s best not to compare the sisters’ success to Beyoncé, in part because the latter hails from the physical-media era while the sisters rose to fame during the era of social media and streaming platforms.
“I think Beyoncé’s experiences in that era helped to inform how she mentors Chloe and Halle and decisions that they get to make,” she says, noting that YouTube wasn’t even yet launched when Beyoncé did her first solo record.
For Chloe and Halle, the path may echo Beyoncé’s in some ways, but their careers are ultimately being shaped by a different cultural landscape and, increasingly, on their own terms.
Follow Caché McClay, the USA TODAY Network’s Beyoncé Knowles-Carter reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @cachemcclay.