Beyonce: What I'm Thankful For

Nov. 25, 2009— -- Pop culture sensation Beyonce Knowles gets up close and personal in an ABC special airing Thanksgiving night, sharing what she's thankful for this season.

"I'm thankful for my life, I'm thankful for my health and my family and for music and for having the best job in the world," she said.

In a performance made during her I Am... Tour, this summer at the Encore Theater at Wynn, Las Vegas, Knowles shares the inspiration behind many of her hits.

"People don't know that these songs meant more than just the songs that are catchy," she said. "It's my life."

Beyonce said the hit "Dangerously in Love," off her debut solo album, was when she fell for her husband, hip hop mogul Jay-Z.

"A lot of the people in the audience would know 'Crazy in Love,' but would not particularly know this is when I met my first love ... my husband," Beyonce said. "There's an actual story behind all of my songs and why I wrote the songs and I wanted to show that."

ABC's special television event begins on Thanksgiving night, Nov. 26, at 9 p.m. ET with "Beyonce: I Am... Yours."

For her Las Vegas performance, the R&B singer-songwriter put together an entirely new show.

"I've always wanted to perform in Las Vegas, I've always wanted to do my own show there, because a lot of the icons that I look up to had amazing shows in Las Vegas," she said. "I thought if I'm going to have my own Las Vegas show, it has to be right and it has to have heart and soul and it has to be something memorable."

Click here to see photos of 'Beyonce: The Making of a Diva.'

"My whole objective here is for people to see what they don't get to see. Just give me my band, give me a stage, some cool smoke and lights and you see the sweat, you see the pain, you see the love, you see the soul and it's about music," she said.

The seven-time Grammy award-winning singer juggled the music, new choreography, lighting and direction. Beyonce said she pushes herself to perfection.

"When I work, I don't eat. I don't use the restroom...," she said. "And I think my team is just as crazy as I am because they are right there with me pushing it and pushing themselves."

Beyonce Personifies Female Empowerment Through Music

From her on-screen role as Foxxy Cleopatra in "Austin Powers," to her new hit "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)," the talented performer has become a symbol of female empowerment.

"I always will believe in the strength we have as women," Beyonce said. "And there are certain things you should not put up with and you have the choice to set the standards.

"I know a lot of young women listen to my music when they need encouragement," she said. "There's nothing better than someone coming up to me and saying, 'I knew I had to get rid of that guy,' and 'I listened to that song and I knew that I was better than that and it gave me the strength to move on to the next chapter of my life.'"

Surrounding herself on-stage and off with strong women of all shapes and sizes, Beyonce's band is an all-female ensemble.

"It was a couple years ago," she said, "I had this idea to have a female band. We had auditions in New York, Chicago, Houston and L.A. And people flew from all over the world. ... I wanted young people to feel like there's somebody on the stage that they can identify with. They are all different shapes, different sizes, different races. And they play better than the guys. It just makes me really, really proud."

"A lot of us didn't know each other when we made the band three years ago," said band member Divinity Roxx, who plays bass. "I have grown as a musician in these past three years. I have grown as a person."

"You have to grow because as she gets better, we have to get better. It's like, everybody has to step their game up," said drummer Nikki Glaspie.

Beyonce has grown from a talented 9-year-old to the lead singer in the girl group Destiny's Child into a pop icon, at the helm of a thriving business empire. She's been ranked as one of the world's most powerful celebrities by Forbes, reportedly earning an estimated $87 million in 2009.

"There would definitely not be a Beyonce without Destiny's Child. I love my girls," she said.

From "Star Search" to Forbes Celebrity 100, Beyonce has continued to come out on top.

"I don't like to gamble, but if there is one thing I'm willing to bet on is myself," she said.

ABC's special television event begins on Thanksgiving night, Nov. 26, at 9 p.m. ET with "Beyonce: I Am... Yours." "Paul McCartney: Good Evening New York City" airs at 10 p.m. ET.