Beyoncé and Jay-Z Welcome a Baby Girl: Blue Ivy Carter

Beyoncé and Jay-Z are now Mom and Dad!

The singer, whose pregnancy was closely watched and the subject of various rumors, gave birth to a baby girl in New York on Saturday, according to her hometown paper, the Houston Chronicle. Mom and baby are doing fine, the paper reports.

Sources tell E! News the little girl's name is Blue Ivy Carter.

"Welcome to the world princess Carter!" singer and pal of the couple Rihanna Tweeted Saturday night. "Love Aunty Rih."

Russell Simmons also acknowledged the new parents on Twitter: "congrats to my good friends Beyonce and Jay-Z," he said.

Beyoncé, 30, checked into Lenox Hill Hospital on New York's Upper East Side on Friday, more than a month before her previously stated due date in February.

On Thursday, the singer was photographed out in the city covering her baby bump with a black blazer and a flowing scarf. le

Despite buzz that the singer had given birth to a baby girl over New Year's weekend, Jay-Z and an "enormously pregnant" Beyoncé were spotted enjoying a dinner on Dec. 31 at Buttermilk Channel in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The first-time mom announced she was expecting at the MTV Video Music Awards in August.

Reps for the couple did not respond to requests for comment.

Beyoncé 'Enormously Pregnant in Sky-High Heels,' Says Source

Despite the loud buzz that Beyoncé gave birth over the holiday weekend, the countdown to the arrival of baby Bey is still on.

On New Year's Eve, the singer, 30, ate for two at Buttermilk Channel in Brooklyn, where she and husband Jay-Z feasted on fried chicken and oysters.

"She was definitely a pregnant lady that night," said an onlooker. "They sat side by side and had a cozy and intimate dinner. They seemed to be having a lovely time."

And although the soon-to-be mom is due soon, an uncomfortable baby bump is not getting in the way of her sense of style. 



"She looked amazing. She wore sky-high heels. It was really impressive for an enormously pregnant woman," adds the source. "She looked like she was about to give birth."

The couple greeted excited fans on their way out of the restaurant, presumably before heading to a New Year's shindig at Beyoncé's sister Solange's apartment.

And pregnant Beyoncé in heels got huge props from her sibling. Tweeted Solange: "Shout out to my sister for being THE cutest pregnant woman ever!"

Beyoncé Baby Rumors Bombard the Internet

Maybe baby can wait, but the Internet sure can't.

Blogs and Twitter are in a fever pitch with rumors, gossip, tips, inferences and even bad Photoshopping all about one thing: whether Beyoncé" and husband Jay-Z have welcomed their baby girl.

No matter that the couple and their reps have maintained total silence and that no credible reports exist. The Beyoncé Baby Watch has become a cyber-event unto itself.

It all started with the Twitter explosion when the singer announced her pregnancy at the MTV Video Music Awards last summer, setting a world record of 8,868 Tweets per second (TPS).

After a surreal moment when conspiracy theorists were convinced the baby news was an elaborate hoax involving a prosthetic belly – all, of course, denied by Beyoncé – the Web picked up steam as the due date neared.

In recent days, blogs and Twitter pages seemed certain that Beyoncé not only checked into a New York hospital, but that she actually gave birth.

The Internet has even named the couple's first-born, Tiana-May Carter, after Disney's first black princess, Tiana, in The Princess and the Frog.

And in one of the more unsettling posts, somebody shared what was purported to be a baby photo. We certainly hope not. This would be one ugly kid.

Beyoncé Grabs Two GRAMMY Nominations!

Congratulations to Beyoncé for her two GRAMMY nominations! Beyoncé received nominations in the following categories:

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
Party
Beyoncé & André 3000

Best Long Form Music Video
I Am...World Tour
Beyoncé

The GRAMMYs air Sunday, February 12, at 8pm ET on CBS. Check your local listings. The video for "Party" is also included on Beyoncé's new deluxe 2-DVD set Live At Roseland: Elements of 4 which is available everywhere now!

Alternate “Countdown” Video

"Dance For You" MUSIC VIDEO

Beyonce to Debut One More '4' Video Before DVD Deluxe Release

Yesterday (Nov. 7), Sony Music hosted two screenings (10 am and 12 am) for Beyoncé's "Live At Roseland" DVD at Sony's NYC offices.



Beyoncé's publicist shared a few words before cueing play, saying the DVD was a "labor of love" as it was directed, edited and produced by Bey', herself. Ed Burke and Anthony Green also had a hand in directing and Bey' took reigns as executive producer in association with Parkwood Entertainment and Colombia Records.



"Live At Roseland," due Nov. 21 exclusively at Walmart, will give fans an "up close and personal" look at Beyoncé. The 26-song live DVD documents Bey's four nights at the Roseland Ballroom in August, "4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé." The DVD includes the complete Roseland concert series and never before seen personal footage from Bey'. Queen B shares footage of her times with Destiny's Child, traveling and partying with family, the much talked about American Idol "1+1" rehearsal clip, shot by husband Jay-Z, other performances and even a sneak peak at Beyoncé's wedding dress.

On Nov. 29, Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia Records plan to release a deluxe version of DVD titled, "Live At Roseland: The Elements of 4," which is a two-disc DVD that will include complete concert footage, bonus offstage footage, a 20-page booklet and a video anthology that includes seven videos from her Billboard 200 No.1 album, "4."


As of now, Beyoncé has debuted six videos from "4"-- three in the month of Oct., ten days apart ("Countdown'" (Oct. 6), "Love on Top" (Oct. 16) and "Party" (Oct. 26), which means we should be expecting one more video from "4" before the deluxe version release date, Nov. 27. A source tells Billboard that the seventh video, also said to not be "End of Time," will debut on Nov. 27th, two days before the deluxe release date.