Beyonce and Jay-Z Baby: A Look at Music's Royal Couple Through the Years [PHOTOS]

Music royalty Beyonce and husband Jay-Z welcomed their first child late Saturday night in a private wing of New York City's Lenox Hill Hospital. The singer gave birth to a baby girl named Blue Ivy Carter.

Excitement has surrounded the child's birth since Beyonce announced she was pregnant in August onstage at MTV's Video Music Awards. "I want you to feel the love that's growing inside me." She opened her sparkling blazer to reveal a baby bump, highlighted by high-waisted trousers. 

Love is for sure. Beyonce and Jay-Z, whose birth name is Shawn Carter, are one of Hollywood's most high-powered couples. Not only is she a singing sensation and he a hip-hop mogul, but the two have maintained a strong relationship since meeting in the late 1990s. Despite their celebrity, the couple even managed to keep their love under wraps at first.  

When they met, Beyonce was part of the girl group Destiny's Child. "I was 18 when we first met, 19 when we first started dating," she told Seventeen magazine. "I really don't believe that you will love the same thing when you're 20 as you do at 30. So that was my rule: Before the age of 25, I would never get married."

"I feel like you have to get to know yourself, know what you want, spend some time by yourself and be proud of who you are before you can share that with someone else," she said. 

She and Jay-Z developed their relationship over the years. She collaborated with him on his hit single "03 Bonnie & Clyde" in 2002. The song featured lyrics like "Cuz mami's a rider, and I'm a roller / Put us together, how they gon' stop both us? / What ever she lacks, I'm right over her shoulder / When I'm off track mami is keepin me focused / So let's, lock this down like it's supposed to be / The '03 Bonnie and Clyde, Hov' and B."

Despite the fact that neither had yet confirmed the relationship, their chemistry was palpable. So it was an obvious choice to feature Jay-Z on her single "Crazy in Love" from her 2003 album "Dangerously in Love." The song spent eight weeks at number one. "We exchanged audiences. Her records are huge Top 40 records, and she helped 'Bonnie and Clyde' go to number one. What I gave her was a street credibility," said the hip-hop mogul.

The couple began to appear in public more and more, especially at basketball games. But Beyonce insisted that the coming out was not a calculated move. "We never really consciously talk about anything. Even when we do records, I've never sat down and said, 'hey, let's try to do a song," she said. "It's just natural. We never said 'OK, now we're going to go to games.' We just live our lives."

On April 4, 2008, Beyonce wed Jay-Z in an intimate ceremony in New York City. A tent was reportedly erected in his newly renovated Manhattan penthouse and 70,000 white orchids decorated the setting. In attendance were the singer's parents, Tina and Mathew Knowles, Destiny's Child ladies Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, and the couple's close friend Gwyneth Paltrow. 

The Houston-born singer sported an 18-carat diamond ring designed by Lorraine Schwartz with an estimated value of $5 million. 

Now, the couple have extended their family with the welcome of baby Blue Ivy Carter. 

"I feel it's still very strong, because in order to be a strong woman, you have to have a strong man," Beyonce has said. "There's nothing wrong with women doing that for their man if their man deserves it and he does the same for you."  

Take a look at Beyonce and Jay-Z's relationship through the years. 

Jay-Z and Beyonce Knowles perform at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards at the Radio City Music Hall in New York, August 28, 2003.

Beyonce and Jay Z sit with the crowd at the MTV Billboard awards in Miami, Florida, August 29,2004. Beyonce won Best Female Video and Jay Z won the Best Male Video awards.

Entertainers Beyonce (L) and her boyfriend Jay-Z arrive for the 77th annual Academy Awards in Hollywood in this file February 27, 2005 photo. Pop diva Beyonce denied rumors she is secretly married to rapper and music impresario Jay-Z, and said she assumed an alter-ego called "Sasha" for her sexy stage persona in an upcoming Vanity Fair cover story.

Singer Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter (R) sits with singer Beyonce Knowles (L) before the NBA All-Star game in Houston, Texas.

R&B artist Beyonce (R) performs "Deja vu" with rap artist Jay-Z at the 2006 BET Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles in June 27, 2006 file photo. A new crop of rappers want to emulate the success of rappers-turned-moguls like former New York drug dealers Jay-Z and 50 Cent, who both sold albums based on their transformations from street hustling to popping champagne.

Beyonce Knowles leaves the court with companion Jay-Z after the New Jersey Nets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers during the NBA basketball game in East Rutherford.

Jay-Z and Beyonce watch New York Knicks play Cleveland Cavaliers in their NBA basketball game in New York.

Musicians Beyonce Knowles and Jay Z arrive at the 66th annual Golden Globe awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2009.

Singers Jay-Z and Beyonce attend the BET Awards '09 in Los Angeles June 28, 2009.

Musicians Jay-Z and Beyonce Knowles watch the men's final between Rafael Nadal of Spain and Robin Soderling of Sweden at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris.

Jay Z and his wife Beyonce (wearing Christian Louboutin shoes) watch the New Jersey Nets play the Phoenix Suns in the second quarter of their NBA basketball game in Newark, New Jersey, February 28, 2011.

Singers and husband and wife Jay-Z and Beyonce arrive at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit celebrating the opening of the exhibition "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty" in New York May 2, 2011.

Rapper Jay-Z and his wife, singer Beyonce, attend the match between Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Rafael Nadal of Spain in the men's final of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, September 12, 2011.