Beyonce has emerged feeling "so much more powerful" after overcoming a series of heartbreaks, insisting she has been through "hell and back".
The superstar, who is known for closely-guarding her privacy, has given fans a rare insight into her life in a new cover article for U.S. Vogue's September (18) issue, in which she touches on the difficulties she's faced over the years, both personally and professionally.
She doesn't discuss her marriage to JAY-Z in detail, but hints at the strife she has endured in their years-long romance, which was previously rocked by allegations of the rapper's infidelity - a topic both she and the Empire State of Mind hitmaker appeared to address in their respective albums Lemonade and 4:44, and their recent joint project, Everything Is Love.
However, in the reflective Vogue piece, Beyonce insists she wouldn't be the "powerful" woman she is today without having overcome the problems of her past.
"There are many shades on every journey. Nothing is black or white," she shares. "I've been through hell and back, and I'm grateful for every scar."
"I have experienced betrayals and heartbreaks in many forms," she continues. "I have had disappointments in business partnerships as well as personal ones, and they all left me feeling neglected, lost, and vulnerable. Through it all I have learned to laugh and cry and grow."
Now a mother-of-three, the 36-year-old couldn't be more content with how she has evolved.
"I look at the woman I was in my 20s and I see a young lady growing into confidence but intent on pleasing everyone around her," she adds. "I now feel so much more beautiful, so much sexier, so much more interesting. And so much more powerful."
