Beyonce Knowles was nearly dumbstruck Thursday when, shortly after arriving in Toronto, she realized she was in the country where she and her Destiny’s Child bandmates got their start - and found their end as a group. “Canada is memorable to me because my very first tour with Destiny’s Child was in Canada with Wyclef (Jean) and at the time we were in a little minivan … and we were the happiest kids in the world,” she said, reminiscing in her posh hotel room, her jeans-clad legs curled up on the couch. Then she smiled, remembering the group that she formed when she was just nine also performed their very last concert together in Vancouver just last September. “I never realized that until right now,” she said with a laugh. “It’s weird.”

The “bootylicious” pop diva with the honey vocals and honey-coloured hair, who goes by just Beyonce, was in the city to promote her sophomore solo album, “B’Day.” The record, released Sept. 5 (a day after her 25th birthday) just hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts in its debut week, selling just over 541,000 units, according to Sony. The success brought the Houston-born, New York-based singer “relief,” she said, because she was nervous about how her fans would embrace the new, forceful sound.