Destiny's Child is an American pop group. Originally a duo and later a quartet, the group eventually became a trio, whose members are Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. According to the World Music Awards, they are the Best-Selling Female Group of All Time with combined record sales of over 60 million albums and singles sold (includes group and solo sales). On June 12, 2005 the group announced on tour in Barcelona that they would no longer perform together, instead pursuing individual careers in music, theater, television and film.
Destiny's Child: Early Career
Destiny's Child was formed in Houston, Texas, in 1990, when original members Beyoncé Knowles and LaTavia Roberson were just nine years old; Beyoncé Knowles' father, Matthew, set about developing an act based on their singing and rapping, under the name GirlTyme. Beyoncé Knowles' friend Kelly Rowland joined two years after. Later Tina Knowles, Beyoncé Knowles's mother, took their name from a passage in the Book of Isaiah. They landed an appearance on Star Search (as a trio), where they performed a rap song. In 1993, LeToya Luckett joined the act. The quartet's lineup was finalized (for the time being), and they spent the next few years working their way up from the Houston club scene, eventually opening for popular R&B artists like SWV, Dru Hill, and Immature. In 1997, Destiny's Child was offered a recording contract by Columbia Records.
Destiny's Child
The group made their recording debut with "Killing Time," which appeared on the soundtrack for the 1997 blockbuster, Men In Black. Destiny's Child released their self-titled debut album to mixed reviews on February 17, 1998. The album's first single, "No, No, No" featured two completely different versions of the same song. "No, No, No Pt.1" and "No, No, No Pt.2" were both released simultaneously, however, Part II was considered a "remix" version of Part I. "No, No, No Pt.2" featuring The Fugees member Wyclef Jean, quickly climbed to No.1 on the Billboard R&B chart and No.3 Pop. The single sold over 1 million copies. However, follow-up singles "With Me Pt.1" and "Get On The Bus" failed to reproduce the success of "No, No, No." Destiny's Child eventually went Platinum after later success. Expectations weren't high for the group's second album, as most industry critics considered them to be another disposable R&B girl-group with one-hit wonder status.
Destiny's Child: The Writing's on the Wall
Destiny's Child re-entered the studio quickly, bringing in a new lineup of producers, including Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, Rodney Jerkins, Dwayne Wiggins, Chad Elliot, Daryl Simmons, and Missy Elliott. Critics were generally positive about the album. Music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote "The Writing's on the Wall... an assured step forward for the girl group. Not only are they maturing as vocalists, they are fortunate to work with such skilled, talented producers... who all give the quartet rich, varied music upon which to work their charm." Lead single "Bills, Bills, Bills" which was like TLC's "No Scrubs" part 2,became the group's first No.1 Hot 100 hit (and second R&B No.1) in the summer of 1999, and paced by its success, the accompanying album, The Writing's on the Wall, entered the Billboard 200 at No.6 upon its release on July 27, 1999. The second single, "Bug-a-Boo" hit the Top 40 pop charts, while its music video received heavy rotation on MTV and BET.
Buoyed by the group's breakout success, two of its original members, Letoya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson, attempted to split with manager Matthew Knowles, charging that he kept a disproportionate share of the band's profits, attempted to exert too much control, and unfairly favored his daughter and Kelly Rowland who he had legal guradianship over. While they never intended to leave the group, relations naturally grew strained, and when the video for "Say My Name" premiered in February 2000, many fans (not to mention Roberson and Luckett) were surprised to find two new members - Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin - joining Beyoncé Knowles and Rowland. Infuriated, Roberson and Luckett took legal action in March, suing both Knowles and their former bandmates for breach of partnership and fiduciary duties. A war of words followed in the press; meanwhile, Destiny's Child became a pop-cultural phenomenon. "Say My Name" became the group's biggest single to date and third No.1 single. The abrupt membership changes within the group seemed to only heighten the group's visibility, finally separating them from the endless pack of teen R&B starlets.
In June 2000, the album's fourth single, "Jumpin' Jumpin'" became a Top 5 hit, however, another departure came from the ever-evolving girl-group. Farrah Franklin, who had replaced an original member just five months prior, left the group for various personal reasons. This split was less controversial, while The Writing's on the Wall would eventually be certified 8x platinum domestically and sell over 12 million copies worldwide. In the meantime, toward the end of 2000, Roberson and Luckett dropped the portion of their lawsuit aimed at Rowland and Beyoncé Knowles in exchange for a settlement (estimated to be at about $2 million total), though they continued to pursue action against Knowles' father; as part of the agreement, both sides were prohibited from attacking each other publicly.
Destiny's Child: "The Rebirth of the Group"
Now a trio of Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams, Destiny's Child were tapped to record the theme song for the film version of Charlie's Angels; released as a single in October 2000, "Independent Women, Pt. 1" raced up the charts and spent an astounding 11 consecutive weeks at No.1 (the longest running of 2000). They quickly began work on a new album to capitalize on their success. In the meantime, Destiny's Child won 2 Grammy awards for "Say My Name," including Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and Best R&B Song. While speaking with MTV.com, Rowland had this to say about the upcoming album: "I know everybody can relate to this album it's very diverse and inspiring. The year 2000 was very challenging, and I know that gave Beyoncé Knowles a lot of inspiration to write songs for the album. We cannot wait for everybody to hear it. It's so empowering for a lot of people who have already heard a little bit of it."
Destiny's Child: Survivor (2001)
Beyoncé Knowles had long since emerged as the group's focal point, and on the third Destiny's Child album, she assumed more control than ever before, taking a greater hand in producing and co-writing the entire album. "We're excited about the album," Beyoncé Knowles told MTV News shortly before the album's release. She adds,"...I got a chance to co-write and produce all of the songs." "And she did an incredible job," the group's Kelly Rowland added. "But everybody is a part of the music," Beyoncé Knowles said. "Everybody is singing lead on every song, and it's so great — because now Destiny's Child is at the point vocally and mentally that it should be at. It's just great to be a part of this group." Survivor - whose title was reportedly inspired by a DJ's crack about Destiny's Child members voting one another off the island, much like the popular CBS reality series Survivor - hit stores in the spring of 2001, and entered the Billboard 200 at number one, selling over 663,000 copies in its first week sales (the highest ever for a girl-group.) The first two singles, "Survivor" and "Bootylicious", were predictably huge hits, with the latter becoming the group's fourth No.1 Hot 100 single. An über-melismatic cover of Samantha Sang's "Emotion" was also successful, becoming a Top 10 pop hit. Survivor sold well - certified 4x platinum domestically and going on to sell over 10 million worldwide. Toward the end of the year, the group released a holiday album, 8 Days of Christmas, and announced plans for a series of side projects, including solo albums from all three members (to be staggered over the next year and a half, so as to avoid competition). In early 2002, a remix compilation titled This Is the Remix was released to tide fans over.
Destiny's Child: Solo Projects
Michelle Williams
Williams became the first member of Destiny's Child to have a solo project released. “Heart To Yours,” a contemporary gospel collection that reached No.1 on the Top Gospel Albums chart and sold 200,000 copies in the US. Her second gospel album, Do You Know reached the No. 2 slot on the Top Christian Album chart and No. 3 on the Top Gospel Albums chart shortly after its release in January 2004. Williams also earned rave reviews after replacing Toni Braxton in the lead role of Aida on Broadway in November 2003. To date this album has sold just over 150,000 copies in the US.
Kelly Rowland
In October 2002, Rowland’s solo debut, Simply Deep featured the No.1 Hot 100 smash hit, "Dilemma," a Grammy-winning (Best Rap/Sung Collaboration) duet with hip-hop superstar Nelly, however that did not translate into album sales for Rowland. With "Dilemma" Rowland became the first member of Destiny's Child to hit No.1 outside of the group. Internationally, Kelly was on a roll, hitting the No.1 slot on the U.K. and several other countries' album charts while peaking in the U.S. at No.3 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album chart and No.12 on the Billboard 200, it has sold 500,000 domestically and 2 million worldwide. In 2003, Rowland made her feature film debut in the horror flick "Freddy Vs. Jason".
Beyoncé Knowles
In 2001, Beyoncé Knowles co-starred with Mekhi Phifer in MTV's remake of Bizet's Carmen, Carmen: A Hip Hopera. In 2002, Beyoncé Knowles co-starred with Mike Myers in the box-office blockbuster Austin Powers in Goldmember. She recorded a single for its soundtrack called "Work It Out." While it was a different style for Beyoncé Knowles the song flopped miserably which lead her to scrap most of the 45 songs recorded for her solo debut.
Her breakout solo success has far eclipsed the other two Destiny's Child members. Her 2003 solo debut, Dangerously In Love, debuted at No.1 and sold over 4 million copies domestically and 8 million worldwide It yielded the No.1 hits "Crazy In Love" featuring hip hop superstar Jay-Z (certified gold) and "Baby Boy" featuring Sean Paul. Top 5 songs "Me, Myself and I" and "Naughty Girl", the latter also certified gold, followed.
Critically, Beyoncé Knowles has been well-received by many, even netting 5 Grammy awards for Dangerously In Love, a level reached only by a select few others, including Michael Jackson, Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Santana and Norah Jones, some very impressive company to be keeping.
She's also dating Jay-Z, although their much talked about romance remains a mystery to most. Both Beyoncé Knowles and Jay-Z refuse to comment on the relationship. In September 2003, Beyoncé Knowles co-starred in her second feature film, The Fighting Temptations alongside Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. She recently landed a role in a remake of The Pink Panther with Steve Martin.
Destiny's Child: Destiny Fulfilled (2004)
After three years apart, achieving individual success in movies, on Broadway, endorsements and with solo albums, the three women of Destiny's Child reunited with a new album, Destiny Fulfilled. A world tour, sponsored by McDonald's, "Destiny Fulfilled and I'm Lovin' It", hit 16 countries and over 75 cities worldwide, kicking off in Hiroshima, Japan on April 9, 2005; stops include Australia, Europe, and the U.S. and Canada in summer 2005. Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly and Michelle were credited as co-writers and executive producers of Destiny Fulfilled. "Lose My Breath," the album's first single, produced by Rodney Jerkins, became the group's ninth Top 10 Hot 100 hit. The album saw the trio shift to a harder, 'urban' sound and was released in November 2004. The second single, "Soldier" featuring rappers T.I. and Lil Wayne quickly entered the Top 10, peaking at No.3 in February 2005 becoming the group's tenth top 10 hit. "Lose My Breath" and "Soldier" have since been certified platinum by the RIAA. Despite receiving worldwide mixed reviews, Destiny Fulfilled was certified 3x Platinum in early 2005 and has sold over 6 million copies worldwide. The album's third and fourth singles were "Girl" and "Cater 2 U", respectively.
During Destiny Fulfilled they were named the "Biggest selling female group of all time" "Destiny Fulfilled and I'm Lovin' It" was filmed on their Atlanta leg of the tour on 07/15/05.
Destiny's Child: Final Destiny and The Future
On June 13, 2005, it was announced the group will disband after their world tour ends in the fall of 2005. It was decided that the split would occur after the very last concert in Vancouver, Canada. The group first appeared on MTV's Total Request Live on June 21, 2005 to officially confirm their split. Their management decided to document their final tour for a special farewell DVD. The group will release their greatests hits album, #1's on October 25, which includes three new songs. One of the new songs is titled Stand Up For Love. Lyrically the song is the anthem for World Children's Day, but relates to troubled times such as third world poverty, Hurricane Katrina, and the late 2004 Tsunami. The video for "Stand up for love" will be Destiny's Child last single.
Beyoncé Knowles has several individual projects lined up including her starring role in the Dreamgirls movie as well as music for the soundtrack of that movie and the upcoming Pink Panther remake movie. Pink Panther is due to be released February 2006, whilst Dreamgirls is due for release late 2006 (filming begins in December 2005). Beyoncé Knowles's singing can also be heard on forthcoming music projects including her duet with soul legend Stevie Wonder on So Amazing: An All Star Tribute to Luther Vandross and her cover of Rose Royce's classic "Wishing on a star" featured on the soundtrack to the film Roll Bounce. Beyoncé Knowles is launching her own clothing line House of Dereon with her mother, Tina, early 2006. Destiny's Child modelled some of the clothing during their 2005 world tour and during the Fashion Rocks concert, which took place September 9th. Beyoncé Knowles's second solo album is expected to be released in September 2006.
Kelly has some individual TV and music projects lined up. She is to appear in three upcoming episodes of US UPN sitcom "Girlfriends" in February 2006. She is featured on the upcoming new album llumination by soul greats Earth, Wind & Fire. Their album is in stores September 20th. Kelly's singing can be heard on their party joint "This Is How I Feel", produced by Organized Noize, also featuring rapper Big Boi of OutKast and singer Sleepy Brown. She is also a featured artist on a song called "Here We Go Again", which impacted radio on September 13 and is already major gaining airplay looking set to achieve similar success to her duet with Nelly on the song "Dilemma". This is the second single from rapper Trina's new album Glamorest Life in stores October 4th and the video for this single was filmed in September and will impact the TV music channels in late October. Kelly has already began working on her second album, which is expected to be released in Spring 2006.
Michelle is one of the current spokepersons for The Gap and she is singing her cover of Soul Legend Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" in their new commericial. Michelle's cover version of this song is also featured on the soundtrack to film Roll Bounce. Michelle is also expected to release a new album in early 2007, it will be her third solo album. Unlike her fisrt two albums, her third may veer away from Gospel to mainstream R&B. Michelle is to appear in three upcoming episodes of US UPN sitcom "Half & Half" in February 2006. In August bandmate Kelly stated she was aware that Michelle was definitely in talks with Broadway again, so there may be more to come on the big stage from Michelle.
Mattel released Destiny's Child Barbie Collector Dolls in August 2005. With Destiny’s Child’s recent breakup announcement, this trio of dolls is expected to become a major collectors item.
Destiny's Child: Endorsements and Products
McDonalds — Destiny's Child
Barbie— Destiny's Child
Pepsi — Beyoncé Knowles
L'Oréal — Beyoncé Knowles
Tommy Hilfiger — Beyoncé Knowles
The Gap — Michelle
Colgate — Michelle
Soft Sheen-Carson — Kelly
Destiny's Child: Fashion
House of Dereon; Beyoncé Knowles
About Beyond Productions, LLC
Beyond Productions, LLC was founded in May 2004 by Tina and Beyoncé Knowles, Jason and Arthur Rabin and Cory Silverstein of Wear Me Apparel/Kids Headquarters. The partnership will provide the infrastructure for licensing and brand management to House of Dereon. This collaboration was orchestrated by Tina and Beyoncé Knowles who wanted to bring trend-setting style and a creative take on fashion to stylish women everywhere. The design alliance features three co-creative directors, Beyoncé Knowles and Tina Knowles, and Heather Thomson Schindler.
Destiny's Child: Group Member Listing
(since debut album)
Beyoncé Knowles
Kelly Rowland
Michelle Williams (2000-2005)
LaTavia Roberson (1997-2000)
LeToya Luckett (1997-2000)
Farrah Franklin (2000)
Destiny's Child: Records and Facts
- According to the World Music Awards, Destiny's Child is the Best-Selling Female Group of All Time
The Writing's on the Wall debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200 Album chart. Nine months after its release, the album was #5 on the chart, having just experienced its best sales week ever. More than a year after the album's release, The Writing's on the Wall was still in the Top 20 (#11), selling upwards of 70,000 units per week. In the first year of its release, The Writing's on the Wall spent 47 out of 52 weeks in the Top 40 or better of the Billboard 200 Album chart.
- The week of October 24, 2000, Destiny's Child had two singles on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart: "Independent Women Part I" at #9, reaching 65 million listeners & "Jumpin Jumpin" at #5, reaching 75 million listeners.
In 2000, Destiny's Child had three #1 records on the Billboard Hot 100: "Bills, Bills, Bills," "Say My Name," and "Independent Women Part I."
- At the end of November 2000, during its fourth straight week at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Destiny's Child's "Independent Women Part I" reached the largest audience (140.4 million listeners over a week) in the history of monitored airplay, breaking the record set in May 1999 by TLC's "No Scrubs." The record has since been broken most recently by Mariah Carey with her hit "We Belong Together" which reached 223 million impressions.
- When "Independent Women Part I" hit #1 on the UK charts, Destiny's Child became the first American all-female group to hold that position since 1989, when the Bangles hit it with "Eternal Flame."
- With "Independent Women Part I," Destiny's Child became the first American all-female group ever to debut at #1 on the U.K. charts.
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The song appearing on the Survivor album titled "Independent Women Part 2" was actually written first by Beyoncé Knowles. The song was re-written and re-arranged, with the references to Charlie's Angels added, and the new version was called "Part 1." Beyoncé Knowles's original version then became "Part 2."
- When "Survivor" hit #1 on the UK charts, Destiny's Child became the first American all-female group to score more than one UK #1 single. This was something not even the Supremes managed.
- Former Destiny's Child member Farrah Franklin has vocals on "Independent Women Part I".
- Dangerously In Love went to the top of the album charts in the UK and Canada, as well as on both the American pop (Billboard 200) and R&B charts. When single and album simultaneously topped the pop charts in both the US and the UK, she became the first act to achieve this feat since Men At Work in 1983 - in the '60s and '70s, it was performed by The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, and Rod Stewart. This makes her the first female artist to achieve this.
- Kelly and Michelle are not the real names of Beyoncé Knowles's fellow group members. Kelly's birth name was Kelendria Trene Rowland and Michelle's birth name was Tenetria Michelle Williams. Kelly's name was always abbreviated from a young age, and so it felt natural to use the abbreviation for the group. Michelle was forced to use her middle name as her adopted first name in the group, as the Knowles thought Tenetria to be too "ethnic." However it is interesting to point out that his own daughter Beyoncé Knowles has an arguably "ethnic" name.
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