Destiny's Child Bio

Destiny's Child Biography

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This Destiny's Child biography contains information believed to be accurate as extracted from sources around the internet including Wikipedia. If you believe there are errors or omissions in this Destiny's Child bio, please let us know so that we can correct any inaccuracies.

Destiny's Child was a Grammy Award-winning American R&B group. Originally a quartet, the group eventually became a trio consisting of lead singer Beyoncé Knowles, Michelle Williams, and Kelly Rowland. Billboard also ranks the group one of the greatest musical trios of all time. During their singing career, according to their label World Music/Columbia Records. Destiny's Child is the Second best selling group next to their rivals TLC.

On June 12, 2005, the group announced in Barcelona that they would no longer be performing together after completing their tour, and that they would be pursuing their own individual careers in music, theater, television and film.

Destinys Child: History

Destinys Child - 1990 - 1997: Beginnings

In 1990, Beyoncé Knowles met LaTavia Roberson while auditioning to a girl group. Based in Houston, Texas, they were joined to a group that would perform through rapping and dancing; Kelly Rowland, who relocated to Houston because of family issues, joined them. Originally named Girl's Tyme, they were eventually cut down to six. With Knowles and Rowland, Gyrl's Time attracted audience nationally; west coast R&B producer, Arne Frager, flew in Houston to see them. He brought them to his studio-The Plant Recording Studios-in California, with Knowles' vocals being focused because Frager thought she has personality and able to sing. With efforts to sign Gyrl's Time to a record deal, Frager's strategy was to debut them in Star Search, the biggest talent show on national TV that time. However, they lost the competition for what Knowles admitted a wrong choice of song, who were actually rapping instead of singing.

Because of the group's defeat, Knowles' father, Mathew Knowles, voluntarily dedicated his time to manage them; he resigned in 1995 from his job, who was then a medical-equipment salesman. The move significantly reduced Knowles' family's income by half, and her parents separated due to the pressure. Mathew cut down the original lineup to four, with LeToya Luckett's inclusion who auditioned to them in 1993. He established a "boot camp" to train them. Rehearsing in Knowles' mother's salon and their backyards, they continued performing as openings for R&B groups such as SWV, Dru Hill and Immature. Tina Knowles helped design their attires. Same that year, they were signed to Elektra Records, but was dropped before they could release an album. After four years on the road, they were signed to Columbia Records in 1997.

Destinys Child - 1999 - 2000: Lineup changes

The appearance of Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin in the music video of "Say My Name" led to the eventual departure of LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson.

Buoyed by the group's breakout success, Luckett and Roberson attempted in late 1990's to split with the group's manager, claiming that he kept a disproportionate share of the band's profits and unfairly favored to Knowles and Rowland. While they never intended to leave the group, when the video for "Say My Name" surfaced in February 2000, Roberson and Luckett were surprised to find two new members-Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin-joining Knowles and Rowland. Roberson and Luckett took legal action in March, suing both Knowles and their former band mates for breach of partnership and fiduciary duties. The opposite sides were disparaging their selves over the media.

After five months of becoming part of Destiny's Child, Franklin left the group for various personal reasons, including her feeling of getting negative vibes because of the recent strife the original members had. her departure, however, was less controversial. Towards the end of 2000, Roberson and Luckett dropped the portion of their lawsuit aimed at Rowland and Knowles in exchange for a settlement, though they continued to pursue action against Knowles' father; as part of the agreement, both sides were prohibited from attacking each other publicly.

Beyoncé performing Destiny's Child's hit "Independent Women Part I", the best-charting single from the group

Meanwhile, Destiny's Child became a pop-cultural phenomenon. "Say My Name" became their second number-one and biggest single to date. In June 2000, the albums fourth single, "Jumpin' Jumpin'", became a top-five hit. The Writings on the Wall furthered the group's careers as it was one of the top ten-selling albums of 2000. The Writing's on the Wall was eventually certified 8x platinum in the United States.

Now in their final lineup, Destiny's Child recorded a theme song for the film version of Charlie's Angels; released as a single in October 2000, "Independent Women, Pt. 1" spent eleven consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 at number one, the longest-running single of Destiny's Child and of the year. In February 2001, Destiny's Child won two Grammy awards for "Say My Name", including Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and Best R&B Song. They also earned an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo.

Destinys Child - 2001 - 2002: More releases and hiatus

On the third Destiny's Child album, Beyoncé assumed more control than ever before, taking a greater hand in co-producing and co-writing the entire album, except for the song "Emotion" (written by Barry Gibb and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees), which was a cover of the hit song originally performed by Samantha Sang. This version of Emotion was produced by Mark J. Feist and Beyoncé. "We're excited about the album," 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", 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." Arguably, this was an inaccurate statement, as some of the songs are completely sung/lead by Knowles, including "Brown Eyes, "Perfect Man", "Dance With Me" (in the Australian and U.K. special versions of "Survivor"), and "Dangerously in Love",(note that this is a different 'Dangerously in Love' than Beyonce's debut solo album of the same name). However, the lead vocals on the majority of songs on the album are divided evenly, where Knowles and Rowland sing a verse each and Williams does the bridge, however there were some variations, particularly on "Bootylicious" (where Rowland sings two verses) and "Independent Women Part 1" (where Knowles sings the first and second verses and Rowland sings the pre-chorus twice).

Survivor - whose title was reportedly inspired by a DJ's joke 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 three singles, "Independent Women Part I", "Survivor" and "Bootylicious", were predictably huge hits, with the last becoming the group's fourth number-one Hot 100 single. A melismatic cover of the Bee Gees/Mark J. Feist produced' "Emotion" was also successful, becoming a top-ten pop hit. Survivor sold well, certified 4x platinum in the U.S. and sold over 10 million worldwide. In the UK, Destiny's Child had two consecutive hit singles at number one which were "Independent Women Part 1" and "Survivor". In Australia, the album was certified double platinum and debuted at number four on the charts. It made a comeback months later, peaking at number eight on the Australian charts. "Independent Women Part 1" reached number four and was certified double platinum, Survivor reached number seven and went platinum, Bootylicious reached number four and went Platinum, "Emotion" reached twenty-two and went Gold, and "Nasty Girl" reached number ten and also went Gold. In total the albums and singles sold more than 450,000 units in Australia, and for the second year running, were one of the top twenty selling artists in Australia (following "The Writing's on the Wall" a year earlier). In the U.S., the LP was the seventh highest selling album of the year.

LeToya and Latavia once again filed another lawsuit against Destiny's Child and Sony Music for derisive lyrics about them in the Grammy-winning song Survivor. They felt that a line in the song was specifically directed towards them, and thus was in violation of a previous settlement barring either party from "making public comment of a disparaging nature concerning one another." They sought and won unspecified damages.

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. The group also finished the International leg of their successful world tour this year.

Destinys Child - 2003: Solo projects

Michelle Williams

Michelle was the first to release a solo project, Heart to Yours, a contemporary gospel collection, reached number one on the Top Gospel Albums chart.

Her second gospel album, Do You Know reached number two on the Top Christian Album chart and number three on the Top Gospel Albums chart shortly after its release in January 2004. To date, this album has sold just over 78,000 copies in the U.S.

Williams replaced Toni Braxton in the lead role of Aida on Broadway in November 2003. She was met with rave reviews. On April 17 2007, Williams began her run as Shug Avery in the regional production in Chicago of the musical version of The Color Purple (currently on Broadway).

Williams has recently wrapped up recording on her third studio album, Unexpected, which will be her first commercial R&B album. The album is expected to be released in summer of 2008 on August 12, 2008 . Matthews Knowles, her manager, has confirmed that "We Break the Dawn" will be the album's lead single. The producers on the album include Stargate, Rico Love, the Heavyweights, Wayne Wilkins, Andrew Frampton and SoulShock & Karl.

Kelly Rowland

October 2002 saw the release of Kelly's solo debut album Simply Deep. The Grammy-winning Hot 100 hit "Dilemma" by Nelly was included on the album. Kelly took off internationally when Simply Deep hit #1 on the UK Album chart. Dilemma hit #1 on 11 charts worldwide including the Australian Singles Chart, World Singles Chart and UK Singles Chart. Dilemma eventually spent 10 weeks at #1. She was the first member of the group to hit #1.

In 2003, Rowland made her feature film debut in the horror film Freddy vs. Jason.

On July 3, 2007 she released her second studio-album Ms. Kelly, which features Like This, a collaboration with Eve and eleven other tracks. Like This peaked at #30 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. The album Ms. Kelly debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart. The video for her second single, "Ghetto" premiered on BET's Access Granted on September 10, 2007. The song "Work" was released as her second international single. Work has reached number #1 on the Germany music charts and the Top 5 in many European countries, including peaking at #4 on the UK music charts. On March 25, 2008 a reissued version of the album, branded with the name Ms. Kelly: Diva Deluxe, received a digital-only release, its lead single being the previously unreleased song "Daylight," a collaboration with Gym Class Heroes.

Beyoncé Knowles

Beyoncé singing "Dangerously in Love 2", a song originally recorded for Survivor which later appeared on her debut solo album Dangerously in Love

In 2001, Knowles co-starred with Mekhi Phifer in MTV's remake of Bizet's Carmen, Carmen: A Hip Hopera. In 2002, 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".

Her 2003 solo debut, Dangerously in Love, debuted at number one and sold over 5 million copies in the United States and over 12 million worldwide. It yielded the number-one hits "Crazy in Love" featuring hip hop superstar Jay-Z (certified 2x platinum), and "Baby Boy" featuring Sean Paul (certified platinum). Top-five songs "Me, Myself and I" and "Naughty Girl", the latter also certified gold, followed.

Critically, Knowles has been well-received by many, even getting five Grammy awards in one night, for Dangerously In Love, tying the record for most Grammys received in one night by a female with Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys,Amy Winehouse and Norah Jones. Same year, Knowles co-starred in her second feature film, The Fighting Temptations alongside Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr..

In September 2006, Beyoncé continued her success with her second album B'Day. B'Day won one Grammy for "Best Contemporary R&B Album", and Knowles also starred in Dreamgirls, the film production of the 1981 hit Broadway musical. In June 2007, Beyonce fell head first down a short flight of stairs while giving a concert performance in Orlando, Florida. Although she was not injured, she (reportedly jokingly) requested that nobody in the audience upload the incident to Youtube. Uploads happened anyway, but were removed about a week later at the request of Sony BMG.

In September 2007 Beyonce confirmed her third studio album will be released at the end of 2008 or early 2009, in which Timbaland will produce a majority of the album.

Destinys Child - 2004: Disbandment

Destiny's Child performing their 2000 hit "Say My Name", from their 1999 platinum-selling album The Writing's on the Wall, during their farewell concert tour, Destiny Fulfilled ... And Lovin' It

Three years after the success of Survivor, achieving individual success in films, on Broadway, endorsements and with solo albums, the three women of Destiny's Child reunited with a new album, Destiny Fulfilled. A worldwide concert tour, Destiny Fulfilled! and Lovin' It Tour, went to sixteen countries and over seventy-five cities worldwide, starting in Hiroshima, Japan on April 9, 2005, and ending in Vancouver, Canada; stops included Australia, Europe, and the U.S. and Canada. "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 on November 15, 2004. The album also saw greater equality in the trio, with each member contributing to writing on all tracks on the album, as well as becoming executive producers aside Matthew Knowles. This was also evident in the photography, as Beyoncé no longer assumed the central position- this was now occupied by Williams and Rowland, who are the central figure on the cover of Destiny Fulfilled, as well as a lot of the accompanying photography and posters promoting the album. Destiny Fulfilled was one of the best selling albums of 2005, selling over 10 million copies worldwide, and pushed the group back into the position of the best-selling female group and American group of the year.

Destinys Child - 2005: Final releases

On June 13, 2005, it was announced the group would 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, British Columbia. 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 which was released March 28, 2006.

The group released their greatest hits album, #1's on October 25, 2005. Despite the title of the album, they had only five number-one singles on the billboard chart. The album includes three new songs, one 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, hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the late 2004 tsunami. "Stand up for Love" was Destiny's Child's last single. #1's reached number six on the official U.K. album top forty, with first week sales over 30,000 and number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 Album chart with sales of 113,000. The album has sold over 3 million copies worldwide to date, making it the best selling Greatest Hits album by a girl group.

Mattel released Destiny's Child Barbie Collector Dolls in August 2005. In November 2005, Destiny's Child helped Wal-Mart kick off an intensive holiday campaign with television ads, with the group celebrating the holidays with family and friends. Destiny's Child's last televised performance was at the 2006 NBA All-Star Game on February 19 in Houston, Texas. Knowles told MTV News: "Every time we go on someone's television show, they want to be the person to say it's the last show. But we've said a million times, 'It's not the last show!' Because we're gonna sing together again, again and again. We love each other and we're friends. It's the last album, but it's not the last show. On March 28, 2006, Destiny's Child were cemented on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in August they were awarded for winning the Billboard Poll for best music trio ever.

Destinys Child - 2007: Mini-reunions

On Wednesday February 28, 2007 on MTV's TRL, Beyoncé Knowles announced that for the re-release of her album B'Day she would have a music video for every song on the b-side and that Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland were featured in the video for "Get Me Bodied." Recently in another appearance on the broadcast show she was asked by a VJ what was going on with Destiny's Child and she answered with, "Actually I just did a video with them..." .

Knowles explained that doing the choreography rehearsals brought out the kids in them and that they were all 'goofy' during rehearsals. The video is for "Get Me Bodied" and will feature Beyoncé, Kelly, Michelle, and Beyoncé's sister Solange. The video was released on the B'Day Anthology Video Album in early April 2007. She said, "It felt like old times..."

On Tuesday, June 26, 2007, Beyoncé, Kelly, and Michelle made a mini-reunion at the 2007 BET Awards. Beyoncé performed Get Me Bodied with special guests Michelle, Solange, and Mo'Nique. Then, Kelly performed Like This with Eve. After the performance, they all danced to Like This.

Additionally, during the September 2, 2007 Los Angeles stop of The Beyoncé Experience tour, Beyoncé invited Kelly and Michelle out to sing a brief snippet of the Destiny's Child single "Survivor." They also sang Happy Birthday to Beyonce. The performance was featured on Beyonce's tour dvd.

Destinys Child - Philanthropy

David Foster and his daughter Amy Foster-Gillies wrote Destiny's Child's last single "Stand Up For Love" for World Children's Day, an event which takes place annually around the world on December 31 to raise awareness and funds for children's causes worldwide. Over the past three years, more than $50 million has been raised to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities and other children's organizations. Destiny's Child lent their voices and support as global ambassadors for the 2005 program.

Knowles, Rowland, along with Mathew Knowles, Tina Knowles, and Solange Knowles, recently announced the formation of the Survivor Foundation, a charitable entity set up for the purpose of providing transitional housing for Hurricane Katrina victims and storm evacuees in the Houston, Texas area. The Survivor Foundation extends the philanthropic mission of the Knowles-Rowland Center For Youth, a multi-purpose community outreach facility in downtown Houston.

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