Destiny's Child

American R&B and pop group Destiny's Child was formed in Houston, Texas, in 1990. This urban quartet was formed by Beyonce Knowles (b. 4 September 1981, Houston, Texas, USA), LeToya Luckett (b. 11 March 1981, Houston, Texas, USA), LaTavia Roberson (b. 1 November 1981, Houston, Texas, USA) and Kelly Rowland (b. Kelendria Rowland, 11 February 1981, Atlanta, Georgia, USA).

Destiny's Child began its story when original members Beyoncé Knowles and LaTavia Roberson, both were just nine years old, met at an audition and became friends. Previously, Knowles and Roberson began singing together when they were only 10 years old, and thus Knowles' father Mathew started to think how to set about developing an act based on their singing and rapping, and came to the name Destiny's Child, which was taken from a passage in the Book of Isaiah. Later in 1992, Rowland came joining the duo.

Shortly after, the three of them landed an appearance on "Star Search," where they performed a rap song and spent the next few years working their way up from the Houston club scene, eventually opening for artists like SWV, Dru Hill, and Immature. Those performances earned them a strong local following with their street cool image and impressive vocal harmonies, which at the end led to their sign with Columbia Records in 1997. They then made their recording debut with the 1997's "Killing Time," which appeared on "Men In Black" soundtrack. The next year, in 1998, they released their self-titled debut that featured collaborations with leading R&B/hip-hop producers Timbaland, R. Kelly, Wyclef Jean and Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. The album lead single, the Jean-produced "No No No," became a smash hit, selling over a million copies and topping the R&B charts, and reached both the US and UK Top 10. The album follow up singles "With Me" and "Get on the Bus," on the contrary, weren't a success at all.

Responded to the last two singles failure, Destiny's Child quickly re-entered the studio, bringing in producer Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs to handle the majority of their next record. Its lead single "Bills, Bills, Bills" eventually became the group's first number one pop hit and second R&B number one in the summer of 1999, and paced by its success, the accompanying album "The Writing's on the Wall" entered US charts at number six in July 1999, and reached the UK Top 10 as well. To add the chart success, this album indeed featured a greater creative input from the quartet, despite their still reliance on a heavyweight production crew including Rodney Jerkins, Missy Elliott, Chad Elliot, and Dwayne Wiggins of Tony! Toni! Tone!

The quite good new-beginning was followed with the release of the quartet 2nd single "Bug a Boo," which didn't perform as well, but the third single "Say My Name," was another massive hit, their biggest so far. The ultimate success of "Say My Name" in hitting number one on both the pop and R&B charts for three weeks apiece in early 2000 made Destiny's Child a pop-cultural phenomenon. Fortuitously, in line with the success of "Say My Name," the group also faced an in-conflict, in which in December 1999, Roberson and Luckett wanted to split with manager Mathew Knowles, who according to them kept a disproportionate share of the band's profits, attempted to exert too much control, and unfairly favored his daughter and niece. While neither Roberson nor Luckett intended to leave the group, the relationship grew worse, and when the video for "Say My Name" premiered in February 2000, fans were surprised to find two new members, Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin, joining Knowles and Rowland.

Felt infuriated with the "illegal replacement," Roberson and Luckett took legal action in March, suing both Knowles and their former band mates for breach of partnership and fiduciary duties. This legal battle was soon continued to a war of words in the press. Apart from the dispute, Destiny's Child next single entitled "Jumpin' Jumpin'" hit the Top Ten, and "The Writing's on the Wall" went on to sell a massive eight million copies. However, this didn't mean the battle was over, rather it kept continuing. In July 2000, just five months after joining, Farrah Franklin split with the group, citing an official reason. By means of which, she had missed several promotional appearances and concert gigs, although in later interviews she said it was the too much negativity and too little control in the group environment that made her exited from the group. Now becoming a trio, Destiny's Child was tapped to record a single dubbed "Independent Women, Pt. 1" which was released in October that same year and which was the theme song for the film version of Charlie's Angels. This single rocketed the charts and spent an astonishing 11 weeks at number one, made Destiny's Child indisputable superstars among the biggest female pop groups.

Encouraged with an eagerness to capitalize their success, Destiny's Child began working on their another album, during which toward the end of 2000, Roberson and Luckett belittle 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 a result of the long lasting battle, both sides were at the end prohibited from ripping each other publicly. By and by, Beyonce had from this point of time became the group's focal point, and assumed more control than ever before on Destiny's third album, in which she took a greater part in writing the album material and even produced some of the record herself. Amid the recording session, Rowland released the first Destiny's Child solo track entitled "Angel" which appeared on the soundtrack of Chris Rock's "Down to Earth." Around the same time, the group former members Roberson and Luckett surprisingly announced the formation of a trio, which coincidentally called "Angel," and Farrah Franklin, to add, also set about starting a solo career.

In the mean time, Destiny's Child strengthen its position as a music group hardly to be beaten by other as they favorably won 2 Grammy awards for "Say My Name," including Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and Best R&B Song. Later in the spring of 2001, they released their another hit album "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. Topped number one on the charts with sales rate reached over 663,000 copies in its first week sales, such achievement had become the highest ever for a girl-group. On top of that, the album's first two singles "Survivor" and "Bootylicious", were predictably huge hits, with the latter becoming the group's fourth No.1 pop single. A cover of Andy Gibb's "Emotion" was also successful, as it became a Top 10 pop hit. Nearly the end of the year, Destiny's released a holiday album titled "8 Days of Christmas" and announced plans for a series of side projects, including solo albums from all three members, which were scheduled to be staggered over the next year and a half, so as to avoid competition.

Early in 2002, shortly after "This Is the Remix" was released to tide fans over, once again Roberson and Luckett sued the group, claiming some lyrics in "Survivor" made reference to them. Without taking into account the endless accusation, each of Destiny's members began pursuing their solo career. The first member to go on solo career was Michelle Williams, who released "Heart to Yours," a contemporary gospel collection featured a duet with gospel legend Shirley Caesar that eventually reached No.1 on the Top Gospel Albums chart. Williams went on to release her second gospel album "Do You Know" which reached 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. Moreover, she also earned rapturous reviews after replacing Toni Braxton in the lead role of "Aida" on Broadway in November 2003.

To follow Williams' solo career, in October 2002 Rowland released her solo debut "Simply Deep" which featured in it the No.1 Billboard Hot 100 smash hit "Dilemma," a Grammy-winning duet with hip-hop superstar Nelly. The album became an international smash, 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 later in 2003, Rowland made her feature film debut in the box-office smash "Freddy vs Jason".

In companion to Rowland and Williams, Beyonce also has her own solo career. In 2002 she co-starred with Mike Myers in the box-office blockbuster "Austin Powers in Goldmember" and went on recorded a single for its soundtrack called "Work It Out." Nonetheless, Beyonce breakout solo success had reluctantly overshadowed the other two Destiny's Child members. Approvingly, her 2003 solo debut "Dangerously In Love" had debuted at No.1 and sold over 5 million copies worldwide. It yielded the No.1 hits "Crazy In Love" featuring hip hop superstar Jay-Z and "Baby Boy" featuring Sean Paul. Beyond her solo career, Beyonce once reported to date Jay-Z, although their much talked about romance remains a mystery to most because both Knowles and Jay-Z refuse to comment on the relationship. In 2004, Beyonce won 5 Grammy awards for "Dangerously In Love" and she recently landed a role in a remake of "The Pink Panther" with Steve Martin.

After three years long hiatus due to solo career, all three members of Destiny's Child reunited on their brand new album "Destiny Fulfilled" released in November 2004. Soon after, they held a world tour sponsored by McDonald's, "Destiny Fulfilled and I'm Lovin' It", which is planned to hit 16 countries and over 75 cities worldwide, kicking off in Hiroshima, Japan on April 9th; stops will include Australia, throughout Europe, and concluding in the U.S. and Canada in summer. The group latest CD, "Destiny Fulfilled" was executive produced and co-written by the trio themselves. By means of which, its first single "Lose My Breath" produced by Rodney Jerkins had become the group's ninth Top 10 pop hit and its second one "Soldier" featuring rappers T.I. and Lil Wayne quickly entered the Top 10, peaking at No.3 in February 2005, becoming the group's 10th top 10 pop hit. Notwithstanding with worldwide mixed reviews "Destiny Fulfilled" was certified 3x Platinum in early 2005. To everyone's surprise, during their stage performance of a concert in Barcelona, Spain, in June 2005, the chart-topping R&B act announced their going separate ways to pursue their individual solo career and thus, "Destiny Fulfilled...And Lovin' It" tour became their last in Europe. Despite their retiring as Destiny's Child, each member vows to still love and respect one another. On top of that, still the group's music work proven to be good as they were named Best Group at June 28th, 2005 BET Awards.

Numerous significant awards Destiny's have collected since their early career among others: Grammy Awards, including Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals ("Say My Name") 2000; Best R&B Song ("Say My Name") 2000; Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals ("Survivor") 2001; and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals ("The Closer I Get to You") 2003 (Beyoncé). Moreover, they also got some MTV Video Music Awards, like Best R&B Video ("Say My Name") 2000 and Best R&B Video ("Survivor") 2001, and some American Music Awards, such as Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group 2001; Favorite Pop/Rock Album 2002; and Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group 2002. Last of all Destiny's also got NAACP Image Awards, including Outstanding Duo or Group 2001 and Outstanding Duo or Group 2005.

True to their promise to remain in good term, the three members held several mini reunions throughout 2007. Beyonce invited Michelle and Kelly to appear on her 'Get Me Bodied' video while announcing the possibility of a joint single or video sometime in 2007. Another reunion occurred while Beyonce served her solo concert in Los Angeles. Kelly and Michelle appeared on stage to help her finish the group's hit 'Survivor' and sing an early 'Happy Birthday' song for her.