'''Destiny's Child''' was an American R&B group. Originally a duo and later a quartet, the group eventually became a trio, whose members are BeyoncAc Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. According to the World Music Awards, they are the "Best-Selling Female Group of All Time". The group has accumulated record sales of over 46 million albums and singles (over 60 million records sold when combining the solo sales of Knowles, Rowland and Williams alongside the group's success). On June 12, 2005 they announced on tour in Barcelona that they would no longer perform together, instead pursuing individual careers in music, theater, television and film.
Early Career
'''Destiny's Child''' was formed in Houston, Texas, in 1990, when original members BeyoncAc Knowles and LaTavia Roberson were just nine years old; Knowles' father, Matthew, set about developing an act based on their singing and rapping, under the name GirlTyme. Knowles's met Kelly Rowland after she moved to Texas with her mother and brother. Kelly later moved in with the Knowles' after her mother decided to move again. Later Tina Knowles, BeyoncAc'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. They are considered one of the best groups ever.
''Destiny's Child''
Destiny's Child's first album, ''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 2 was considered a "remix" version of Part 1. "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 on the Pop chart. 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 were not 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.
''The Writing's on the Wall''
Destiny's Child's second album, ''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" 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. 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 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 second 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 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.
Rebirth of the Group
Now a trio of BeyoncAc 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 and by a female group). 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 BeyoncAc 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."
''Survivor''
Destiny's Child's third album, ''Survivor''
BeyoncAc 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," 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." ''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 second highest ever for a girl-group.) The first two singles, "Independent Women Part I" and "Bootylicious", were predictably huge hits, with the latter becoming the group's fourth No.1 Hot 100 single. An Aber-melismatic cover of the Bee Gees' "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. In the UK, Destiny's Child had two consecutive hit singles at number one which were "Independent Women Part 1" and "Survivor". 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.
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, 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 50,000 copies in the US. >Kelly Rowland
In October 2002, Rowlandas 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. The album has sold 500,000 copies in the United States and 2 million worldwide. In 2003, Rowland made her feature film debut in the horror flick "Freddy Vs. Jason".
BeyoncAc Knowles
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", it was a different style for Knowles and the song flopped, 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 four million copies in the United States and eight million worldwide source >
. > 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, 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.She's also dating Jay-Z, although their much talked about romance remains a mystery to most. Both Knowles and Jay-Z refuse to comment on the relationship. In September 2003, Knowles co-starred in her second feature film, The Fighting Temptations alongside Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. BeyoncAc sings ''So Amazing'' as a duet with soul legend Stevie Wonder on ''So Amazing: An All Star Tribute to Luther Vandross.'' She covered Rose Royce's classic "Wishing On A Star" featured on the soundtrack to the film ''Roll Bounce''.She recently landed a role in a remake of ''The Pink Panther'' with Steve Martin.
''Destiny Fulfilled''
Destiny's Child's fourth and final studio album, ''Destiny Fulfilled''
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 Lovin' It", hit 16 countries and over 75 cities worldwide, kicking off 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 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 groups tenth Top 10 hit. "Lose My Breath" was certified 2x platinum and "Soldier" was 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.Since the albums release in November 2004 Destiny's child has earned 4 grammy nominations including:Best R&B Group Performance(Cater 2 U), Best R&B Song(Cater 2 U), Best Contemporary R&B album(Destiny Fulfilled), and Best Rap/Sung Cullaboration(Soldier Featuring T.I. and Lil Wayne). During this time, Destiny's Child was named the "Biggest selling female group of all time" by Billboard magazine.
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. http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/13/music.destinys.child.ap/index.html 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 DVDto be released January 31, 2006.The group released their greatest hits album, ''Number 1's'' on October 25, 2005, http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1510101/09212005/destinys_child.jhtml?headlines=truehttp://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001179263, which includes three new songs. One of the new songs is titled ''Stand Up For Love ''http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1509765/20050916/destinys_child.jhtml?headlines=true. 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" will be Destiny's Child's last single. ''Number 1's'' charted at #6 on the official UK album top 40 with first week sales over 30,000 and #1 on US Billboard 200 Album chart with sales of 113,000.
Mattel released Destiny's Child Barbie Collector Dolls in August 2005. With Destinyas Childas recent breakup announcement, this trio of dolls is expected to become a major collector's item. However, Beyonce recently stated in a television interview that the breakup of the group is not permanent and she has no intention of ruling any possible future Destiny's Child projects. 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 and a song created, just for the Wal-Mart commercial.
Spice Girls are second
TLC are the third. There is some debate as to whether this is this case, Wikipedia has stated that spice have sold 76mil. The world music awards do not too much weight, this is why awards moved location from France to Us to raise its profile. They may have bludder in giving the award to destiny's child. Having said that DC were still a group when the awarded given out when the spice girls/supremes have long since disbanded. This could the reason they got the award. sales or no sales. In terms of fame no female group is more famous than the Supremes, whose songs still get played on radio. Hm interesting to see whether beyonce will have success as big as Diana Ross. Hope she does! Hm Kelly seems she could blow up too. >
BeyoncAc
BeyoncAc has several individual projects lined up, including her role in the movie Dreamgirls, as well as music for the soundtrack of that movie. In the meantime she will release a new solo single, "Check On It" as the theme song for the upcoming Pink Panther movie remake. Pink Panther is due to be released February 10, 2006http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thepinkpanther/, whilst Dreamgirls is due for release late 2006 (filming begins in December 2005). BeyoncAc is also launching her own clothing line, House of Dereon with her mother, Tina Knowles, in November 2005. Destiny's Child modelled some of the clothing during their 2005 world tour and during the Fashion Rocks concert, which took place September 9. Beyonce's second solo album is expected to be released in September 2006, before the album's release she will feature on a duet with Pharrell Williams on his debut solo album due for release in February 2006. Beyonce has earned 2 Grammy nominations to be awarded in 2006 for Best R&B Female Performance for Wishing On A Star and Best R&B Group performance with Stevie Wonder for So Amazing.
Kelly
Kelly has some individual TV and music projects lined up. She is to appear in three upcoming episodes of UPN sitcom ''Girlfriends'' in February 2006. She is featured on the upcoming new album ''Illumination'' by soul greats Earth, Wind & Fire. Kelly's singing can be heard on their song "This Is How I Feel" also featuring rapper Big Boi of OutKast and singer Sleepy Brown. She is also a featured artist on a song called "Here We Go", which impacted radio in September 2005 and is climbing steadily up Billboard's R&B and Pop charts, 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'', which released in October 2005. Kelly has already began working on her second album, which is expected to be released in Spring 2006.
Michelle
For a detailed look at the group's awards, see Destiny's Child Awards.
Acting
Film*''Carmen: A Hip Hopera'': 2001 (BeyoncAc as Carmen)
- ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'': 2002 (BeyoncAc as Foxxy Cleopatra)
- ''The Fighting Temptations'': 2003 (BeyoncAc as Lily)
- ''Freddy Vs. Jason'': 2003 (Kelly as Kia)
- ''The Seat Filler'': 2004 (Kelly as Jhnelle)
- ''The Pink Panther'': 2006 (BeyoncAc as Xania)
- ''Dreamgirls'': 2006 (BeyoncAc as Deena Jones)TV*''The Hughleys'' (2003): (Kelly)
- ''Girlfriends'' (2006): (Kelly)
- ''Half and Half'' (2006): (Michelle)Broadway*''Aida'': 2003 (Michelle)
Endorsements/Enterprising
- Barbie— Destiny's Child
- Pepsi — BeyoncAc
- L'OrAcal — BeyoncAc
- Tommy Hilfiger — BeyoncAc
- The Gap — Michelle
- Soft Sheen-Carson — Kelly
- Wal Mart — Destiny's ChildFashion*House of Dereon; BeyoncAc
- Beyond Productions, LLC:Beyond Productions, LLC was founded in May 2004 by BeyoncAc and Tina 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 BeyoncAc 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, BeyoncAc and Tina Knowles, and Heather Thomson Schindler.Tommy Hilfiger Fragrances*True Star — 2004; Beyonce
- True Star Gold — 2005; Beyonce
Group Members
- BeyoncAc Knowles (1997-2005 Eight years in the world spotlight and the most famous member to emerge from destiny's child. She and Roberson were the first two members of the group forming a brief duo in 1990).
- Kelly Rowland (1997-2005 Eight years in the world spotlight and is the second most famous member to emerge from destiny's child. She was third member to join the group in 1992).
- Michelle Williams (2000-2005 Five years in the world spotlight.)
- LaTavia Roberson (1997-2000 However she was a member since 1990 of the group before became famous).
- LeToya Luckett (1997-2000 She was fourth member to join the group in 1993)
- Farrah Franklin (2000 She was a brief member of the group for five months from March to August of 2000).
Philanthropy
Miscellaneous
Tours*"Fanmail Tour" Opening Act: 1999
- "Christina Aguilera Tour" Opening Act: 2000
- "TRL Tour": 2001
- "World Tour" : 2002
- "Destiny Fulfilled ...and Lovin It" Tour: 2005Books*Soul Survivors: 2002DVDs*The Platinum's on The Wall: 2001
- Destiny's Child World Tour: 2003
- BeyoncAc Live At Wembley (BeyoncAc): 2004
- Destiny's Child: Destiny Fulfilled CD/DVD 2005 Tour Edition: 2005
- #1's: 2005
Records and Facts