Destiny's Child

A Houston R&B group led by Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, whose third album, Survivor, went straight to number one in 2001.

Origin: Houston, Texas, United States
Years active: 1990-2006
Genres: R&B, pop, hip hop
Labels: Columbia Records, Sony Urban Music

Houston

Destiny's Child began in Houston, Texas, in 1990 as Girl's Tyme. Beyoncé met LaTavia Roberson at an audition that year, and Kelly Rowland joined soon after. Beyoncé's father, Mathew Knowles, took over as manager, and her mother, Tina Knowles, designed the stage outfits. LeToya Luckett joined in 1993. After a loss on Star Search, several changes of name and a record deal with Elektra that ended before an album appeared, the group took the name Destiny's Child from a passage in the Book of Isaiah and signed with Columbia Records in 1996.

Their first single, No, No, No, came out in October 1997 and reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The self-titled album Destiny's Child followed in February 1998 and peaked at 67 on the Billboard 200. Beyoncé later called it a neo-soul record made by fifteen-year-olds, and said it was too mature for them.

The Writing's on the Wall

The Writing's on the Wall (1999) moved away from that sound. The group worked with Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs and Kandi Burruss, Rodney Jerkins and Missy Elliott, rewrote lyrics they were sent, and took ideas from the complaints of customers in Tina Knowles's hair salon. Each track was introduced by a spoken "Commandment of Relationships". Bills, Bills, Bills and Say My Name both reached number one on the Hot 100, and Say My Name won two Grammy Awards in 2001. The album was certified eight times platinum in the United States and sold 13 million copies worldwide. Pitchfork's Katherine St. Asaph wrote that it codified the sound of R&B at the turn of the millennium.

In early 2000 Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin joined the group. Franklin left after a few months, and Destiny's Child continued as a trio.

Survivor

Survivor arrived in May 2001 and entered the Billboard 200 at number one with 663,000 copies in its first week, the highest first-week figure for any Columbia artist at that point. In Britain it was the first studio album by an American girl group to top the chart. Beyoncé co-wrote and produced nearly all of it. Sessions began in May 2000 at SugarHill Recording Studios in Houston and ran into 2001, with a day off only at Christmas. The title came from a radio joke comparing the group to the television show, which Beyoncé decided to turn into a song.

That song, Survivor, was the first one recorded for the album and reached number two on the Hot 100. Independent Women Part I, made for the Charlie's Angels soundtrack, opens the record, and as a single it spent eleven consecutive weeks at number one. Bootylicious, built on a Stevie Nicks guitar riff, became the group's fourth and last Hot 100 number one, and Emotion, a cover of a Samantha Sang song, reached number ten after the September 11 attacks. The album sold more than ten million copies by 2004. Metacritic gives it 63 from 17 reviews, and Alexis Petridis of the Guardian found a hint of genius in its grooves.

Destiny Fulfilled and after

During a hiatus each member made a solo album: Williams's Heart to Yours and Rowland's Simply Deep in 2002, and Beyoncé's Dangerously in Love in June 2003, which debuted at number one. The trio reunited in summer 2004 and recorded Destiny Fulfilled in about three weeks, mostly at Sony Music Studios in New York. It peaked at number two, and its singles Lose My Breath and Soldier both reached number three.

On 11 June 2005, at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, they told the audience that they would disband when the tour ended. The compilation #1's followed in October 2005, and a farewell performance came at the NBA All-Star Game in Houston on 19 February 2006. Beyoncé, Rowland and Williams have since reunited for the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show in 2013, Coachella in 2018 and the closing night of the Cowboy Carter Tour in July 2025. The group has sold more than 60 million records. Billboard named its final lineup among the greatest musical trios, and ranked Destiny's Child number 17 on its list of the top women artists of the 21st century.

Members

Beyoncé vocals (1990-2006)
Kelly Rowland vocals
Michelle Williams vocals (2000-2006)
LaTavia Roberson vocals (1990-2000)
LeToya Luckett vocals (1993-2000)
Farrah Franklin vocals (2000)

Records

Destiny's Child 1998 · Columbia Records
The debut: a neo-soul record with sixteen producers and No, No, No Part 2, where the staccato delivery began.
The Writing's on the Wall 1999 · Columbia Records
The second album, built around staccato rap-singing and a Ten Commandments of relationships, with two number ones.
Survivor 2001 · Columbia Records
The third album, written around the idea of getting through it: a number one in its first week, with Independent Women Part I, Survivor and Bootylicious.
Destiny Fulfilled 2004 · Columbia Records, Sony Urban Music
The fifth and final studio album, recorded in about three weeks after the solo years.

Songs

Independent Women Part I Survivor · 2000
Recorded for the Charlie's Angels soundtrack, it spent eleven weeks at number one and opens Survivor.
Survivor Survivor · 2001
The title track and lead single, written on tour and the first song recorded for the album.
Bootylicious Survivor · 2001
Built on the guitar riff from Stevie Nicks's Edge of Seventeen, it was the group's fourth and last Hot 100 number one.
Say My Name The Writing's on the Wall · 1999
Rodney Jerkins's reworked track, a number one that won two Grammys.
Bills, Bills, Bills The Writing's on the Wall · 1999
Their first number one on the Hot 100, a jittery song about a man who runs up her bills.

TLC, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Missy Elliott

Where to go next

Reference

Destiny's Child History, members, tours and awards.
Survivor Background, recording, singles and sales of the third album.
The Writing's on the Wall The second album, with credits and chart history.
Destiny Fulfilled The final studio album and its singles.

Writing and criticism

The Observer, 2001 A profile written on the group's tour bus during the Survivor era.
Pitchfork on The Writing's on the Wall A retrospective review of the second album.
The Guardian ranks the songs Alexis Petridis on the group's best songs.
Stereogum on Say My Name A column on the song and its making.
Stereogum on Bootylicious A column on the riff and the record.
Rolling Stone on Say My Name The song's entry in the 500 greatest songs list.

Interviews

Survivor oral history The engineer, producers and Michelle Williams remember the sessions.
Bootylicious, 15 years later Rob Fusari, Dan Workman and Tony Maserati on making the song.

Sources

Destiny's Child, Wikipedia
Survivor (Destiny's Child album), Wikipedia
The Writing's on the Wall, Wikipedia
Inside the making of Survivor: an oral history, Entertainment Weekly (2016-04-29)
Destiny's Child: The Writing's on the Wall, Pitchfork
Destiny's Child on the road to world domination, The Observer (2001-06-10)
Destiny's Child's greatest songs, ranked, The Guardian (2024-07-18)