Survivor

Work started in May 2000 at SugarHill Recording Studios in Houston, where most of the album was cut. Other rooms included Lobo Studios in Deer Park, New York, TK Studios in Honolulu, Chung King Studios in New York, 24/7 Studios in Houston, Chase Studios in Atlanta and Enterprise Studios in Burbank. The record was first called Independent Women, then Survivors, before it became Survivor. Beyoncé said the name came from a radio station joke about which member would last longest on the island, and that she wanted to turn the negative into a positive. The sessions ran well into 2001, which pushed back the release date. Beyoncé co-wrote and produced nearly all of it with a long list of collaborators, among them Anthony Dent, Rob Fusari, Mark J. Feist, Damon Elliott and Keybeats. All three members sing lead on most tracks. Rod Spicer photographed the cover, and Tina Knowles styled the group.

Engineer Dan Workman recalled that the expectations on Survivor were very high and that the stakes felt raised. Cory Rooney said the Independent Women Part I instrumental took 15 minutes to make, and said he always called the record the birth of Beyoncé. Fancy, co-written with D'wayne Wiggins and J. R. Rotem, was made on one keyboard and one drum machine. Emotion is a remade slow-jam version of a Samantha Sang song, and The Story of Beauty is based on a letter from a fan. The sample credits include Stevie Nicks's Edge of Seventeen on Bootylicious and Frank Comstock's Peabody's Improbable History on Independent Women Part II.

Reception and sales

Survivor debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 dated 19 May 2001, and it was certified four times platinum in January 2002. It entered the UK chart at number one. IFPI counted it as the third best-selling album in the world in 2001. At the 2002 Grammys it was nominated for Best R&B Album, and the title track won the group award for R&B performance.

Reviews were generally favourable, though length, balladry and lyrics drew criticism. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly called it the divas' premature but inevitable growing pains album. Alexis Petridis of the Guardian faulted its length, balladry and lyrics but wrote that it has a rare individuality. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic found it as contrived and calculated as a Mariah Carey record, only without the joy. Writing later, Vibe's J'na Jefferson called it a seminal force in the female empowerment trend of the 21st century.