Destiny’s Child

Destiny’s Child, American singing-rapping girl group, one of the best-selling female musical groups of all time. In its final form, Destiny’s Child consisted of Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams, who, through their songs and performances, collectively became a symbol of empowerment for women worldwide.

Destiny’s Child, originally named Girl’s Tyme, came together in the early 1990s in Houston. The group initially consisted of six members: Beyoncé and Rowland as well as LaTavia Roberson, Támar Davis, and Nikki and Nina Taylor. In 1992, after attracting the interest of music producer Arne Frager in California, the group debuted on the Star Search television talent show. After it lost the competition, Beyoncé’s father, Matthew Knowles, stepped in to manage the group and changed the lineup, removing Davis and the Taylor sisters and adding LeToya Luckett. The girls performed locally around Houston, building their skills as performers and developing new material. Under the name Destiny, the group signed a recording contract with the Elektra label but was dropped before an album was released.

In 1996 the group changed its name again, this time to Destiny’s Child, and the following year its fortunes reversed: it secured a Columbia recording contract and then made an eponymous debut album. The album yielded the hit single “No, No, No Part 2,” which peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The group’s follow-up album, The Writing’s on the Wall (1999), earned it two Grammy Awards and sold more than eight million copies in the United States. The single “Bills, Bills, Bills” reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the group’s first top single in the United States.

Following The Writing’s on the Wall, Roberson and Luckett left the group, and Williams and singer-actress Farrah Franklin took their place. The split was controversial and involved a lawsuit against Matthew Knowles in which he was accused of breach of partnership. Roberson and Luckett sued Beyoncé and Rowland as well, though the case was later dropped and a settlement was reached. Five months after stepping into her role, Franklin also left the group.

With the revamped lineup of three, Destiny’s Child returned to the studio and in 2001 released Survivor, the group’s third album, which reached the number one spot on the Billboard 200 chart. Three of the album’s songs—“Bootylicious,” “Independent Women Part I,” and “Survivor”—made it into the top three singles on the Billboard charts in the United States. The trio won the 2002 Grammy Award for best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocal for “Survivor.” The album was a success internationally as well, racking up notable sales in Australia and Europe.

Following a three-year hiatus, Destiny’s Child reunited for Destiny Fulfilled (2004). Whereas Beyoncé had written most of the group’s earlier material, Destiny Fulfilled represented a more balanced work, in which each member of the group contributed to the songwriting and production process (Beyoncé’s younger sister, Solange, also pitched in by cowriting the single “Bad Habit”). That album was followed in 2006 by #1’s, which was a collection of the group’s greatest hits. The title of the trio’s final album, Destiny Fulfilled, and the release of its greatest hits were planned with the group members’ decision to part ways to pursue individual projects. Destiny’s Child was recognized in 2005 as the world’s best-selling female group of all time at the World Music Awards ceremony.