Left to right - Kelly Rowland, Beyoncé Knowles, Michelle Williams
Kelly, can you handle this?
Michelle, can you handle this?
Beyoncé, can you handle this?
I don't think they can handle this!
Michelle, can you handle this?
Beyoncé, can you handle this?
I don't think they can handle this!
— "Bootylicious" intro, Survivor
Influences: Janet Jackson, TLC, En Vogue, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, The Supremes, SWV, Mariah Carey, The Clark Sisters
Destiny's Child was an R&B group that most famously consisted of Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. It formed in the early 1990s, first being a Four-Girl Ensemble with Beyoncé, Rowland, LaTavia Roberson, and LeToya Luckett. In early 2000, Luckett & Roberson were replaced with Williams and Farrah Franklin. Farrah left the group that summer, leaving the girls to be a Power Trio. Their singing style took R&B to subgenres of urban, contemporary, and dance-pop. "Bootylicious", "Say My Name" and "Bills, Bills, Bills" are some of their most famous songs.
Beyoncé became the face of the band and most known member. While she has moved on to become an internationally successful solo artist, the other two have also had respectable careers in music, film, and Broadway. All three members retired from the group in 2006 to focus on solo ventures.
The band has reunited several times since then, such as for the 2013 Super Bowl halftime show and to record new songs for a new Greatest Hits Album titled Love Songs.
Members:
- Beyoncé Knowles* (1997-2006)
- Kelly Rowland* (1997-2006)
- Michelle Williams (2000-2006)
- LeToya Luckett* (1997-2000)
- LaTavia Roberson* (1997-2000)
- Farrah Franklin (2000)
* denotes a founding member.
Bolded denotes final lineup.
Discography:
Studio Albums
- Destiny's Child (1998)
- The Writing's on the Wall (1999)
- Survivor (2001)
- 8 Days Of Christmas (2001)
- Destiny Fulfilled (2004)
Compliations
- This Is The Remix (2002)
- #1's (2005)
- Love Songs (2013)
"All the women who are independent, throw your tropes up at me":
- Aerith and Bob: Kelly, Michelle, and... Beyoncé. Funny thing is, Kelly's first name is Kelendria and Michelle's is Tenitra (Michelle is her middle name,) so they really could have gone any number of ways with this. Also previous members of the group: LeToya, LaTavia, and Farrah.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: "Soldier," which features cameos by T.I. and Lil Wayne, with Ice Cube showing up in the video as well.
- Amazon Brigade: In the "Independent Women" video.
- Angels Pose: Often when performing "Independent Woman," as it was made for the Charlie's Angels soundtrack.
- Battle Strip: Some of the guys for the dance-off in "Lose My Breath" but not the girls.
- Big "NO!": "No, No, No"'s hook is "Yes yes yes yes/No no no no"
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Beyoncé, Kelly, and Michelle, respectively, though Kelly and Michelle switch back and forth. The straightest example is the "Bootylicious" video where Kelly was the redhead and Michelle the brunette (with Beyoncé remaining the blonde).
-
Broken Aesop: Parodied at the end of the "Survivor" video. The girls spend the entire video on a deserted island adjusting to the new environment and eventually commanding the locals to become queens...only to run for an escape helicopter the second they see it. - The Cameo: In the video for "Bootylicious," one of the people in the opening montage of people looking at themselves in the mirror is Stevie Nicks, whose song "Edge of Seventeen" was sampled for the song. The "Making The Video" special made this out to be a big deal, as this was apparently one of a very few times Stevie had been seen playing guitar on camera.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The video for "Say My Name" was done this way, with the ladies each in a room where everything and everyone was dressed in one solid color (Beyoncé, Orange; Kelly, Blue; Michelle, White; and Farrah, Red.)
- Costume Porn: Most of their videos but special mention goes to "Bootylicious" and "Independent Women" (along with CGI Scenery Porn)
- Crunchtastic: "Bootylicious".
- A Day in the Limelight: Kelly gets the song "Bad Habit" from Destiny Fulfilled all to herself. Even the background vocals are all her.
- "Double, Double" Title: Not so much alliteration as much as just plain repetition, but three of their first major singles were "No, No, No," "Bills, Bills, Bills," and "Jumpin', Jumpin'."
- Double Entendre: From their song, Soldier: "Known to carry big things, if you know what I mean."
- The music video was even more obvious, since during one of the choruses, during that line, all three ladies are pointing at Solange's very pregnant belly.
- Girl Group: A trio of female singers.
- Hotter and Sexier: "Bootylicious" was a lot more provocative than their previous songs.
-
In Memoriam: "My Time Has Come" from Destiny's Child and "Amazing Grace" from The Writing's on the Wall are both dedicated to the late Andretta Brown Tillman, the group's manager in their very early days prior to Beyoncé's father, Mathew, taking on the role. - Nonuniform Uniform: The girls were well-known for this look. They got into a pattern their clothes would look similar aesthetically, but Kelly would wear shorts, Michelle would wear pants, and Beyoncé would wear a skirt or dress.
- The group dressed like this even in its original quartet form. Like Beyoncé, LaTavia would often be seen in dresses or skirts. LeToya almost exclusively wore pants. Kelly would often wear pants as well but she was more likely to wear a skirt or dress than LeToya.
- One-Steve Limit: There is of course a famous actress called Michelle Williams who is probably who the majority of people will think of first if the name is mentioned in casual conversation. May be Hilarious in Hindsight since for Destiny's Child Michelle is actually only her middle name.
- Portmanteau: "Bootylicious" of "booty" and "delicious". Although the term had been used before, the popularity of the song caused it to be added to the dictionary.
- The Psycho Rangers: The "Lose My Breath" video features a confrontation between "in-fashion" Destiny's Child and "street" Destiny's Child. Then they are joined by another set, the "sultries".
- The Remake: One of the few bands/artists that got impersonated twice on MTV's Becoming. The first set of fans remade "Say My Name" (though with three girls instead of four) and the second remade "Bootylicious".
- Revolving Door Band: Infamously during the early 2000s, as Destiny's Child went through two lineup changes, first with LeToya and LaTavia leaving due to financial disputes and being replaced by Farrah and Michelle, and then that was followed up with Farrah being unceremoniously dumped from the group.
- Say My Name: "Say My Name". Say my name/Say my name/If no one is around you/Say baby I love you
- "Sesame Street" Cred: In 2002, they sang "A New Way To Walk" with Zoe, Elmo, and Grover on the show. An instrumental of "Survivor" was also used in an Imagine Spot on the show of Elmo dancing on the moon.
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Beyoncé.
- Stuffy Old Songs About the Buttocks: "Bootylicious"
