Destiny's Child

Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final lineup comprised Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. After years of limited success, the original quartet comprising Beyoncé, Rowland, LaTavia Roberson, and LeToya Luckett were signed in 1997 to Columbia Records as Destiny's Child.

The group was launched into mainstream recognition following the release of the song "No, No, No" and their best-selling second album, The Writing's on the Wall (1999), which contained the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "Say My Name", alongside successful singles "Bug a Boo" and "Jumpin', Jumpin'". Despite critical and commercial success, the group was plagued by internal conflict and legal turmoil, as Roberson and Luckett attempted to split from the group's manager Mathew Knowles due to favoritism of Beyoncé and Rowland. In early 2000, both Roberson and Luckett were replaced with Williams and Farrah Franklin; however, Franklin quit after a few months, leaving the group as a trio.

Destiny's Child's third album, Survivor (2001), whose themes the public interpreted as a channel to the group's experience, produced the U.S. number-one songs "Independent Women" and "Bootylicious", as well as "Survivor", which peaked at number two. After releasing a Christmas album titled 8 Days of Christmas (2001), Destiny's Child announced a hiatus to pursue solo careers. The trio reunited two years later for the release of their fifth and final studio album, Destiny Fulfilled (2004), which spawned the U.S. top-three singles "Lose My Breath" and "Soldier". Since the group's official disbandment in 2006, Beyoncé, Rowland, and Williams have reunited several times, including at the 2013 Super Bowl halftime show, the 2018 Coachella festival and the final show of the 2025 Cowboy Carter Tour.

Destiny's Child has sold more than 60 million records as of 2013^[update], making them one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. Billboard ranks the group as one of the greatest musical trios of all time, the ninth-most successful artist/band of the 2000s, and placed the group 68th in its All-Time Hot 100 Artists list in 2008. In December 2016, the magazine ranked Destiny's Child as the 90th most-successful dance club artist of all time. The group has 14 Grammy Awards nominations, winning twice for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and once for Best R&B Song.

In 1990, Beyoncé met LaTavia Roberson at an audition for a girl group. Based in Houston, Texas, they were joined to a group that performed rapping and dancing. Kelly Rowland, who moved into Beyoncé's house because of family issues, joined them in 1992. Originally named Girl's Tyme, they were eventually cut down to six members including Támar Davis and sisters Nikki and Nina Taylor. With Beyoncé and Rowland, Girl's Tyme attracted nationwide attention: west-coast R&B producer Arne Frager flew to Houston to see them. He brought them to his studio, The Plant Recording Studios in Northern California, with focus on Beyoncé's vocals because Frager thought she had personality and the ability to sing. With efforts to sign Girl's Tyme to a major record deal, Frager's strategy was to debut the group in Star Search, the biggest talent show on national TV at the time. However, they lost the competition because, according to Beyoncé, their choice of song was wrong; they were actually rapping instead of singing.

Because of the group's defeat, Beyoncé's father, Mathew Knowles, voluntarily dedicated his time to manage them. He decided to cut the original lineup to four, with the removal of Davis and the Taylor sisters and the inclusion of LeToya Luckett in 1993. Aside from spending time at their church in Houston, Girl's Tyme practiced in their backyards and at the Headliners Salon, owned by Beyoncé's mother, Tina Knowles. The group would test routines in the salon, when it was on Montrose Boulevard in Houston, and sometimes would collect tips from the customers. Their try-out would be critiqued by the people inside. During their school days, Girl's Tyme performed at local gigs. When summer came, Mathew established a "boot camp" to train them in dance and vocal lessons. After rigorous training, they began performing as opening acts for established R&B groups of that time such as SWV, Dru Hill and Immature. Tina designed the group's stage attire.

Over the course of the early years in their career, Girl's Tyme changed their name to Somethin' Fresh, Cliché, The Dolls, and to Destiny. The group signed with Elektra Records with the name Destiny, but were dropped several months later before they could release an album. The pursuit of a record deal affected the Knowles family: in 1995, Mathew resigned from his job as a medical-equipment salesman, a move that reduced the Knowles' family's income by half, and her parents briefly separated due to the pressure. In 1996, they changed their name to Destiny's Child. Group members have claimed that the name was taken from a passage in the Bible: "We got the word destiny out of the Bible, but we couldn't trademark the name, so we added child, which is like a rebirth of destiny," said Knowles. The word Destiny was stated to have been chosen from the Book of Isaiah, by Tina.

Mathew helped in negotiating a record deal with Columbia Records at the behest of Columbia scout Teresa LaBarbera Whites, which signed the group that same year. Prior to signing with Columbia, the group had recorded several tracks in Oakland, California produced by D'wayne Wiggins of Tony! Toni! Toné!. Upon the label's recognition that Destiny's Child had a "unique quality", the track "Killing Time" was included in the soundtrack to the 1997 film Men in Black.