It may be difficult to name the members of Destiny’s Child (‘Beyoncé, that other one and her?’).
And unless you’re a diehard fan of the group, you may not know that Destiny’s Child originally had six members and was originally called, ‘Girl’s Tyme’. Well, it’s been a whole two decades (20 years) since the iconic group released their self-titled debut album and although the group ended with Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams, they weren’t always the only ones in Destiny’s Child.
So, who were the OG Destiny’s Child girls and where are they now?
Beyoncé Knowles
She’s doesn’t need an introduction, let’s be honest. But let’s talk about one of the biggest stars in the world, anyway. Beyoncé is one of the world’s best selling music artists (heck, she has 22 Grammys, 11 Billboard Awards, 24 Video Music Awards, and 10 NAACP Image Awards). Her solo debut album ‘Dangerously In Love’ from 2003 introduced us to hits like “Crazy in Love” and “Baby Boy” while her second album ‘B’Day’ (released in 2006) brought a different power to radio with “Irreplaceable” and “Beautiful Liar”. In between the two, in 2004, Destiny’s Child released their fourth and final studio album ‘Destiny Fulfilled’. However, with the end of the group, Beyoncé was able to focus on acting on top of her music, appearing in ‘The Pink Panther’ and ‘Dreamgirls’ before putting out ‘I Am…Sasha Fierce’ (2008) and ‘4’ (2011). Since her debut over 20 years ago, Beyoncé has dropped six albums, including ‘Beyoncé’ (2013), ‘Lemonade’ (2016) and a joint album with Jay-Z titled ‘Everything Is Love’ (2018) . She’s also executive-produced the soundtrack for the live-action ‘The Lion King’ movie as well as its accompanying Disney+ film, ‘Black Is King’. Beyoncé has also added the accolade of ‘mother’ to her impressive resume, having married Jay-Z in 2008 and adding Blue Ivy and twins Rumi and Sir to their family.
Kelly Rowland
Kelendria Trene Rowland, better known as Kelly Roland, was a member of Destiny’s Child from start to end (heck, she was part of the group when they were known as ‘Girl’s Tyme’). Following Beyoncé, Rowland also released a solo album (‘Simply Deep’) while Destiny’s Child was on hiatus, selling over 2.5 million copies worldwide while the single ‘Dilemma’ (which is a duet with Nelly) sold over 7.6 million copies worldwide – making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. Rowland also tried her hand at acting as she appeared in the slasher film ‘Freddy vs. Jason’ as well as on TV in shows like ‘The Hughleys’, ‘Eve’, and ‘American Dreams’. Her sophomore album, ‘Ms Kelly’, included hits “Work” and “Like This”, seating it at number 6 on the Billboard 200. Her next album ‘Here I Am’ sold 77,000 copies its first week and included the hit songs “Commander” and “Motivation” ft. Lil Wayne.
Rowlands also became a TV favourite as she judged on ‘The X Factor UK’ (2011), ‘The X Factor USA (2013) and ‘The Voice Australia’ (2017). She and her husband, talent manager Tim Weatherspoon, share son Titan.
Michelle Williams
Michelle Williams was not an original member of Destiny’s Child but she was part of the final trio. Upon joining the group in 2000, Williams was able to also release albums – focusing on gospel music – and land TV roles. In 2002, she released ‘Heart To Yours’ and is the only member to appear on Broadway, landing roles in ‘The Color Purple’, ‘What My Husband Doesn’t Know’, and ‘Chicago’. She released her sophomore album ‘Do You Know’ in 2004, doing on the Top Gospel Albums chart and Christian Albums. Following her gospel influences, she released ‘Unexpected’ (2008) and ‘Journey To Freedom’ (2014).
LeToya Luckett
One of the original members of ‘Girl’s Tyme’ and then ‘Destiny’s Child’ is LeToya Luckett. Luckett revealed in an interview that she first met Beyoncé in grade school, after realising that Beyoncé was sitting in her pre-assigned seat. After the pair formed ‘Girl’s Tyme’ and subsequently ‘Destiny’s Child’, Luckett ended up leaving the group following tensions with management (i.e. Beyoncé’s dad, who was managing the group). Luckett left and joined the group ‘Anjel’ with ‘Destiny’s Child’ member LaTavia Roberson, Naty Quinones and Tiffany Beaudoin. She went on to release ‘LeToya’ in 2006, with the hit single ‘Torn’. Following that, she released ‘Lady Love’ (2009) and ‘Back 2 Life’ (2017) while acting in ‘Preacher’s Kid ‘(2010), ‘Lucky Girl’ (2016) and ‘Unsolved’ (2018). She shares daughter Gianna with her husband, entrepreneur Tommicus Walker, and has another child on the way.
LaTavia Roberson
Roberson met Beyonce when they both auditioned to be in a girl group. Along with Beyoncé, Luckett, Rowland, Támar Davis and sisters Nikki and Nina Taylor, they formed ‘Girl’s Tyme’. The six-member group then became four after Beyoncé’s father, Matthew Knowles, took on managerial duties. Támar Davis and the Taylor sisters were dropped, leaving Roberson with Beyonce, Luckett and Rowland to form the OG ‘Destiny’s Child’. While still part of ‘Destiny’s Child’, Roberson and Luckett released their self-titled debut album and ‘The Writings on the Wall’. The latter put the group on the map, earning them six Grammy Award nominations. However, it was during the recording of ‘The Writings on the Wall’ that Roberson and Luckett felt that they were not being treated fairly, accusing their management paying more attention to Beyoncé and Rowland. After demanding a change in management the two of them were dropped but were only told when’Destiny’s Child’ premiered the video for ‘Say My Name’ featuring two new members (Williams and Farrah Franklin). Afterwards, she joined ‘Anjel’ with Luckett but the group never released an album and thus, Roberson kept a low profile. She reemerged in two stage plays in 2013, ‘How to Love’ and ‘Not My Family’. In 2014, she joined the final season of ‘R&B Divas: Atlanta’ and released her debut solo single, ‘Best Time of Your Life,’ in 2017. She shares daughter Lyric and son Londyn with music producer Don Vito.
Farrah Franklin
Franklin was only part of ‘Destiny’s Child’ for half a year, after she was hired to be an extra in the music video for Destiny’s Child’s ‘Bills, Bills, Bills’. However, in 2000, she left the group. At the time, Beyoncé claimed that Franklin was flaky, missing three major promotional dates. She also said that Franklin had xpressed a lack of interest in being with the group. As such, the group decided to dismiss her. However, Franklin went on to challenge Beyoncé’s allegation, stating that she had in fact been unwell. At the time, she said she was verbally attacked by management (Mathew, Beyoncé’s dad) because she was too unwell to attend their scheduled events. As a result, she stormed out and left the group as well. In her pursuit of a solo career, she was dropped by two record labels (Fo-reel Entertainment and Street Family Entertainment) but did make appearances as a model for Russell Simmons’ fashion line ‘Def Jam University’ and has been featured on the covers of ‘Teen People’, ‘Ebony’, ‘CosmoGirl’, ‘Vibe’, and ‘Today’s Black Woman’. Most recently, Franklin released ‘Push Up On Me’, featuring rapper Maino.
Destiny’s Child has gone on to sell more than 60 million records worldwide and earned over 10 Grammy Awards. Songs like “Say My Name,” “Survivor,” “Bootylicious,” and “Independent Women,” are still played over the radio, years later.
*Cover image credits: Bubble Flavour