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Destiny's Child parts ways
The band called it quits yet again to allow singers to pursue their individual careers.
The dazzling black all-girl trio Destiny's Child, which has sold more than 40 million records around the world and captivated audiences with hits like Jumpin'Jumpin' and Say My Name, is calling it quits to allow singers to pursue their individual careers.
But the R and B group promised Monday to complete their Destiny Fulfilled ... and Loving It North America tour that is due to begin on July 9 in St Louis, Missouri, and wrap up on September 10 in Vancouver, Canada.
"After a lot of discussion and some deep soul searching, we realized that our current tour has given us the opportunity to leave Destiny's Child on a high note, united in our friendship and filled with an overwhelming gratitude for our music, our fans, and each other," the trio said in a statement supplied exclusively to MTV television and posted on its website.
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| The band called it quits yet again to allow singers to pursue their individual careers. |
Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams said they had realised that "now is the time to pursue our personal goals and solo efforts in earnest."
They promised to remain "friends and sisters" and always help each other as they go their separate ways.
Although the timing of the announcement was a surprise, the split was largely anticipated following the 2003 release by lead singer Knowles of her widely-acclaimed solo album Dangerously in Love that has propelled her into the ranks of megastars in her own right.
Even earlier, Williams released her separate gospel album Heart To Yours. She was also cast as the lead singer in the Broadway hit Aida. Rowland, meanwhile, recorded a duet with rapper Nelly.
Destiny's Child was born in Houston, Texas, 15 years ago, when Beyonce and her friend LaTavia Roberson were only nine years old.
Encouraged by Beyonce's religious father Matthew Knowles, who plucked the name of the group from the Bible, the girls started performing in school and churches and were soon joined by Kelly Rowland, one of Beyonce's cousins.
LeToya Luckett was the last to join what in the early 1990s was still a quartet.
It took Destiny's Child four long years of performing in relative obscurity before they landed in 1997 their first recording contract with Columbia to produce Killing Time, a song that was included on the soundtrack of action movie Men in Black.
A major crisis shook the ensemble in early 2000, when Luckett and Roberson had left in a huff questioning Matthew Knowles' management of the group's finances and taking him to court over it.
They were replaced with Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin. But Franklin bolted a few months later, transforming Destiny's Child into a trio and unwittingly finalizing its make-up.
That same year the ensemble rocketed to stardom after recording Independent Women, Pt. 1, the theme song for the film Charlie's Angels, that spent 11 weeks at the top of the charts.
Their album Survivor that sold six million copies in just three weeks earned them a Grammy award for best R and B performance by a group in 2002.
The trio has been touring in North America and Europe this year promoting their last album Destiny Fulfilled, whose title, alas, proved to be prophetic.
