| Destiny's
Child is an R&B girl group from Houston, signed
to Columbia and first premiered on Men in Black: The
Album with their song "Killing Time."
Early in 1998, the group released their self-titled
debut album, featuring the single "No, No, No
(Part II)" featuring Wyclef Jean. The quartet,
including Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland (Beyonce's
cousin), LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett, also
toured with Jean. The group's sophomore album The
Writing's on the Wall followed in 1999 and
immediately spawned the number one smash
"Bills, Bills, Bills," which topped both
the pop and R&B charts.
By
the end of the year, "Say My Name" had
duplicated the feat, and ended up becoming one of
the biggest hits of 2000. But just as the group had
broken through to superstardom, Roberson and Luckett
abruptly left in March of 2000, filing a lawsuit
against the group and manager Matthew Knowles
(Beyoncé's father and Kelly's guardian). The two
were replaced by similar-looking 18-year-old Farrah
Franklin and 19-year-old Michelle Williams, who
debuted in the video for "Say My Name"
(much to some fans' surprise).
Five
months after her addition, Franklin announced that
she too was leaving. Undaunted, the remaining trio
recorded the theme song for the film revival of
Charlie's Angels; "Independent Women"
became another across-the-board smash that fall,
topping the charts by the end of the year. Roberson
and Luckett dropped the portion of their lawsuit
directed at the group itself in early 2001; they
soon formed a new group called Angel, while Farrah
Franklin began work on a solo album. Meanwhile,
Destiny's Child released their third album,
Survivor, in May.
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