Destiny’s Child to Split
Destiny’s Child’s upcoming U.S. tour will be their grand finale. During the trio’s Saturday night concert in Barcelona, Spain, co-frontwoman Kelly Rowland announced that she, Beyonce Knowles and Michelle Williams will indeed go their separate ways come September.
The group provided a statement to MTV, but a spokesman at the group’s Columbia label declined to confirm the split, saying that a formal announcement would be forthcoming today on the network’s afternoon video show, Total Request Live.
“We have been working together as Destiny’s Child since we were 9, and touring together since we were 14,” reads the group’s statement. “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. After all these wonderful years working together, we realized that now is the time to pursue our personal goals and solo efforts in earnest.”
Since forming in Houston in 1990, the group’s lineup shuffled several times, leading to lawsuits filed by original members LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson and settled by the group. Destiny’s Child broke through with 1999’s blockbuster The Writing’s on the Wall, beginning a string of hits that would include “Say My Name,” “Independent Women, Pt. 1” and “Survivor.”
After 2001’s Survivor album, the members took a break from the group to release solo projects. “We needed time apart,” Williams told Rolling Stone last year. “We’ve grown musically and emotionally. We ended up with more to write about, and it gave [Destiny Fulfilled] more soul.”
Speculation was rife that the group would break up when Beyonce announced plans to release a solo record, 2003’s Dangerously In Love — and became rampant with the album’s runaway success. However, the trio silenced the rumors last year with the release of the prophetically titled Destiny Fulfilled.
That recording was sparked in part by the trio’s performance at Jamaica’s Reggae Sunfest in the summer of 2003. “It was incredible,” Beyonce told Rolling Stone following the concert. “We started talking about what we should do, what our look should be and what the album should sound like. It’s always exciting to perform together.”